Berry Farmers Staying 'True to the Blue' By Ronda Payne It seemed like a unique choice when Russ and Lynn Giesbrecht decided to plant blueberries on their 10 acres in rural west Abbotsford in 1986. Back then, blueberries certainly weren’t the flourishing crop in the valley they are now. The community was very much the raspberry capital, but leading the way into something new didn’t scare the newly married couple.
Now, walking the site and reminiscing, the 4.5 acres of Bluecrop berries are still the variety of choice for Lynn. She takes care of the planning and farming duties, bringing Russ in to fertilize the field as needed and spread sawdust every few years. He has his own full-time job as a self-employed carpenter and restored the beautiful 110-year-old heritage house that helped the couple fall in love with the property. “We are focusing on that,” she says. “The heritage farm and heritage blueberry. We like the Bluecrop variety. We think it’s the best in the valley.” Bluecrop matures later than some of the newer varieties, but Lynn feels the taste and size of the berries more than makes up for it being later in the season. Russ is also a chicken farmer and added
Photos by Ronda Payne
“We got a consultant from the Ministry of Agriculture,” says Lynn. “Based on the soil, he suggested blueberries. We were one of the few to plant them back then.”
When we started farming, we were just blueberry farmers. Now we're business people. Lynn Giesbrecht barns that accommodate three 50,000 Taiwanese chicken (Loong Kong chicken) flocks each year, grown for Fraser Valley Specialty Poultry. The barns take up two and a half acres that had previously also
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been in blueberries. The transition was fine by Lynn who says managing the four and half acres of blueberries is more than enough for her. “Farming back then was so simple,” she
