PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 3, 2023
Maine’s commercial blueberry harvesters are anticipating a strong season despite an inauspicious start. The state’s signature fruit has proven resilient. Last year’s drought conditions stressed the plants in the first year of their two-year cultivation cycle, slowing and stunting the growth of some. Then, several frosts, including one in mid-May, wiped out several lower-lying blueberry fields entirely. Some worried that heavy rain in June and July would be another strike against blueberries and that growers could face the same disappointing start to the season as strawberry farmers.