Festival

coordinator for the second annual Once in a Blue Moon Berries Blueberry Festival.

The festival is set for 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 10 & 11 at Once in a Blue Moon Berries, 1820 Arroyo Vista Way in El Dorado Hills. Attendees will have their pick of different varieties — legacy near the entrance, then bluecrop and bluegold, followed by duke near the top.

“We’re planning to expand it every year,” said Pak, who also operates The Momma Bear Bakery.

The farm is open periodically during blueberry season. The festival, however, is expected to draw 1,000 people each day of the event.

Tickets can be found online: ticketscandy. com/e/once-in-a-bluemoon-berries-blueberryfestival-1788. One ticket is $6. Four cost $20. Parking is $5. There’s no charge for children 4 and younger.

A bucket of berries costs $20. People can bring their own buckets to pick, though the 1,000-plant farm will use its own to measure the berries.

Thirty-five vendors will be at the festival, as will the North American Blueberry Council.

“It’s all handmade — 35-plus vendors: cups, candles, clothing, soaps, lots of yummy food,” Pak said of the vendors.

“My niece does cute little dog collars.”

The event also includes food vendors, live country music, a petting zoo and a kids’ area.

“This community here, there are so many kids who have no idea where blueberries come from,” said Janet Suttles, who, along with husband Mike, owns the farm. “We’re just the little mom-and-pop blueberry shop around the corner.

“We’re excited for the kids to see it here,” she added. “It’s all up to the berries.”

Berry good

Janet sat in mid-May near her acre of blueberries. They were small and green then, but the heat expected over the weeks was sure to ripen them.

Cooler weather is best early in the growing season. Once they start to bloom, heat is essential for the berries to grow and turn blue.

“We wanted to give it the extra week of heat,” Pak said of the June 10 & 11 festival time.

The farm has its origins in Alaska, where Suttles’ children were born.

The family picked blueberries in Alaska. Moving to El Dorado Hills almost 20 years ago, they knew they wanted to grow something. Mike took Janet blueberry picking for her birthdays and the idea grew.

“We just thought, let’s grow blueberries,” she said.

The family spent two years tilling the field and also building deer fencing and installing irrigation, along with the other tasks required to have a successful farm.

The farm has seen the couple, their children and three neighborhood girls tend to it over the years.

“Everyone in town calls her the blueberry lady,” Pak said of her mother.

The picking season used to stretch from midMay to July, but warmer weather over the years has reduced it to June.

Then the COVID19 pandemic hit and changed everything. The farm installed handwashing stations and used directional arrows to guide people through the blueberries.

The farm has no set operating hours. Instead, Pak advises people to visit the farm’s Facebook page. Go to facebook. com and search: “Once in a Blue Moon Berries.”

The farm posts upcoming operating hours online.

The family sees many of the same people come through each season.

Some send them pictures of their children picking the berries. Janet has many of those photos posted to the outside wall of a building next to the blueberries.

“It’s a lot of people’s family tradition,” Pak said.

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