Lake Catherine Blueberries

For seventeen years, Lake Catherine Blueberries has been growing fruit on Lake Catherine Rd in Groveland, making it one of the longer standing agricultural operations in this corner of South Lake County. Blueberry farming has become a familiar part of Central Florida’s agricultural landscape over the past two decades, since Florida’s early growing season lets local farms get ripe berries to market well before most of the country’s blueberry regions further north even start their harvest. A farm that has kept growing berries here for close to two decades has weathered plenty of Florida seasons, from droughts to hurricanes, and still keeps its rows in production.

Florida blueberry season generally runs through the spring months, when the state’s warm winters push the plants to ripen earlier than blueberry farms almost anywhere else in the country. That early window is part of why Florida blueberry farms have carved out a niche in the produce market, supplying fresh, locally grown berries at a time when most competing regions are still weeks away from their own harvest. For a farm operation like this one, that early season timing is a real advantage, and it gives South Lake County families a chance to buy fresh, local blueberries before the fruit becomes widely available elsewhere.

Farms that combine growing operations with a market component, as this one does, give visitors more than a single transaction. Buying directly from a working farm rather than a grocery store shelf connects a purchase to the land it came from, and it supports a small, locally rooted agricultural business rather than a large scale distributor. In a county that continues to see new rooftops replace old groves and pasture, a working farm that has held on for close to two decades represents a piece of Groveland’s agricultural character that is worth supporting.

Visiting a working farm also offers something that a produce aisle cannot, which is a direct look at where food actually comes from. For families with kids who have never seen a berry on the bush, a trip out to a farm like this one can turn a routine grocery run into a small outing, with the added benefit of fruit that was picked far more recently than anything trucked in from out of state. That kind of freshness tends to show up in flavor, especially with a fruit like blueberries that can lose sweetness quickly after harvest.

Because farm hours and availability shift with the growing season and weather, anyone planning a visit to Lake Catherine Blueberries should call ahead before heading out to Lake Catherine Rd to confirm what is currently in season and what hours the farm is keeping that week.