One of my favorite places in New England is Timberlane Blueberry Farm in upstate New York. It is located in a little nook off the Caroga Lake road in the Adirondack Mountains, a place I’m proud to call home.
There isn’t much up there frankly other than lakes and mountains, but that’s precisely why you go….to get away from everything and anything that keeps you disconnected from nature. Want to do a walkabout and leave technology and a frantic lifestyle behind? Head to the incredibly unpretentious Adirondack Mountains, a part of the world I give credit to for keeping me grounded regardless of what is thrown my way. You get the idea. I love this place.
What’s special about Timberlane for me of course is its history and the fact that picking my own berries there has been part of tradition with my grandparents since I was 5 years old. Picking them is part of the experience so while you can go there and purchase pints of ’em or buy breads, syrup, or pies, you don’t really experience what is special about the place unless you go into their grounds, get eaten alive by flies and bugs (spray yourself down suck it up; it’s part of it) and pick from a minimum of 3 aisles.
The area is lined with aisles and aisles of bushes and often the ones in the back are less picked so have larger berries and more of them, but not always. It’s worth scouting the place out before you dive into a bush and if you’re going with others, spread out and call to your pals when you’ve found a killer bush so you can share your discovery. Mid-day btw has less flies but it can also be hot if you pick in July or August, so you’ll need to choose your poison.
Mary Cleland, now 75 years old, owns the farm and started it with her husband decades ago. Her husband has since passed and her daughter is now part of the family business where the tradition lives on: the picking, the breads and of course scrumptious pies, which extend beyond blueberry btw. When I was there in mid-July, she had berry berry, rhubarb, strawberry rasberry, peach, pecan and chocolate. Mary is also an artist and on this last trip, I took the time to look through some of her watercolors, acrylics and pottery she has made over the years and even left with one.
She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.
Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
Renee is also the co-founder of Traveling Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to other countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote innovative technologies.
What you don’t know is that the cultivated blueberry’s were started by Dr. John Larrabee who at one time was the 3rd leading authority on arthritis in the US. He treated his patients with bee stings to give them releif.
He purchased the Knox Mansion in Johnstown, NY after Mrs. Rose Knox passed away. The house had a very large selerium in which Mrs. Knox would raise her rose all year long. After Dr. Larrabee purchased the house he turned his interests into creating a hybrid blueberry that diabetics could eat with adding sugar to the pie or muffins. His blueberries were purchased by the Waldorf Astoria for years just for this reason.
Dr. Larrabee was also a dr. during WWII when he had the honor of preparing the dead for transport off of the beaches in Normandy. He always gave special attention to our fallen boys in arms that were from upstate NY.
God Bless Dr. Larrabee