July 2, 2009 - At Greer Farm in Daingerfield, berries are the latest addition to land that has been in agricultural production since the 1950s. The land has been used to produce livestock, hay, timber and serve as a wildlife habitat for several species. Finally in 2004, Sid Greer and his son Karl, decided to use a small portion of the land to grow berries.
"Our 250-acre farm is one of the oldest farms in East Texas," said Greer. "We are the third family to own the property since the land has been settled. There are still a few old buildings that date back to the 1840s.
"Our family bought the land in 1979, but I bought them out in 1994 and started raising Bahia grass for seed production."
In 1998, Greer retired from the corporate world, working at Amoco-BP, generating oil and gas development, and moved to his Morris County farm.
Although he had been in the corporate world for most of his life, farming and ranching were where his roots were really sown.
"I was raised on a farm in Texarkana and both of my grandparents farmed in Texas," Greer recalled. "When I decided to start farming and ranching, I sat down with my wife Eva and our children and drew out a business plan to produce cattle and a few vegetables.
"At first, all we really raised was cattle, but in 2004, my son Karl decided to build a berry patch. We planted several varieties in 2005, 2006 and 2007. We now have seven acres of blueberries and an acre of blackberries and have plans to add at least another acre of blackberries."
According to Greer, blueberries are his favorite.
"We just love the taste of fresh blueberries," he exclaimed. "We also like that they have very small seeds, so they don't get stuck in your teeth."
Due to an extensive drought, Greer's berries had a rough start.
"Our farm has the right conditions and proper amount of water to grow blueberries, but the drought that hit in 2005 and 2006 tested our ability to grow healthy blueberries," Greer recalled. "We use drip irrigation in our berry patch, but that still wasn't enough during the drought. In 2005, we lost over 25 percent of our crop due to the drought.
"The first plants we planted in 2005 should be mature by now, but the drought stunted their growth for a little bit. Blueberry plants need to mature at least two years before harvest."
In 2007, Greer's berry patch was ready for its first harvest. Greer relied primarily on the pick-your-own program to harvest most of his berries, but due to the lack of customers, he had to harvest several berries and sell at a market in Dallas. In 2008, his entire crop was harvested by the pick-your-own program. This year, he is expecting the same turnout as last year.
"My customers are generally half from local communities and half from all over," he said. "We get a lot of folks from Dallas, Waco and Denton areas. There just aren't too many blueberry farms in their area, so they travel out our direction. On the way here, they have several historical sites to see in nearby towns and communities."
According to Greer, getting blueberries established isn't very hard, but keeping the plant growing and producing can be a difficult task.
"When we decided to plant berries, we first sprayed Roundup to kill the grass," Greer said. "After the grass had died off, we plowed 18 inches into the soil to break the soil pan and then used a five-foot tiller to prepare the soil for planting. We also added sulphur to make the soil more acidic.
"There are two prime ingredients that must be met to grow blueberries. First, they have to be grown in a soil that is acidic and second, they have to be grown in a soil that has less than 30 parts-per-million (ppm) of salt. Blueberries will not survive in a soil that has a high salinity content. The plant will emerge and seem healthy, but then all of the sudden, it will begin to die out. There is no way to reduce the salinity of the soil, so if the salt content is higher than 30 ppm then blueberries cannot be grown."
Greer said he determined the salinity and pH of his soil through an extensive soil test done by Kinsey Agriculture Services in Missouri. They also determined and prescribed what micro-nutrients needed to be added to ensure a healthy plant.
Greer also stated that he found herbicides useful when establishing his blueberries.
"Once a blueberry plant is established, a weed-eater can be used to keep the grass and weeds down, but until then, a herbicide should be used," he said. "In the early stages of growth, we hand-weeded around the plants, but now, with plenty of pine-bark mulch and adequate mowing, we keep the grass and weeds knocked down to a minimum. The mulch also adds nutrients back in the soil and traps moisture."
Weeds aren't the only concern for East Texas blueberry growers.
"I have never had to use insecticides, but there are a few pests that can be a threat," said Greer. "High winds, hail and late freezes can be threats as well. Blueberry plants are shallow-rooted, so a straight-line wind can knock a mature plant right over. This year, we were hit pretty hard by a late freeze. Our berries were delayed some, but mostly from the abundance of moisture and lack of sunshine early in the season. However, several of our other crops were devastated by the freeze."
Between pruning, re-mulching and flushing drip- irrigation lines, Greer and his family stay busy year-round in the berry patch.
"We prune the sides and tops of the plants to promote future growth," Greer stated. "Every cut we make, a new branch will grow, and eventually the plant will fill out."
Along with blueberries and several vegetables, the Greer family also produces 100 percent, grassfed, natural Maine Anjou beef. Recently, the family has also added a few cabins on their farm near their 11-acre pond for many areas of agritourism including trails, fishing, bird watching and camping.
For more information about Greer Farms, visit www.GreerFarm.com .
