TLC for the Sea Winds Blueberry Fields

The lowbush “wild” blueberry is iconic in Maine and just so at Sea Winds.  It graces our sign along Coastal Road, adorns artwork on the walls, and of course is the featured ingredient in dozens of family recipes.   As well, our blueberry fields are a place to catch up with friends, turn youngsters loose with their cousins, or simply seek out a little solitude.  

As a kid, staying at Sea Winds always meant picking blueberries – kerplink, kerplank, kerplunk.  Fill your tin cup and bring the berries home for baking into something special.  Around 2010 grownups began to notice that our blueberry plants were not as fruitful as they once were – at least not like we remembered them. It was taking too long to fill that cup!

In 2018 we asked for help from the Univ. of Maine’s blueberry experts and learned about “the three Ps of blueberry horticulture”: pruning, pH, and pollinators.  Turns out we had been a bit lax on all three counts, so we began to follow their advice.

First, we adjusted our mowing (pruning) schedule to cut later in the season and closer to the ground. This promoted more vigorous new growth and more blossoms.  Then we tested the soil and discovered the pH was too high: pH 5.5 rather than the desired pH 4.5.  To correct that we spread elemental sulfur on the fields – one round in 2022 and one round in 2024.  This lowered soil pH, improving blueberry plant health and discouraging weeds.  And our blueberries remain 100% organic!

The final P was Pollinators.  In May 2025 and again this year we added commercially available eastern bumblebee hives to our fields, surrounding them with a solar powered electric fence to keep the bears out.  Native bumblebees are much more efficient blueberry pollinators than honeybees and wow, did they get to work!  We’re hoping that new bumblebee queens from these hives survive the winter and add to the local population of pollinators.

All signs are that the TLC is working, the most important one being the time it takes to fill that cup and bring berries to the kitchen, where the possibilities are endless!  Fingers crossed for another bumper crop of Sea Winds Maine wild blueberries in 2026!

PS Blueberry picking in groups is a great way to have fun, catch up, and make memories. Wedding couples tying the knot at Sea Winds in July will have the extra benefit of plump berries beckoning from the fields. We are happy to share our picking cups and our best recipes.