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Make-A-Wish: ‘Dreams really do come true’
June 30, 2025
BEAR CREEK – From mid-July through the month of August, the small Village of Bear Creek – with a population of fewer than 450 residents – becomes a “haven” for hundreds of blueberry pickers from all over the state.
Blueberry Haven, located at W9967 County Road XX, has 14,000 high-bush blueberry bushes across its 14 acres – offering five varieties that ripen at different points in the season.
Because the varieties ripen at different times, Co-owner Richelle Aiello said the season is sometimes pushed up to eight weeks.
“I would say in typical years, four to six weeks is probably a better guess,” she said. “Our peak picking time – depending on weather and foot traffic – is at the end of July into August. Last season was short – maybe only three or four weeks, because of the heat we had, and everything ripened too quickly.”
Aiello said the bushes on Blueberry Haven’s property are about four to eight feet off the ground.
“There’s no bending over to pick the berries – it’s easy picking,” she said. “When the berries are good and ripe, you simply put your pail underneath a branch and wiggle your fingers – they fall right off. On a good day, we’ll see hundreds of people picking.”
Aiello said the varieties available at Blueberry Haven include Dukes, Patriots, Blue Crop, Blu-ray and Nelsons.
“I like the Blu-ray and the Nelsons,” she said. “Those two berries are larger, and the sweetness of them is good. Those are later-season berries, so if you want those, come at the end of July.”
Aiello said ideal picking times are approximate, so she recommends that people check Facebook or call for updates.
Once picking starts, she said Blueberry Haven is open from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday.
Going back two-plus decades
Aiello said Blueberry Haven got its start in 2002 when her mother, Moni Jarvais, planted the 14,000 high-bush blueberry plants.
Three years later, she said her mom began selling the berries in pints from their garage.
“From there, in 2007, the sales center was built,” Aiello said. “Blueberry Haven has been operating as a self-pick blueberry farm since 2008. When my mom first thought about planting blueberries, it was more a spur-of-the-moment type of thing. There are a lot of strawberry farms in the area but not many blueberry places. They read about blueberries and how great they are for you and thought, ‘Let’s give it a try.’”
In 2018, Aiello said she and her husband, Jon, and their two boys moved to the farm and began working alongside her parents to learn how to run the farm and business – with plans to eventually take over the operation.
“We officially purchased Blueberry Haven in 2022,” she said. “If properly cared for, blueberry bushes can last up to 50 years, but it takes a while for them to bear fruit.”
Hearty, yet finicky
Aiello said the blueberry bushes her mom planted in 2002 were three years old at the time and didn’t produce until 2007 – making them about eight years old before the fruits of their labor came to fruition.
“If you do the math, the blueberry bushes we have are about 26 years old,” she said. “Because they can last 50 years, they still have plenty of life left, but weather plays a big factor in how much kill we get yearly.”
When talking to blueberry farmers in Michigan, Aiello said they are often surprised at how long Blueberry Haven’s bushes have lasted.
“When you think of Michigan blueberry farms, you think of those areas that might get lots of snow in the winter,” she said. “In our area, we don’t always get the snow, but we will still get those sub-zero freezing temperatures. The snow acts as an insulator and protects the plants.”
Aiello said for the bushes being 26 years old, they are in pretty good shape.
“This past winter made me a bit nervous,” she said. “We had freezing temperatures in early winter but we didn’t have any snow until February.”
In addition to the weather, Aiello said another challenge for a blueberry farmer is weeds.
“One of our big issues is controlling the weeds, but the way (the weeds) grow up at the end of the season, I think that actually helped us this year,” she said. “The weeds gave a little more protection around the base of the blueberry bushes, because we didn’t have that snow early on.”
With the changing climate, Aiello said some blueberry farmers have resorted to unconventional methods to protect their bushes during the winter.
“I know other blueberry farmers I’ve seen have snow-making machines,” she said. “We’ve thought about it, but this was the first year we really had no snow with that cold. But, I think we lucked out this year – the bushes look good. If this weather becomes more of a pattern, we’ll probably have to look into snow-making equipment.”
Aiello said blueberry bushes also need regular pruning – “lots of it.”
“With 14,000 bushes, it’s nearly impossible to get through all of them – we take more of a section-by-section approach,” she said. “It is really hard to find people to help, but I have one gentleman who has an apple orchard, so he goes around and prunes. It’s kind of a one-man band plus me. We get out there and do our best.”
Aiello said pruning takes place when the bushes are dormant.
“Pruning takes place through the winter months and early spring before we see buds break,” she said. “When you are pruning, you pull out some of those really old canes – the main, woody stems that grow from the base of the bush and produce fruit – but there are still berries on there, so it can cut down your production a little bit as well… but it also lets all that growth take place.”
Aiello said one can’t simply plant a blueberry bush and expect it to eventually bear fruit – “there is much more to it than that.”
“Once they’re established, they are pretty hearty, but they are also finicky,” she said. “They also need the proper pH in the soil, so we do yearly soil samples to see where we stand. Having the correct pH is just as important as pruning.”
Furthermore, Aiello said blueberries require acidic and well-drained soil.
“Blueberry roots are also sensitive to waterlogging,” she said. “If we just planted the bushes and let them be, they wouldn’t survive.”
Mother Nature ultimately decides
Aiello said area farmers – with nearly any and every type of fruit and vegetable – know that once buds are present, Mother Nature is the ultimate decider with the weather and a potential killing frost.
To combat this, she said Blueberry Haven utilizes an overhead irrigation system.
“In the spring, when we get that warm weather and the buds start to break, to combat a killing frost, we will irrigate throughout the fields to help the buds/fruit survive if the temperature drops below 32 degrees,” she said. “The water we spray kind of encases the berries and the flowers in an ice coating to keep them safe. With our Wisconsin weather, an overhead irrigation system is a must.”
With farming, Aiello said every year is a little bit different.
“One of our first years, we had a drought – that was terrifying,” she said. “Our pond got really low, but we have a backup pond we pump from.”
Though the bushes look good for the upcoming season, Aiello said that didn’t come without a scare.
“I was nervous because last year, after harvest, we got those really warm 80- and 90-degree days,” she said. “It actually tricked the plant. Blueberries need 1,500 to 1,800 chilling hours before they break dormancy, and I had buds breaking in September. I was very nervous, but boy, were they hardy, because they look great. It doesn’t look like we lost anything.”
Aiello said what she experienced last fall is similar to what was happening with lilacs.
“People’s lilacs were blooming again,” she said. “There are lots of berries out there – we just need some sun and warmth.”
That sun and warmth have already arrived this year, Aiello said – with several 80-plus-degree days in mid-June.
Still more work to be done
Once the season ends sometime at the end of August, or whenever that time comes, Aiello said there is still a lot of work to be done – starting with grooming the fields to combat weeds.
“We have a lot of wild cucumbers and wild grapes that grow and try to overtake the plant,” she said. “We clean that up the best we can before the plants go dormant, and we start pruning. We also try to stay as natural as possible. However, when you have things like thistle and those nasty weeds people don’t want to pick, we take care of those.”
Aiello said many people don’t realize the work that goes on outside of the season.
“This year, we had to pound down the fence because we had about 20 deer inside our fence,” she said. “They actually ate an entire row of blueberries. We definitely don’t like to spray anything, but if we do, it’s after harvest. We tried all the methods of traps for Japanese beetles, but sometimes you just have to (spray) for those.”
A few more options
In addition to blueberry picking, Aiello said Blueberry Haven offers a variety of products as well.
“We have lots of yummy and unique products,” she said. “We make our own blueberry powder, but I would say our fan favorite is the blueberry mustard. We also have barbecues, salsa, balsamic vinegars, etc.”
Some products are sourced from other areas, but Aiello said the hope is Blueberry Haven will do more of its own creations in the future.
“Both of our kids are now in school, so I will finally have a little more time to play around with that,” she said. “We also recently planted apple trees and cherry trees – not a ton – to see how they do here and bring something else to the table.”
But for now, Aiello said they are happy to be all about blueberries at Blueberry Haven.
Visit blueberryhaven.net for more information.
