A crop that is easy to grow, is profitable and fits in with what is already planted—some might call it a farmer's dream come true, but the Sorensens call it delightful, as in Triple Delight Blueberries. Farming for five generations now, Mark Sorensen and his family had previously concentrated just on their main crop, which was raisins. A few years ago, though, they decided to try their luck with an emerging crop in the state: blueberries.
Mark and his wife, Kim, say that most people don't even believe blueberries are grown in California and think they come from back east. Relatively new to the state, blueberries were first planted commercially in the San Joaquin Valley in the late 1990s but have since exploded in popularity. Acreage has grown more than 900 percent over the last five years in the San Joaquin Valley alone and now more than 1,500 acres across California are devoted to the little berry.
Today the Triple Delight farm near Fresno has more than 15 acres of blueberries, a crop that the whole family can be involved in growing—including Mark and Kim's daughters, Elizabeth, Olivia and Johanna. Needless to say, all three provided the inspiration for the farm's unique name.
"We really wanted to reflect our three daughters," said Kim. "We asked family and friends what we should name our farm and Triple Delight just kind of stuck."
Since blueberries are such a new crop in the state, both farmers and consumers are still discovering the big advantages of this tiny berry. This is one reason the family decided to direct market their product—so they could tout the benefits of blueberries themselves by traveling up and down the state, selling at more than 50 farmers markets throughout California.
For more information about Triple Delight blueberries, visit www.tripledelightberries.com
Source: California Bountiful