We get a lot of questions around here asking if our blueberries survived late spring frosts. It’s a common question, and makes total sense to be curious!
So let’s chat about it!
How does the weather effect fruit?
The biggest factor here is the flower. All fruit starts off as a delicate flower. All of our berries flower in the spring as soon as the weather is consistently warm.
Here in Ohio, we are quite known for having a warmer spring earlier in April, and then a random frost in early May some time - and that’s usually when the problems arise.
Once a bush or tree flowers, if a frost hits, it can be very damaging. If you lose the flower, you lose the fruit. So since most farms who grow strawberries begin harvesting in may, and also since strawberries continuously produce flowers all season, they are extremely susceptible to frost damage.
How are our blueberries different?
Our bushes are somewhat of a later variety. Most varieties are ready in June/early July. The varieties we grow here at Berryhill are supposed to be early July through Mid August. The early warm springs that we’ve been having can and do effect that, because they will then flower and ripen earlier..
However, blueberries all flower at the same time, and then set fruit right after. All of the fruit that’s set, is all it will produce in a season. Unlike strawberries (or even something like zucchini), they do not keep producing flowers/fruit all season.
You can see above all the clusters of flowers come out at once. Each of those will turn into a berry and that’s it for the year!
So, if the fruit is set and we get a frost, it usually won’t do any damage. Our flowers are typically done and gone by the time we get that late frost in May. Thankfully! Once they look like this, they are fine.
Now, as I mentioned earlier we have been getting extremely warm springs here in Ohio which makes everything come to life earlier! Normally I find that to be a great thing!
But, it makes our season shift a bit, which can be confusing. What is normally our opening day (July 4th) very well may be our closing day this year.
And it’s all because of such a warm March and April! I feel as though the seasons are shifting and spring is warming up earlier than usual these past few years.
If it tells you anything….like I said July 4th is our normal opening day of upick. This year (2026) we opened our first upick on June 13th! Kinda crazy.
Nonetheless, we are thankful to have delicious blueberries for our customers and welcome the earlier upick before it gets super hot.
And don’t worry, if you’re used to coming on July 4th, we are still planning an amazing day!
America turns 250 years old so we will have blueberry picking, donuts for the first 250 people in line, and lots of vendors.
We will also sing the National Anthem as a group before we open the nets for picking. It’s our favorite day of the summer and it’s all because of our amazing customers like you! So plan to be here :)
I hope this helps answer some questions about the frost, and why our berries are extra early this year.
And if you’ve read this far, take a look at this throwback photo of the berry fields in 2015. These are the same bushes you all were picking on this morning! Our plants are now around 25 years old.
Look at all that bending down we no longer have to do ;)
Sarah & Chris
