Most visitors who come to Echo Springs Blueberry Farm to pick their own blueberries or buy those already picked, are fascinated with the process of getting blueberries from the farm's 96,000 bushes to grocery ready cartons.
Ivan and Phyllis Vaseleniuck bought the blueberry farm eight years ago and set out immediately to improve the facilities and the product.
Nearby Echo Springs was diverted for irrigation and the newest state-of-the-art equipment was purchased. A "computerized robotic eye" is set to recognize just the right shade of blue, and blueberries not qualifying are separated. However, Ivan Vaseleniuck says it's the people who make the high quality of his berries possible.
Ivan's wife, Phylis, runs "The Best Little Blueberry Store In Texas", located just a few yards from the processing plant. Phylis gets up at 3:00 a.m. to bake blueberry biscuits, cookies, pies and other goodies featuring blueberries.
Although the blueberry store is open only during June and July, the farm ships blueberries throughout the U.S., Canada, and the Far East until the end of summer.
Joan Hallmark, Reporting. joanhallmark@kltv.com
