Lack of rain puts strain on Leland blueberry farm

LELAND, NC (WWAY) — A lack of rain these past few weeks may have been a good thing for beach goers, joggers and bikers, but it has been cruel to blueberry farmers.

“It definitely hurts,” said Linda Taylor, the owner of Taylor’s Blueberry Farm Inc.

She said that in years past her blueberries have been plump, dark and sweet, but this year has been a different story.

Walking through her farm in Leland, she stumbled upon a few half decent picks here and there, but there are not nearly enough to last the season, and they do not compare to what they usually are.

“They’re dried up before they get sweet — no one wants to eat sour blueberries,” she added.

While this is normally a steady source of income for the Taylors, Linda says the hurt is not just about money in her family’s pocket. “You just meet such a variety of people ya know? You make friends!”

Linda added that they’ve never really needed to own sprinklers — until now — but they’ll be making some changes.

“We’ll be irrigating in July,” Linda explained.

The Taylor family still invites you to pay them a visit this summer.

“We’ll be open now for people who wanna do birthday parties or weddings or baby showers, we do it all.”

The farm will hold an event for all ages with over 60 local vendors on June 22, for more information please visit their Facebook page.