SPOTLIGHT: Old Barn Farm-Carl Contadini

One of the more enjoyable ways to spend a summer afternoon, here in Goshen, is picking blueberries at the Old Barn Farm. Young and old alike savor the fresh, organic blueberries that draw folks from all over the northwest corner, and beyond, to 300 Bartholomew Hill Road. Carl Contadini, owner of the blueberry farm, tells how his love of blueberries started with summer visits to his grandfather’s house.  His grandfather nurtured several productive blueberry bushes, with blueberries just waiting to be picked, Contadini recalls, and he spent many a summer day picking them. He wanted to share that experience with his own grandchildren. 

Carl, his wife, two daughters, and their families were hoping to find a place where all three families could live nearer to one another. Carl and his wife Leslie had looked at another established blueberry farm nearer their Terryville home, but that didn’t offer the proximity the families desired. In 2003 they found the parcel on Bartholomew Hill. Not only was it large enough to accommodate homes for all three families, but it sported wild blueberry bushes! Landscaping and homebuilding followed, and then the first domestic blueberries. 2500 bushes were planted in 2006, followed by another 2500 in 2007. 19 different varieties were planted in an effort to extend the season.

There is plenty of off-season maintenance, including pruning, replacing plants that were damaged or destroyed, weeding, cutting grass, and insect and animal control. In 2022 moth worms devastated both leaf and berry. Birds, beavers, and bears offer additional threats. Birds can ravage the berry crop. Beavers dam up the water supply destroying the drainage needed for blueberries, and bears tear up the bushes and scare customers. Contadini leans towards natural controls. Hawks, native to West Goshen, keep the birds, mice and voles in check.  Beavers can be quite aggressive and have to be hunted. A couple of bears have had to be tagged and eliminated, while others remain distant and pose few threats.

As a grandfather, this is Contadini’s legacy to his five grandchildren. “I want them to develop a good work ethic, understand the business, see its place in both the natural environment and in the community.” What he enjoys most is spending time with his customers and learning from their stories.