Cloverdale Blueberry Cannons Are Firing

I heard the first blueberry cannons today. At 7:30am. I was already awake so they didn't bother me but it was clearly the same field, must have gone off 10 or 12 times in one minute. Sounded like the farmer was testing the propane cannon and getting it ready. They're only allowed to fire once every 5 minutes so if he's testing it you'd think he could have waited until later in the day. The people who live on the subdivision on the west side of 168th Street above Highway 10 are going to be livid! And a few minutes later I heard the cannons go off 3 more times in rapid succession. Then nothing. Until 8:30pm when I heard a cannon go off several times. I doubt the bylaw has changed in Surrey. Blueberry cannons are supposed be turned off by 8pm.

The blueberry cannons don't bother me. I've been hearing them since 1974 or 1975 when the blueberry fields were around Colebrook Road and 152 Street. Now there are many farms along 168th and 176th and even on Highway 10 where the Maddix Farm used to be, approximately the whole area between the salmon processing plant and 168th Street.

I'd been wondering when they were going to start up again. My blueberries are starting to ripen. I have several varieties so I'll get blueberries on one plant or another until September. I only have a dozen bushes in a raised garden bed and I protect them with nets. No blueberry chomping birds are going to get my berries!

Now's the time we get to be entertained with letters to the local papers complaining of the blueberry cannon noise. One Cloverdale resident had filed a lawsuit against the city of Surrey for not enforcing the bylaws. I'm not sure how that's turned out. Probably not heard yet by a judge. Its pretty hard for bylaws officers to enforce the complaints anyway. If they hear them then they have to track down the right field and the right farmer responsible for the infraction and give them a warning. Sometimes the farmers forget to turn the cannons off at night and I hear them between noon and 3pm when they're supposed to be shut off so clearly farmers do violate the city's bylaws.

I'm amazed at how many blueberry fields have sprung up around Cloverdale in the past 5 years. Incredible boon but it probably drives the price down for the farmers when the supply exceeds the demand. Oh well. I still buy local blueberries and freeze them. The blueberries from my little garden get eaten before I can get them into the house! Love blueberries. Made a pie last week from some I still have leftover in the freezer from last year. I've got to get busy and use them up to make room for this year's berries bound for the freezer.

Yummy!