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Hernando Today

Blueberries From Heaven

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By TONY HOLT

Published: May 19, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - A report card with straight A's was followed by a road trip to the Hostetter house.

The 11-year-old girl had one wish. She wanted to pick blueberries.

She printed out some pages off the Internet, complete with directions to a remote, seven-acre farm along a rural stretch of State Road 50. Her grandparents drove her from Naples all the way to Brooksville.

The family actually arrived one day after blueberry "season" had ended. The Hostetters were not about to turn away a group that had driven 200 miles, so they told them to go find as many as they could.

They spent up to four hours in the garden and wound up with three buckets full of berries – about 15 pounds.

"The girl was really happy," said Butch Hostetter, who owns the farm with his wife and family. "Her wish is to have her own farm someday."

There are countless other heartwarming stories Butch and Marjorie Hostetter could share from their experiences owning and managing a blueberry farm. They wanted to meet people and experience the human side of berry farming, not the commercial side.

Everyone in the family takes part. The couple's two sons help out with the crops and their three grandchildren help distribute buckets.

On any given weekend during the season, the Hostetters will welcome up to 500 people. From April 12 through May 17, the family sold more than 7,000 pounds of berries at their farm located at 5261 White Road. At $3 per pound, they made enough to feed their entire family for a year.

Aside from a few pickers Sunday, Butch and Marjorie Hostetter had to end the season by the end of the day Saturday. They were hoping to keep it going through Memorial Day weekend, but a caravan of people from Clearwater took the last of the plump, ripe berries.

That revenue is expected to grow year after year. Butch Hostetter and his family are going to cut the existing bushes, rake out the scraps and then plant another 6,000. By next year, there will be tens of thousands of more berries to pluck.

As of today, the owners have more than two acres of bushes. They hope to expand it to about five acres and then retire from their full-time jobs.

Hostetter is an auto mechanic in Tampa. His wife works for the Hernando County Health Department.

Marjorie Hostetter said people come by to pick blueberries to make pies, cakes, cobblers, jams and even wine. Others simply like to store them in the freezer because they prefer to eat them while frozen.

"It's like having a blueberry popsicle," she said.

Hostetter makes her own cobbler. She and her husband offer a $3 lunch during the season that includes chicken, cobbler and a drink. People love her dessert so much they ask for the recipe before they leave.

Eating while picking? No problem.

Children often run to the weighing station at the end of the day with blue stains on their teeth.

"We want them to taste them before they pick them," Hostetter said.

The family grows four different varieties of berries and hopes to add a fifth soon.

But for the time being, they are resting. They are in no hurry to begin cutting the branches and laying down the pine bark to plant some more bushes. They will use the next three days to rest their bones before preparing for next season.

In the 11 months between now and then, they will water the plants, apply fertilizer, monitor the garden carefully during the cold season, protect the plants from fungi and dispose of the weeds.

It is hard work to maintain such a large garden for merely two months of business, but the reward is high for Butch Hostetter.

"We could make more money with commercial pickers if we wanted to, but we love to talk to people," he said. "It's been a good experience."

Reporter Tony Holt can be reached at 352-544-5283 or wholt@hernandotoday.com.

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