HE picked his first blueberry at the age of eight, and even though he admits to being well past retirement age, Jeremy Trehane hasn’t lost any of his enthusiasm for what’s now known as ‘the super fruit’.

But then it’s in his (blue) blood, for his father was the first in the UK to grow a commercial blueberry crop in 1957.

That particular plantation, close to the family home at Trehane Nursery, near Wimborne, is still going strong some 56 years later.

Since then the business has expanded to around 30 acres of blueberry bushes and has built up a loyal following of pickers.

Hundreds of people will soon be flocking from far and wide over the next few months as the 2013 pick your own season officially begins today.

“Blueberries are extremely versatile, they freeze beautifully and they are extremely good for you,” says Jeremy popping a handful of the ripe berries in his mouth.

“We grow around eight varieties of blueberry here, and each one has a different flavour and texture.”

He and his wife Sandra are certainly a good advert for a life lived on the indigo-coloured berries – they have the energy and vigour of a couple at least half their age.

Sandra is also the author of the Mrs T’s Dorset Blueberry Cookbook, which features around 30 recipes for cakes, jams, sauces and salads.

“The recipes have been gathered from all over the world – some even from the scribbled notes of fellow enthusiasts I have met in my travels.”

This year the couple have had a bit more time to prepare for the annual PYO season, as it is almost a month later than usual.

But ideal growing conditions mean there’s now a bumper crop of juicy Dorset blueberries ripe for the picking.

Jeremy explains: “All this sunshine we’ve had has meant that this will be one of the better years in terms of volume and flavour. Each bush is picked over around five times during the course of the season. The golden rule is don’t pick them when they’re pink – the berries need to be full blue.”

He added that blueberries are now in second place to strawberries in terms of supermarket sales of soft fruits.

“The other great thing about blueberry bushes is that it’s a crop that thrives in poor quality acidic soil.

“Once they are established, the key to their longevity is winter pruning, although you have to be careful not to over prune so it is about getting the balance right.

“You also have to mow between the rows and weed by hand.”

Jeremy also has some paid pickers Eva, Josef and Magda from the Czech Republic, pictured below right, to meet demand for local wholesalers and to supply markets like Covent Garden.

“We are totally organic – no chemicals, no fertilisers, no pesticides or herbicides.

“No wonder the wildlife love them too – particularly the pigeons and badgers.

“Some of the varieties we have here which I call the heritage varieties, are not even available in supermarkets now.”