WILTON — Irv Faunce and Jan Collins have set Saturday, Aug. 21, as “Library Day” at their Wilton Blueberry Farm.

All proceeds from sales from blueberry picking will help the Wilton Free Public Library purchase books and support other programs.

“This is a great opportunity for our customers and our farm to support the programs of our community library,” Faunce said.

For the last two years, blueberries picked at $1.50 per pound and with some donations, the Blueberry Farm has raised nearly $1,000 for the library, Faunce said.

“Jan and I feel it’s important to give back and we’re glad to do it,” Faunce said as he picked the high-bush berries Thursday. “It’s been very successful. Every penny from that day goes to the library to support their programs.”

Although the town subsidizes the library, running the library is expensive. There is close to $20,000 needed from donations and fundraising to buy books, Librarian David Olson said.

“The blueberry day really helps a lot,” he said.

The blueberry season, like other crops, came early and has been good this year, Faunce said. The normal Aug. 1 start was beaten this year when the fields were ready for picking by July 18. Although the high-bush variety has a longer season than low-bush berries, Faunce expects the field will close to customers earlier. Usually they close around fair time, mid-September, but can still do some picking into October, he said.

“It’s been a good year though. We’ve harvested about 20, 21,000 pounds so far,” he said.

abryant@sunjournal.com

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