NATCHEZ — For the past 13 years, Second Creek Blueberry Farm in Natchez has quietly produced some of the juiciest blueberries in the area.

Area residents previously looking to grab a few pounds of Second Creek blueberries had to place an order, but this year’s five-week blueberry season in Natchez will offer residents a chance to pick their own supply.

“This is something that people have been interested in for years. People always approach us to come pick them,” Second Creek Chief Operating Officer Laura Tillman said. “We thought we should give it a shot and try it out to see if this is a venture we want to continue.”

After the first 10 days of the blueberry picking experiment, Tillman said the response from the local community has been great.

“Everything has been going extremely well,” she said. “It is exciting that this many people are excited about picking blueberries.”

Tillman said any berry pickers that make their way to Second Creek will only have to pay $1 for every pound of berries they pick, a deal Adams County Extension Service Director David Carter said you can’t beat.

“These berries are just as good as the ones in the store for a fraction of the price,” he said. “It is very cost effective, and who doesn’t like picking their own food.”

Carter said Second Creek is one of the only blueberry picking operations in southwest Mississippi, and that more residents should check out all the farm has to offer.

“People should go out and support this,” he said. “It’s a local operation that you won’t find anywhere else around the area, and I have to say that these are some of the best blueberry bushes we have had in a long time.”

Carter said blueberries are a difficult fruit to grow in this area due to the soil, but the Second Creek farm’s operations are more than capable of continuously providing a good crop.

“The people out there are very knowledgeable of what they are doing,” he said. “They are using some really unique planting methods.”

These methods were recently shown to Carter and a group of 21 other county extension agents from southwest Mississippi when they toured the farm May 25 as part of the Southwest Mississippi County Agents Association.

Carter said the agents toured the farm to view how it functions on a daily basis.

“All the agents were impressed with what they saw,” he said.

Carter said the farm’s overhead watering system and their unique fertilizer applications set them apart from your typical blueberry farm.

“These guys are staying ahead of technology,” he said. “The yields are all so much higher and the bushes are all full.”

Tillman said at the end of June residents would start to see the blueberry crops diminish. The farm is on U.S. 61 South, approximately 2.4 miles south of Mammy’s Cupboard. It is open 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 1 to 6 p.m. on Sundays. “We are looking forward for the rest of the season,” Tillman said. “Hopefully things will continue to go well.”

Until the season ends, Carter said area residents need to take their families out to Second Creek to share in a fun, family friendly activity with a very fruitful ending.