Bloobs Blueberries: Family's blueberry thrill

A LOVE of growing plants and a desire to avoid chemicals has driven the expansion of Tim and Jo Muir’s certified organic blueberry farm, Bloobs Blueberries. 

The delicious, nutrient dense fruit are being produced for customers locally and Australia-wide. The Muirs bought their Gardners Bay farm in 2013 with plans to start a blueberry farm. 

“We liked growing stuff so we thought, what’s a commercial crop that we can grow organically, without using chemicals,” Mr Muir said. 

Soon after buying the 9-ha property the Muirs planted their first blueberries and in the summer of 2018-2019 they harvested their first crop. 

Their farm now boasts 2.5 ha of blueberries of five different varieties that each have their own flavour profile.

The different varieties also allow them to extend their growing season from mid December through to late February and sometimes into early March. 

Bloobs currently harvest about 15 tonnes of blueberries each year and expect that to increase as their newer plants mature. 

Initially the Muirs sold their blueberries directly to customers through advertising on social media which soon saw them gain a following. 

Today, Bloobs are stocked at local stores including Hill Street, the Cygnet IGA, and Eumarrah in Hobart. 

More recently their reach has expanded interstate, with blueberries now shipped to wholesalers across Australia. 

When they’re not running the blueberry farm Mr Muir works as a science teacher, and Mrs Muir —who has a background in food science, works at the University of Tasmania. 

As the farm has slowly grown, their sons Nick, Jack, and Max have joined in the business, helping out with the farm during peak season, alongside a team of up to 16 seasonal pickers and packers. 

Mr Muir said the benefit of growing organic blueberries in Tasmania was that they don’t struggle nearly as much with diseases as organic growers on the mainland. 

“Blueberries are a good crop in Tasmania because you don’t need to use any herbicides or pesticides at all really.” 

Mr Muir said that Tasmania’s cooler climate and frosts helped keep pests at bay, and the fruit’s natural waxy coating acted as a resistant shell, making them ideal for organic growing. 

“It’s also the morphology of the fruit that works in its favour,” he said. 

“We are organic here and we intend to be organic for a long time, so we just try and look after the health of the ecosystem in and around the orchard. 

“A lot of the nasties like aphids get eaten by your lady birds and nature sort of controls it.” 

When the couple were establishing their orchard, they focused on making sure their soil was carbon-rich. 

“We spent quite a bit of time preparing the soil, making sure it had the important organic matter in it.” 

They used a technique called “deep ripping” which meant physically dragging big cutting blades through the earth a metre deep. 

“That opened up the soil and really built the carbon up, and we also grew green cover crops on the soil and sprayed it all with microbes. 

“We went from about 18 cm of top soil on this absolute hard pan subsoil to 50 cm of really carbon rich soil,” Mr Muir said. 

The Muirs also use an agronomist to annually soil test and apply organic amendments accordingly to make sure they have a balanced soil. 

“Blueberries are a super nutrient-dense food, but they pull a lot out of the soil,” Mr Muir said. 

“All that comes out of the soil goes into the berries, so it’s making sure you’re keeping that balance,” he said. 

Some of the organic amendments they are using include composted manure, dynamic lifters for the garden and using naturally occurring minerals like lime and gypsum that can improve soil health. 

As the business has grown, to keep up with demand the Muirs have invested in new infrastructure including a custom-built blueberry grader and a new punitiser, which helps with the packing process. 

They currently process about 400 kilograms of blueberries a day with their manual grading system. 

However, Mr Muir said the future of blueberry grading was AI enhanced optical machines that could process up to 10 tonnes a day. 

“Another important piece of infrastructure we have invested in is an overhead irrigation system to reduce heat damage,” Mr Muir said. 

The overhead sprinkler was used on hot days to stop the fruit from getting sunburnt.

“Before we put that in, we had a variety that got badly damaged by heat,” Mr Muir said. 

The Muirs have upgraded a few things in the last few years and are soon planning to install a large solar array to reduce their environmental impact and offset power costs, especially with their year-round freezer storage. 

Running the farm isn’t without its challenges and Mr Muir noted that weeds can be a real problem. 

“Every year or two we apply a deep layer of woodchip mulch and that smothers out the weeds and creates a moist barrier between the soil and the air— it creates a really nice environment for the blueberry roots to get their nutrients,” he said. 

In addition to growing and selling fresh blueberries, the Muirs are committed to using every part of the fruit. 

Across the years, Bloobs blueberries have been used for making blueberry sorbet at the Blac Fig in Sandy Bay and even blueberry wine. 

They are also looking at ways to make value-added products to reduce waste like freeze-drying berries. 

They encourage their pickers to drop imperfect berries on the ground so their nutrients go back into the soil and feed the crop. 

Mr Muir is especially passionate about the superior flavour of organic blueberries, which he says have a depth of taste that is hard to beat. 

“The blueberries being grown for some of big supermarkets commercially have really good structure, but I don’t think they have the taste of the organics. 

In the future, Mr Muir says they may put in a couple of thousand more plants but are pretty happy with what they are doing now—building a business that will eventually support them in their retirement. 

They are also exploring ways to partner up with other organic growers in the region to be more collaborative. 

For the Muirs the most rewarding part of running the business is producing a product that they are proud of but also giving people the opportunity to work together in a really fun and energetic team.