New Owners Purchase Rochester Berry Farm
By Martha Slater

The husband and wife team of Rob Meadows and Patricia Rydle of Rochester recently purchased Blair’s Berry Farm on Route 100, next to the Green Mt. Forest Service facility.

The couple, who plans to keep the name of the farm the same for this season, closed on the property Thursday, June 14. The previous owners, Ron and Leslie Blair of Hancock, bought the land 10 years ago and built the berry business from the ground up. Certified organic, the farm now has a little over eight of its 11 acres under cultivation, with four acres of blueberries and four of red raspberries. Also, for the first time this year, 50 cherry trees will produce Bali cherries, a winter hardy cherry.

"This year’s raspberry crop looks particularly abundant this year," Meadows says.

A "you pick" operation, the farm will open for picking by the public Saturday, July 14 from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. (check ads in upcoming issues of the Herald), with raspberries available at the opening and blueberries at the end of July.

Meadows, who is the sales manager at Inner Traditions International (ITI) and Rydle, the executive assistant to the publisher at ITI, came to Rochester from Sante Fe, N.M. in 2000 to work at ITI. Meadows grew up in Melbourne, Australia and came to the U.S. in 1989 and Rydle grew up near Pittsburgh, Penna. They say they bought the berry farm because they love living in Rochester and "we ‘re crazy enough to think we can do this and keep our day jobs!" They plan to take their annual vacation time and use it to run the farm during the picking season.

"We wanted to make sure the farm continued to operate here and we love that piece of land," explained Meadows. "We hope one day in the future to be able to build a home there next to the berry fields. This year, we’re going to try to make it all work on our own, although we may have to hire some helpers. Next year, we’ll definitely have to do that."

"Although it’s a ‘you pick’ operation and 95% of the business is people picking their own berries, there will also be some pre-picked berries available for sale," Meadows added.

Meadows noted that since the berry farm is a six-month operation, "I think we can manage. I have farming in my family, since my brother is a farmer and a consultant for the Dept., of Agriculture in the state of Victoria in Australia. Also, my uncle is a dairy farmer and we spent a lot of holidays there. My brother was delighted with the news, and thinks we’ll be successful, since we’ve done so much research and we’re so committed to keeping an organic fruit operation here in the valley."

For more information about picking times, etc. call the farm at 767-3989.

____________