>> Funding for "Welcome to My Farm" has been provided by Manna Pro... ♪♪ >> As much as we count on them... >> They count on us all the more... >> To nurture their lives... >> With the same commitment... >> Together: Manna Pro -- Nurturing life.

>> ...Meyer Hatchery... >> Meyer Hatchery offers more than 160 breeds of poultry and carries a full line of feed, supplies, gifts, and decor.

With nearly four decades of experience, the Meyer family is committed to supporting our customers through their entire poultry journey.

Learn more at MeyerHatchery.com.

>> ...and Grubbly Farms.

>> Grubbly Farms -- sustainable feed and treats made with grubs.

Find out more at GrubblyFarms.com.

>> And Horizon Structures -- Delivered fully assembled and ready for same-day use.

♪♪ [ Rooster crows ] >> I'm Lisa Steele, author and fifth-generation chicken keeper.

I live in rural Maine with my husband, flock of chickens, ducks, geese, and Winston the Corgi.

We moved to Maine for the peace, serenity, and a simpler life.

Join me as I explore this beautiful state and experience all it has to offer.

Welcome to my farm.

[ Chickens clucking ] Chickens don't handle heat well in the summer at all.

So, it's really important that you give them cool, fresh water a couple times a day.

I love to make my chickens frozen ice pops in the summer with blueberries and fresh mint.

I just pour them into ice-cube trays, add water, freeze them, and then pop them out and add them to the chickens' water to give them a nice, cool treat.

They can have fun pecking at the goodies inside, and it keeps their water cooler longer.

So, to get started, I just add some blueberries to an ice-cube tray.

You can also use strawberries cut up or raspberries.

You can also use vegetables.

You could use carrots or zucchini, whatever you want.

They are going to love it all.

And I also like to add mint.

You can add basil or parsley, any kind of herb that you want.

♪♪ And I'm going to add some mint leaves.

♪♪ The ducks love this, as well, and it's just really a good way to keep them a little bit cooler, give them something to do when it gets hot so they don't get bored.

♪♪ And if you grow mint, you know that you always have way more than you know what to do with.

So, it's a good way to use up all of your extra mint.

So, we've got that.

And then I'm just going to fill the cubes up with water and put them in the freezer.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ I think the chickens are really going to love these.

>> The state of Maine is the only state in the United States that has these thousands and thousands of acres of this lowbush wild blueberry.

It's very, very special.

It's a wild crop, and it's a very special ecosystem.

To me, our wild blueberries are to Maine as the rain forest is to the world.

I'm Marie Emerson, and you're here at Wescogus Wild Blueberries.

And "wescogus" is a Passamaquoddy term that means "above the water."

So, if you get a chance to look out back, you'll see why the farm is named that, why the Native Americans named this piece of land that.

It's been here for a long, long time.

Right now the fields are bright blue.

You know, the lowbush berry is bright blue.

They're in bloom.

We're raking.

It's August.

It's blueberry time.

After the blueberries are raked and picked, we'll mow the fields quite close to the ground, or we'll spread straw on the fields.

And we use oat straw because it doesn't have any wheat seeds, and it does help another farmer.

And then, during the winter, the snow will push that straw down.

And then in the spring we'll light that straw off, and the fire will carry across the fields, just like the Native Americans have done for thousands of years.

So, when that field is burned, it's all black.

Seventy percent of the rhizome system of the blueberry plant is underground.

So, they'll come back up.

So, now the fields are black, and we're waiting for spring to warm up, and you'll be seeing the rhizomes begin to emerge.

And by July they'll be up about ten inches.

Now, that's next year's crop.

And that's important because next year's crop, you know, the growth of those berries, that rhizome system, that plant will determine the crop for the following year.

And it's also very pretty because they're green when they're coming up.

But by fall, that same plant that's going to be next year's crop will turn brilliantly red.

And the fields, there's nothing more beautiful than the blue skies in Maine with those red fields, those red barrens, as far as the eye can see.

I think that's one of the prettiest times.

So, then we hope that they get through the winter without much winter kill or damage, and then the fields will be bright pink in June.

The pink blossoms will be everywhere, and we put the bees out.

There's lots of natural pollinators, and we're always working towards creating more.

But the more bees, the more pollination, the more pollinations, the bigger the berry, and things really start to happen.

Then, once they're pollinated and the blossoms drop off, and then you've got blueberries.

So, two years later, the following August, you'll have blueberries again.

So, we're back to the original cycle.

And that's the cycle of wild blueberries.

It's a two-year cycle.

♪♪ ♪♪ We've always sold our blueberries here out the door.

And, oh, about 25, 26 years ago, somebody bought our boxes of blueberries and took them up to the corner and started reselling them.

And I said, "Oh, my goodness, it's going to hurt the farm.

It's going to ruin the farm."

Dell said, "Jeepers, just put a farm -- just go up by the corner."

His brother used to own the corner, and he said, "Put a little fruit stand up."

I said, "Oh, let's build a big blueberry."

>> In 1999, Marie and Dell Emerson planned to build a stand to sell their berries from their farm down in Addison.

Marie had the wonderful idea of building a 50-foot geodesic dome.

>> He said, "That's a crazy idea, Ree."

I said, "We're good at math.

We can do this."

>> In 2001, the structure was completed and opened as Wild Blueberry Land, a beloved tourist landmark, gift shop, and bakery for over 22 years here in Downeast Maine.

>> And it's become, you know, a real attraction for the state of Maine.

>> In 2017, Marie founded and incorporated the Wild Blueberry Heritage Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, with the hopes of preserving and promoting a hopeful future for wild-blueberry heritage and culture.

>> But in that structure, we've made well over, well, probably close to 40,000 pies through the years.

>> 2022, the organization was able to expand capacity with an invigorated board and AmeriCorps Vista member.

And now, in 2023, we had the privilege of opening up our doors as the Wild Blueberry Heritage Center for the first time.

>> I'll tell you.

I made a lot of pies, but I had a lot of great help through the years.

We've always hired local kids.

We've always hired local people.

>> The mission of the Wild Blueberry Heritage Center is to provide a deeper understanding of the rich history, science, and culture of the 10,000-year-old wild-blueberry ecosystem.

Inside of our 50-foot geodesic dome, there's lots to discover.

And outside of our dome, you can also take a walk down our interpretive walkway and pollinator garden with the goal of providing education on the wild-blueberry ecology and ecosystem and providing habitat for native bees and pollinators.

The unique wild-blueberry ecosystem supports so many different types of wildlife, including all of these animals.

At any time of the year, you can find these animals in the barrens eating and enjoying the incredible benefits of the wild blueberry.

Here you can discover all the unique sounds of the barrens.

[ Raccoon chittering ] >> Now I'm back to the farm.

This is Dell's 70th year.

He'll be 89 this year.

He gets on his tractor every day.

He works every day.

And he takes care of all the bookkeeping, the taxes.

He does everything.

So, I have to say, wild blueberries keep you young.

Dell has really tried to help small growers in his career at the university, helping, you know, with all the research and understanding the needs of the farmers, too, and, you know, their problems.

And he's helped many people.

He's worked a lot of weekends walking their fields, understanding.

And he also knew their needs for equipment.

So, he's designed and helped for the small grower because it's a very specific market.

There's not many wild-blueberry growers other than the state of Maine and now in Canada.

>> Well, it's a self-propelled harvester that was designed by my son Zane and myself.

We have a machine shop.

We needed a machine that would pick a quality fruit for our fresh-pack lines.

At one and one half miles an hour, operated by the right person, it'll pick a great-quality fruit.

But like any other piece of equipment, it's only as good as the operator.

And if you drive it over a mile and a half an hour, it will damage the fruit because they're becoming soft, and the head is spinning too fast, and it beats them up and ruins the quality.

♪♪ ♪♪ >> We bring them in.

The machinery that Dell's built, one piece of it will remove all the leaves and the grass, anything there.

Another section will take out all the small green berries, and then the tilt belt will take out anything with stems or in clumps.

And then it goes down to the picking line, and that's our fourth filter.

And then our wonderful help, they'll pick anything that the machinery missed, and then it goes into boxes, and off it goes into farm markets around the state and also in Massachusetts and Vermont, New Hampshire.

>> Everybody here in Washington County has a wild-blueberry story.

Wild blueberries have touched the lives of everybody that lives in this county.

And we would like to try to gather those stories and those experiences to not only preserve them and present them, but promote a hopeful future for the culture for years to come.

One project that we did this past spring was work with students from Beals Elementary and a local artist to bridge place-based education and art.

We talked about the wild-blueberry ecosystem with the students and provided materials and allowed for them to create dioramas representing the four seasons of the wild-blueberry barrens that are now on display as exhibits inside of our Wild Blueberry Heritage Center.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ >> You know, fruit around the world right now is being shipped all over the world.

So, the tendency for larger companies are to pick things green or unripened.

And there's a lot of reasons for that -- longer shelf life, better shipping ability, firmer fruit, that kind of thing.

But my husband always says, "You wait two years for this crop.

Why would you pick them green?"

So, we want to wait for the full flavor.

And right about now -- which is this is Wild Blueberry Festival week, which is usually around the 15th to the 18th of August -- that's when they're just so sweet.

You know, I mean, so sweet, where, you know, you're making jam or jelly, you use very little sugar on anything because of their natural goodness.

Our term for wild blueberries is "engineered by nature."

>> This week is special because it's leading up to the Machias Wild Blueberry Festival, which is historically our busiest weekend of the year.

We're expecting around 200 people to come in daily to the dome.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Crowd cheers ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ >> You have one minute.

On your marks...get set... eat!

[ Crowd cheers ] >> Ten, nine, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.

[ Crowd cheers ] Faces up.

I think we got a national winner.

[ Crowd cheers ] National winner.

♪♪ ♪♪ >> My name is Ellen Farnsworth, and I'm the director of the Machias Wild Blueberry Festival, which is produced by Centre Street Congregational Church.

And we are in the midst of the festival on a very, very busy Saturday.

Is it afternoon yet?

Okay, Saturday afternoon.

We just finished our pie-eating contest.

We've got probably over 200 vendors here to come visit and see.

We have live music down on our outdoor stage.

There is just a lot going on here.

The types of products that you'll see here are pottery, jewelry, fabrics, clothes, bags, kitchen things, knives.

I mean, really, it runs the gamut what we have.

We also have a lot of nonprofits that are here, and it's great to support them and the work they do.

♪♪ The community all comes together for this to happen.

And as you can see, the police estimate that we get about 15,000 visitors to Machias over the course of the weekend.

Machias has a population, I think, of about 2,300 people.

So, that influx of 15,000 people brings a lot of fun, a lot of excitement, and a lot of revenue.

So, it's very important to Washington County.

The food is amazing.

You can get traditional Downeast fare, from a full lobster dinner, a lobster roll, a crab roll.

You can get festival food.

You can get funnel cakes.

You can get fried Oreos.

You can get curly fries, any number of foods.

We have a fish fry at our food court that runs all day today and tomorrow.

So, whatever you want to find to eat, chances are you will find it here.

And it's all delicious.

>> There is nothing like Maine wild blueberries for baking.

If you're snacking, the cultivated berries are fine.

They're big, and they're juicy.

But the wild blueberries are smaller.

They're concentrated in flavor.

So, when I'm making anything from muffins to pancakes to pies, I always use the Maine wild blueberries.

If you're not lucky enough to live in Maine, you can probably find them in your freezer section.

So, today, instead of making a pie, I thought I would make a cobbler.

Cobblers, crisps, crumbles, slumps -- they're all the same.

They're berries on the bottom, covered with a topping.

So, crumbles and crisps have more of like a nut-oat topping, and a cobbler has more of a biscuit topping.

So, that's what I'm going to do today.

I'm going to show you how easy it is to make.

So, to get started, I'm going to basically make it right in my pan.

I've just got an oven-safe dish.

You can use a pie plate, also.

And I've got about four cups of blueberries.

Then I'm going to add a quarter cup of brown sugar... ...and some cornstarch to thicken it up.

Then I'm just going to add some lemon zest.

You can also use limes.

The zest will add a little acidity and cut the sweetness a bit.

I'm also gonna add a little bit of lemon juice.

Not too much, because I don't want it to be too watery.

That looks good.

We'll just squeeze a little bit of juice into it.

Then I am really just going to stir it up to mix it well, and then I'll add my topping.

The cornstarch is going to help the juices thicken up, and we're going to get a nice, syrupy, blueberry-jam kind of thing going on in the bottom.

Okay, that looks good.

Next, I'm going to make the topping.

It's a super-easy biscuit recipe.

So, I'm going to start with some flour.

Then I'm going to add some sugar, some baking powder, and a pinch of salt.

Whisk it a little bit, and I'm going to add some cardamom.

I'm a huge fan of cardamom.

It's similar to cinnamon.

So, if you don't have any cardamom, you can absolutely use cinnamon.

And then I'm going to grate some nutmeg into it, as well.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ I always like to use fresh nutmeg instead of the already pre-ground.

It just has such a much better flavor, and it's just easy to grate it on a microplane.

♪♪ ♪♪ Now I'm going to get working on my wet ingredients, so I'm going to crack an egg into my bowl.

Then I'm going to add some milk and a little bit of vanilla-bean paste.

It's going to give it a really nice flavor.

♪♪ ♪♪ I'm gonna whisk this up really well.

We want to give a little bit of volume and lift to our biscuits, and the egg will help with that.

It'll help bind everything together and help it to rise with the baking powder.

♪♪ ♪♪ All right.

That looks good.

Then I'm just going to add my dry ingredients and get everything whisked until it's nice and combined.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ It smells really good.

I can smell the vanilla and the cardamom.

All right.

It's getting pretty thick, so I'm going to switch to my spoon now.

Just finish mixing it up.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Just to make sure it's all incorporated...

It's going to be pretty thick, almost like a cookie dough.

♪♪ Okay, that looks good.

Now I'm just going to drop the biscuit dough on top of blueberries.

I don't want to cover all the berries but cover a good portion of the pan with the dough.

♪♪ It's going to bake up.

It's going to brown.

The bottom is going to get all bubbly, and then I'm going to make some whipped cream for the top.

It's going to make a really nice way to end the day.

That looks good.

I'm going to put it in a 375-degree oven for about 35 to 40 minutes.

I really want the topping to be nicely browned and the bottom to be bubbly.

While the cobbler is baking, I'm going to make some whipped cream to go on top.

You can also add ice cream, or you can just eat it plain.

But whipped cream is super easy to make.

So, I'm just going to do that, and I'll show you how easy it is.

So, to get started, I'm going to add some heavy cream to my mixer.

Then... Then, I'll add a little bit of sugar... ♪♪ ♪♪ ...and some vanilla-bean paste.

You can use vanilla extract if you want to, or you can just leave it out.

♪♪ ♪♪ And I'm just going to whip it until I get some nice, soft peaks.

I don't necessarily need stiff peaks for this, but I do want it to hold together a little bit.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ That looks pretty good.

Get a nice peak there.

And I'm just going to put it in the fridge until the cobbler is ready to eat.

♪♪ ♪♪ It's definitely done.

I can't wait to try this.

I probably should let this cool a little bit because it'll thicken up a little bit more and get more jammy, but I just can't wait to break into it, so I'm going to put some in my dish.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Spoon some blueberry on top.

You can also serve it room temperature.

It doesn't need to be hot.

Then I'm just going to top it with my beautiful whipped cream.

♪♪ ♪♪ I can't think of a better way to use wild Maine blueberries than in a traditional New England cobbler.

♪♪ ♪♪ Oh, is it hot today.

We don't get too many hot days here in Maine in the summer, but we get our fair share.

And it's really important to keep your ducks and chickens hydrated.

Cool water in the shade is so important, but they're really going to love these ice pops that I made the other day.

The blueberry and the mint is just going to be fun for them to rummage around in the water for, and they look so pretty.

I'm going to go fill up the other water buckets.

♪♪ Well, I have no idea where the chickens went.

On really hot days, I like to let them free-range.

They are much better at finding cool spots out in the yard than in their run.

And I don't think anything is out and about looking to prey on chickens in this heat.

So, I'm going to give the ice pops to the ducks instead because I know that they'll appreciate them.

♪♪ And the ducks, they need help staying cool, too.

They do have their pool to splash around in, but they love ice water with berries and herbs and all kinds of goodies in them.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Quacking ] >> Funding for "Welcome to My Farm" has been provided by Manna Pro... ♪♪ >> As much as we count on them... >> They count on us all the more... >> To nurture their lives... >> With the same commitment... >> Together: Manna Pro -- Nurturing life.

>> ...Meyer Hatchery... >> Meyer Hatchery offers more than 160 breeds of poultry and carries a full line of feed, supplies, gifts, and decor.

With nearly four decades of experience, the Meyer family is committed to supporting our customers through their entire poultry journey.

Learn more at MeyerHatchery.com.

>> ...and Grubbly Farms.

>> Grubbly Farms -- sustainable feed and treats made with grubs.

Find out more at GrubblyFarms.com.

>> And Horizon Structures -- Delivered fully assembled and ready for same-day use.

Closed captioning provided by Eaton Pet & Pasture.

♪♪