Our Story

Maine Tradition

Wild Maine Blueberries, a tradition that people poetically write about and families intentionally schedule into their summer vacations. This native fruit keeps us anxiously awaiting the first shades of blue and the appearance of fresh blueberry pies in local restaurants. Simply put, there’s nothing like a wild Maine blueberry.

From Our Field to Your Table in 24 hours

We work really hard to create for you the best fresh-blueberry experience possible. Our wild blueberries are on your table within 24 hours of being harvested. That’s FRESH! You’ll taste the difference.

Wild Blueberries Freeze Beautifully

One of the many amazing things about this super fruit is wild blueberries retain their incredible flavor and exceptional nutritional value when frozen. Start making room in your freezer.

Once you try our wild blueberries and learn of their powerful health benefits, you will pack away as many as possible to get you through to the next season. Our customers will tell you, Alexander’s blueberries have a significantly better flavor than supermarket frozen blueberries. There’s a definite difference!

Be Warned

If you are new to this small blueberry with a big taste, know this, once you try a WILD blueberry, no other blueberry will ever satisfy.

Our Naive Choice

Jimmy married me in 1987, his high school sweetheart. Leaving Maine’s rugged coast and my hardworking family of fishermen, I set down roots with him in his hometown of Greenfield. We were drawn by the panoramic views, the beauty of Mt. Katahdin, and the stunning sunsets, all visible from the very top of his parents’ blueberry fields.

Young and naive, we put in a quarter-mile road and lots of expensive power lines just for the privilege of seeing that view every day. With a little more wisdom and common sense, we would have chosen a more accessible location. But over 30 years into our story, we’re thankful for decisions made during those naive days of youthful we-can-do-it boldness. We love it here.

Generations Before Us

Like many farms, our story has ties to generations of family members who tended this land. Jimmy’s great-grandfather Darrel Harris was the first in the family to care for the blueberry plants that grow here naturally. The stories of old are still being told, but we hear them with a different ear. We’re part of the story now.

Jimmy himself worked every summer in the fields from the time he was old enough to lift a hand-held rake. That work continued every summer until his days of boyhood were exchanged for the responsibilities of adulthood. Full-time work took him away from the annual harvest.

Passing the Baton

When Jimmy’s parents looked to make a change in 2008, we decided to buy most of the farm and work the land. Jim Sr. and Rosalie kept and still manage the handpicking side of the farm. Rosalie has an adorable gift shop that adds to our customers’ experience every year.

As is common with a change of hands from the experienced to the young, Jimmy and I had plans. After the first season, we focused on putting our delicious blueberries directly into customers’ hands rather than transporting them to the large processors.

Very few Maine farmers fresh pack their blueberries for direct sale to the public. But we were convinced that with a lot of hard work, equipment upgrades, and the right people, we could make that happen. It was 2010. We were no longer young but still slightly bold.

Another Cliche’ Garage Story

Our story started in our garage. No, really, we did. For each of the first two seasons, we completely emptied the garage, washed down the entire interior, assembled the processing equipment, and hired our two teenagers, Monica and Tyler, with a crew of other young people to help us box the blueberries in 10 lbs. boxes.

Finding customers started with phone calls to local family, friends, and small $2 ads in the local Penobscot Times. When an order was ready, we called folks. They met us on the front porch of our home to pick up their blueberries. We only sold a few hundred boxes the first season, but when some of those customers came back twice and three times in the short three-week season, we knew we were on to something good.

At the end of the 2011 season, we knew we needed a larger, more user-friendly space for fresh packing the blueberries. Overhauling the garage every summer was a lot of work. For the first time in our story, we were unable to meet customer demand.

We didn’t like the idea of turning customers away who wanted our blueberries. We began formulating a plan. With our priorities focused on two in college, we decided to push the date out to 2015, when Tyler was set to graduate.

Our Barn & Those Beautiful Brown Eyes

Good stories often have a milestone that changes the course of well-made plans. Our story includes Monica’s “yes!” and preparations for her marriage that began in fall 2012. Her father had the ambitious idea that the barn we planned to build would also be a wonderful location for her summer 2013 wedding.

With excited anticipation in her beautiful brown eyes, she agreed. He’s always been a softy for those big brown eyes. It was indeed a beautiful wedding.

The dedicated processing room and the barn’s open floor plan made the 2013 season an entirely different experience for our customers and us. The processing room’s increased footprint gave Jimmy the space to expand the original equipment, increasing the volume of blueberries we were able to process each day. The crew had a much more comfortable working space.

We had a more accessible, welcoming pick-up location for our customers. Best of all, we didn’t have to turn anyone away empty-handed. The new barn, two years ahead of schedule, was a win-win.

He Makes It Look Easy

Jimmy’s creative mechanical mind is the reason we can offer our customers a great product at an affordable price. He keeps our machinery in top-notch condition, continually making improvements and upgrades to make us more efficient.

In 2015, he added a cold room inside the barn for chilling the blueberries when they leave the field. Cooled berries are easier to fresh pack, and the customers walk away with a better product.

We work hard in the off-season paying close attention to best-method farming practices for 40 acres of lowbush wild blueberries. There is continual mowing, brush cutting, and rock removal. We take plant and soil samples to determine nutrient levels. We scout the fields to monitor plant health throughout the growing season.

You All Amaze Me

One of the most surprising changes since our first fresh-pack season is the expanded geographic area of our customer base. One of the most delightful parts of our story is the number of you who return each year. Some of you have become more like friends than customers.

One of my favorite long-distance wild blueberry enthusiasts is Ilga from Virginia. She travels by well-worn road map and a wonderful sense of adventure. She is a delight, but she’s not the only one who travels a long distance.

Customers road trip here from New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. Our blueberries have traveled in carry-on luggage as far west as Arizona and countless points in between. Every summer, I am amazed at the distance people will travel for our wild lowbush blueberries and the efforts made to transport them to family and friends. We’ve developed a wonderful community of folks who love Maine’s delicious super fruit.

You Will Never Look Back

If you have not yet experienced the flavor burst of a handful of fresh wild Maine blueberries, a piece of wild blueberry pie with a dollop of vanilla ice cream, or a wild blueberry smoothie, you’re in for a never-look-back experience. There’s nothing like a wild Maine blueberry!

To our wonderful customers, thank you for supporting our farm to those new to Alexander’s Wild Maine Blueberries. Welcome. I look forward to meeting you on the barn porch.

– Denise (Joyce) Alexander