by JOSEPH F . BERENATO
Each year , blueberry season brings tens of thousands of pints of Hammonton ’ s signature crop into area grocery stores and farm markets .
However , Blueberry Bill Farms manager Christian Mortellite said that that ’ s not the only way for Hammontonians to get their hands on fresh blueberries . Many farms , like theirs , offer the option for visitors to pick their own berries .
“ We have a couple of fields around our packing house here — maybe 10 or 15 acres — and they grab a white bucket and pick their own . It ’ s $ 3 a pound ; real simple . We weigh
it on the scale after , and everybody can get their blueberries and be on their way ,” Mortellite said .
Mortellite said that their farm usually has “ a good amount of people .”
“ I ’ d say we get anywhere from 40 to 50 people here a day who stop in . We ’ re lucky ; we ’ ve been running it for a few years , and we get people who come back every year . When people want to come back and see you , it means you ’ re doing things the right way ,” Mortellite said .
Sam Mento III , owner of Sam Mento Farms , said that fresh-packed berries are also popular with commercial clients .
“ We have a customer , Dondero ’ s in Connecticut , who drives down here every year on the Fourth of July to pick up enough fresh pallets to freeze to put in their pies for the whole year ,” Mento said .
THE HAMMONTONIAN | JULY 2022 | P . 17
There ’ s no wrong way to eat a blueberry
IT ’ S A HAMMONTON THING
ATLANTIC BLUEBERRY COMPANY PRESIDENT ART GALLETTA HOLDS A CONTAINER OF RECENTLY SORTED SOFT AND GREEN BLUEBERRIES THAT WILL BE USED AS JUICE STOCK .
CHRISTIAN MORTELLITE , MANAGER OF BLUEBERRY BILL FARMS , HOLDS A CRATE OF FRESH-PACKED BLUEBERRIES .
Securing that business arrangement , Mento said , was “ kind of dumb luck .”
“ They were actually already in the area ; they were supposed to pick them up elsewhere but weren ’ t able to . They called me , looking for processed berries , and I told them that we didn ’ t do that — but they came anyway . That was about seven years ago , and ever since then it ’ s worked out really nice . They drive on the Fourth — because of traffic , it ’ s a good day to travel — every year , and pick up four or five
See BLUEBERRY , P . 18