 Wellbrook Winery’s Blueberry Demonstration Garden in the Spring
Wellbrook Winery is located on a working 55-acre farm. However; Wellbrook’s ties to the blueberry farming community go beyond its agricultural location.
The Bremners have been farming in Delta since the 1950s, and they are well known for producing top-quality fruit that is prized for its intensity, full body and rich flavour.
In fact, it was the excellence of their crop that prompted son Terry Bremner to consider producing fruit wines, as well as fruit juices, using the premium quality berries from their farms.
This selection of photos was taken at the Winery's blueberry demonstration garden.
 
Blueberry bushes in full bloom.
The flower buds of a blueberry plant start out as tight clusters of light pink flowers. As the
flowers
mature, they
separate and expand. At full bloom, the flowers are white, completely expanded and open, as seen in these photos.
At this stage they can still tolerate a light frost
(-2ºC), but once the petals start falling off, revealing small green fruit, the blueberry plant will be most vulnerable to frost damage.
 
Blueberry bushes in late spring — with green fruit.
Blueberries grow in clusters. As they ripen, the berries will change in color from green to pink to blue. Blueberries are harvested as they
ripen, with the same plants providing ripe fruit several times throughout the season. The first crop of
blueberries is ready for
harvest when about a quarter of the fruit in the cluster is ripe.
In the photo on the right, we see a beehive.
By pollinating the flowers, bees make an important contribution to blueberry production. However, naturally occuring insects are not enough to pollinate commercial acreages of blueberries, so often extra bees are brought in for pollination.
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