Berry good season: Blueberries bountiful on P.E.I.
CBC
It's a big year for blueberries on P.E.I.
Last year 19-million pounds of wild blueberries were produced on P.E.I., said Benny Nabuurs, head of the P.E.I. Wild Blueberry Growers Association.
This year might be even better.
"It would appear that we're going to come north of 20-million pounds," Nabuurs said.
There was a lack of pollinators early in the season — honey bees in particular — but to the surprise of Nabuurs, crops have rebounded. He said bumblebees picked up the slack in pollination and the weather has been co-operating too.
"Certainly the weather plays a factor. First of all, we had no frost events. Or if they were, they were very isolated this year," he said.
"The rainfall came just at the right time for us for most of the growing season. If we get enough rain and the temperatures are nice and warm, that makes for a good growing season."
The picking for wild low-bush blueberries typically lasts five weeks in a good season and the season for high-bush blueberries can be a bit longer, Nabuurs said.
Low-bush blueberries ripen all at the same time, high-bush blueberries ripen in clusters at different intervals on the same bush.
Earl MacCormac has over 250 acres of high-bush blueberries almost ready to be picked at Lorne Valley Ranch, but with a plentiful season comes the need to hire more hands for picking, something MacCormac said he struggles with annually.
"Ideally I would like to have 100 to 120. There was periods last year I had upwards of 100 people picking berries for me, which is great, but my workforce was always up or down. Ideally I would love to count on 100 people showing up every morning. I'd take anybody willing to work."
Some machine picking is done, but MacCormac prefers hand picking as much as possible.
"To ensure the picturesque quality so I can ship to North America I need the gentle touch to take them off the bush, put them in the box, and run them over the grading line. Minimal bruising on the fruit so I can get that six-seven week shelf," he said.
Demand is high for Island blueberries, Nabuurs said.
Cambridge council has voted to request a pedestrian safety review of Cedar Street from the region after two back-to-back collisions last week, one of which killed a three-year-old girl.
The Queen Elizabeth Hospital Foundation has received a $1-million donation to create an endowment fund that it will use to upgrade common areas at the Charlottetown hospital.
A new study by the Center for European Policy Analysis suggests Russia and China are pulling ahead of NATO nations, including Canada, in the race to develop and field drones capable of operating in harsh Arctic conditions.
Prime Minister Mark Carney says U.S. President Donald Trump hasn't given him any indication that he's willing to walk away from the North American free trade deal that was struck during his first term at the White House.
A Toronto man has been charged for allegedly defrauding 28 investors of $6.6 million they provided to trade in foreign exchange.
Flu season has started early this year, according to an update from local health officials, who report hospitals are seeing more admissions, emergency room visits, and community outbreaks.
U.S. President Donald Trump's point-person on trade laid out a series of conditions Wednesday that Canada must meet in order to extend the Canada-U.S.-Mexico agreement (CUSMA) when it comes up for a review next year — revealing publicly for the first time what the administration expects Prime Minister Mark Carney to do to keep the pact for the long term.
Mitchell Rose, 32, is now facing a third charge of attempted murder following a series of attacks in an apartment building on Anspach Street in St. John's last week.
Nova Scotia’s population dropped by nearly 1,400 people in the third quarter of 2025, marking the first decline since 2020 and the largest decline in a decade.
Horizon Health says it has a comprehensive surge plan for the holiday season but is asking people to consider other options to avoid crowding emergency rooms.
The four aerial ski lifts at Mont‑Sainte‑Anne are set to resume operations after Quebec’s building authority lifted an order that had shut them down last week over electrical safety concerns.
WARNING: This story contains profanity and details of racist language.
Blizzard conditions in Saskatoon will ease throughout the evening Wednesday, but the bad weather in Regina and southeastern Saskatchewan will last well into the night, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC).