Blueberry picking a family affair for Bennetts of Sudbury
With many blueberry vendors set up on the side of roads and highways in the northeast, one Sudbury seller and her family have opted for a more personal delivery service.
With brimming blueberry baskets in tow, Holly Bennett and her young son, niece, and nephew, spend some of their summer days selling to businesses in downtown Sudbury.
On Friday, CBC News caught up with them outside Cafe Petit Gateau on Durham Street, where Bennett managed to sell four litres of berries to the owner and one of her employees.
“It’s best to go in the morning,” Bennett said. “Even just walking down the street, there are a lot of people of different ages who buy the berries. I think they’re intrigued by the fact they are from close to home.”
Bennett told her story to CBC Reporter Hilary Duff:
Bennett is ripe to the blueberry business. The 26 year old has been picking blueberries with her dad since she was five years old, and now carries on the tradition with her own six-year-old son.
“They [the kids] have fun and love doing it,” Bennett said. “They’re fascinated by the amount people are willing to pay for the berries.”
That amount ranges from $10 a litre at the beginning of the season, to eight or five dollars near the end of summer.
Bennett said this summer hasn’t been bad picking, but the season started later than usual, and gypsy moth caterpillars are taking their toll.
The family goes out picking in the New Sudbury area, and alongside the highway heading out to the Valley and Garson.
“It’s fun getting out there,” Bennett said. “We go all around Sudbury, and close to Sagamok First Nation where we’re from. It’s a little bit steeper out there, but there are a lot of berries and they’re bigger and bluer.”
As for the blueberries that don’t get sold at the end of the day?
“We just keep the rest for ourselves,” Bennett laughed. “I love it.”