Blueberry picking gets out of the field and goes online
Posted April 22, 2020 8:59 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
CLERMONT, Fla. — It’s springtime, and in central Florida that ordinarily would mean blueberry picking at places like Southern Hill Farms.
But with new coronavirus fears keeping people under lockdown and social distancing, the 40-acre farm in Clermont, Florida has had to make adjustments too this spring.
Customers are ordering their blueberries online and then picking them up by car instead of going in the fields themselves as they’ve done in seasons past.
Visitors also can buy sunflowers, sweet corn and peaches during spring.
Thousands of acres of fruits and vegetables grown in Florida are being plowed over or left to rot because farmers can’t sell to restaurants, theme parks or schools nationwide that have closed because of the coronavirus.
Other states are having the same issues.
Associated Press, The Associated Press
