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Dresden producer limits farm visits, scales value-added products to balance agritourism and production
Summary
Ashley Field of Fields Fields Wild Blueberries described a deliberate agritourism model (Wild Blueberry Weekend attendance 2,500–3,000), vertical integration into value-added goods (blueberry crisps, powders), use of IQF freezing for year-round supply, and plans for a land trust to preserve wild blueberry habitat.
Ashley Field, owner-operator of Fields Fields Wild Blueberries in Dresden, told an onstage interview that she has balanced the privacy of a family farm with a growing food business by opening the property on specific days and selling value-added products through a mobile crisp cart and local retail.
Field described the farm's history and shift to certified organic management in 2000. "We went from a commodity farm to a vertically integrated farm and food business," she said, noting the farm now produces dehydrated blueberry products, a retail blueberry crisp and operates a food truck for direct sales and market testing.
To manage visitor impact, Field said the farm focuses public-facing activity on set events, especially the state's Wild Blueberry Weekend. "Our first year we had around 1,500 and now we're seeing between 2,500 and 3,000 people," she said, calling the weekend a solution that allows the farm to welcome visitors without disrupting daily work.
Field also described production and distribution practices that support year-round sales: the farm flash-freezes its entire crop using an IQF process at a processor in Ellsworth, which preserves quality and enables frozen sales and product manufacturing throughout the year. She said packaging is currently produced offsite and the farm operates an on-farm commercial kitchen; a move to a co-packer is a scaling goal for 2025.
On distribution, Field said the business currently sells into cooperatives and independent grocers across Maine and uses Crown of Maine distribution. She said conversations with larger chain distributors are planned for 2025 as part of a longer growth strategy.
Field pointed to development and land loss as the industry’s chief long-term threat and said her long-term goal is to establish a land trust to buy and manage wild blueberry habitat to preserve the industry. She also described climate impacts including a late frost that cut the farm’s yield dramatically in a recent year and a shift in harvest timing, and urged low-input management to let the wild crop adapt.
Field recommended that other producers experiment with limited agritourism events to maintain privacy while building customer relationships and said a clear parking plan and staged events helped the farm scale visits without significant neighbor pushback.
Field concluded that vertical integration and direct customer relationships have anchored the business, and that strategic partnerships and careful scaling (including off-farm co-packing) will be central to future growth.
