San Joaquin Valley’s Blueberry Season

By Bryan Welch

The San Joaquin Valley is home to plenty of fruits and vegetables, and picking season is right around the corner. The blueberry season begins at the beginning of April.

Ryan Jacobsen, the president of the Fresno County Farm Bureau, said that blueberries and stone fruit are the agricultural stars of the valley.

“We are in this transition stage. There is citrus going on very heavily. We have some of our seasonal vegetables that are being picked in the county, such as broccoli as well as lettuce,” Jacobsen said.

“As we transition to over the course of the next couple of weeks now going through the April, we will see a big transition towards blueberries towards stone fruit peaches and plums.”

More blueberries have been grown in California over the last twenty years, especially in Tulare and Fresno counties. The region’s climate, with its mild winters and hot summers, plays a significant role in the growth of these blueberries.

“Blueberries work here for a combination of a few reasons,” Jacobsen said.

“Obviously, we can grow just about anything we want in the San Joaquin Valley simply because of our weather. We have pheromonal soils that are literally world-renowned. You can put some water with it, and some pretty incredible things can happen.”

Jacobsen mentioned that blueberries are thanks to Emmanuel Jiminez, the UC Cooperative Extension specialist, who is a pioneer in growing different varieties of blueberries in the valley.

The valley will soon be busy in the next couple of months and blueberries kick off the long road of hard work.