Anyone have a U-pick berry orchard?

My husband and I are retired and moved back home to his family's land of 60 acres.  It's in the hills of a zone 7B.  It's mostly covered with new forest of sweet gum and junk trees so I want to rent a dozer and clear off 5 acres for a berry orchard.  I already have several blueberry plants that I planted a few years back in our back yard and they are doing great so I'd like to do more.  Blackberries do great here so I also have some of those in my little garden and they too are doing great.  I tried strawberries for 3 years and I barely got a bowl full so I'll not be doing that again.  At any rate, we love to stay busy and be outside so it feels like a perfect fit.  If you've done this, what are the pro's and con's that you've experienced and would you recommend it?  

Hi Kay,
Up in our neck of the woods, strawberry U-pick and apple U-pick is by far the most popular. Raspberry and Blackberry and Blueberry some. Unfortunately for our area at least... it is in decline. People are not coming out to pick much if any. You used to get people coming and picking in bulk for making jams/pies/freezing/etc... but most of those people were older. They are no longer able to do it, or no longer around. While there is the new wave of younger people interested in fresh food and the experience... they generally come to pick a few for fresh eating, which is not always enough to make it worth your time.

Don't let this downer of a reply stop you though :)... I would totally start a U-Pick if I had the room and time.

This is actually one of the reasons I turned the forum on this evening.  I don't know that I want to do "U Pick" as much as I want to grow fruit to sell.  I currently own 21 acres and have been in the process of modifying it a little a time over the last 5 years.  When I purchased my property it was full of invasive autumn olive.   I was a new widow at the time so I just had my boys help me a little here and there while I worked.  Zoom ahead 5 years and I am a bit better off financially than I was then, plus a bit more intelligent, so I rented a skidsteer to clean up the autumn olive.   I left it in some places simply because it blocked view from neighbors and I felt it still served some benefit for honeybees in the Spring as it is one of the first things to blossom. Anyways, I had to clear about 8 acres of my 21 acres for this autumn olive.  Upon clearing i then studied it to see where water would collect and such at different types of the year.  I did add in some fruit trees here and there, in addition to wild raspberries already on the property.   Last fall I adopted some blueberry bushes.  I have had some experience with blueberries over the years as I have worked for various farms for blueberry plcking, plus its something my children have done every year as a family.    This winter I kept trying to decide what I wanted to focus on in terms of using the land as well as having future income.   I am only in my 40s,  but I want things to be mature, ready for full harvests in the next 5+ years.  I want to start handling farmers markets. I want to also have food security.  But as long as my children and their families have all of their food stored up for the winter, i'd like to have extras to sell.  and I have decided I really want to focus on fruits.   I currently have about 125 of 3 different types of Blueberries.  I have 3 types of wild raspberries with the hopes of adding in 2-3 new varieties.  The property did have a lot of wild grapes that tasted wonderful (dont know the type, but its for wine, not fresh eating)  I bought strawberries to plant this year too.    I have about 50 or so fruit trees. (all planted in the last 5 years)    I am currently working on laying out some trenches and such for watering my berries and orchard trees in a unique kind of way (with gravity, trenches instead of irrigation)

Hi, Amanda! Sounds like a great project you are starting.  Whereabouts are you located?

I would recommend having a solid plan together for grass and weed control and also drip irrigation.  If you get into a drought you do not want 5 acres of berry plants dying from dehydration.  Also keep in mind, blackberries need trellising which can get to be a huge job when you plant out hundreds of canes.  A fertility management plan will also be needed.

In zone 7b I would highly suggest muscadine grapes if they might be popular in your area.

Also, talk to your local ag extension office about insurance and liability coverage for when you eventually have random people on your property.

Mk Neal wrote:Hi, Amanda! Sounds like a great project you are starting.  Whereabouts are you located?

I am in Michigan... the land of the big mitten state