Blue Acres

Episode 1 – Beginnings It’s the early 2000’s and thirty year old Jake is itchy to get out of his city boy poser lifestyle and “do something with his life”. At an afterwork bar he meets Twinkle a bartender who's escaped from a Michigan dairy farm for big city life. On a lark, she agrees to go with Jake to his parent’s Michigan cabin where they exchange life stories over a campfire.

Episode 2 – A Farm of His Own Jake and his dad, Mike, are at the family cabin in Fruitville, disussing local customs – like shooting into the air randomly and why some many locals have first names that start with the letter “L.” Mike sees an ad in the local newspaper for a couple of small blueberry farms. He and Jake walk the field with the owner, Mr. Wiley, who is delighted that a young person might go into farming. An offer is made and Jake is now a farmer in training. Wh...

Episode 3 – Growing Concerns Almost from the start of his new career as “farmer” , Jake finds himself being tugged as by bad weather, hard chores and all kinds of paperwork and meetings. At a local blueberry meeting, he’s laughed at for wanting to grow “organic” berries, but is taken under the wing of a sympathetic county agent.

Episode 4 – Haircut With Twinkle coming up for a visit soon, Jake is not impressed at what he sees in the mirror. Time for a trim and encounter with Fruitville society at the local barbershop, where the local gossip is a bit too much for him, as is the Amish looking haircut he ends up with. Twinkle learns of Jake’s fixation on one-syllable names as they snuggle in his newly acquired smelly trailer.

Episode 5 - The Market Jake’s starting to worry about how his new farm is going to make money. ;He’s already into his parents for a bunch of money and needs so marketing help. His mom Anne’s the go to for help and she’s quick to see that blueberries come in many forms – jams, raisins, and the like. His new confidence doesn’t last long as he encounters a prickly manager at a Chicago farmers market who says she already has a blueberry seller and steers him towards applying to an Inclusion...

Episode 6 – Bee Careful Jake has become a “go to” attraction for friends and family. First there is his auto mechanic friend Andy who found some bee hives at an Uncle’s place in Indiana and has brought some up to Blue Acres to help with spring pollination. Jake is afraid of the little stingers but knows he needs them. Next to appear is Peter, Jake’s brother with his wife Iris, all the way from California. Peter, an expert in offering advice and hoarding his money, starts right in on how...

Episode 7 – The Intern Fast forward to June. The work load is ramping up, Jake is getting really grumpy. Twinkle demurs on adding to her workload and suggests he look for an intern. While they are discussing this in their beat up lawn chairs over some alcoholic kombucha, a hippy-looking Johnny Appleseed type named Delbert shows up looking for a place to stay overnight as he bicycles cross county. His long term plan is find a plot out west to grow weed. The three hit it off o...

Episode 8 – Hooping it Up Thanks to a grant, Blue Acres now has a giant new hoop tunnel. Jake enlists father, intern and family friend Kevin to do the erecting. Father Mike insists on standing in the high tractor bucket to do the bolting and Jake expresses concern, Mike alleges age discrimination is at work. Afterward, at the local tavern, Kevin remarks on bartender Honey’s fine looks as he has noted on a men’s room calendar. She says it was for a fundraiser and that she was also featured for...

Episode 9 – A Frost All of a sudden, a late season frost is on the way. Not only that, but the little farm tractor is not working. While Harry the local mechanic checks things out, Jake is on the phone with Mark, the county agent, looking for a miracle to keep his crop from freezing. Since Jake doesn’t have irrigation to help protect the bushes, Mark tells him to light a few fires in the field and spray water with hoses if he can. “…In farming we work at the margins,” says Mark. “Mother natur...

Episode 10 – The Menagerie There’s trouble in paradise as Twinkle comes down hard on Jake for wanting to increase income with the addition of farm animals. She tells him she was feeding animals at her family farm from the age of 5, but they never had to deal with u-pickers stepping over poop. With Twinkle back in Chicago, Jake gets some mail-order chicks to apply his maternal instincts to. At the same time, he rents space at the Amish farm nearby and talks Honey into moderating a ...

Episode 11 – Pickers New questions emerge: how is the farm going to attract u-pickers and who’s going to help with the harvest? Anne, Jake’s marketing pro mom suggests local signage emphasizing organic berries and ads versus too much reliance on social media. Jake’s neighbor Fernando explains his high price for getting professional pickers is because both the berries – and the field – are small. Jake turns to Delbert to round up local down and outers in the area. When ...

Episode 12 – Crunch Time All of a sudden, everything is turning blue and everybody’s in motion. The field crew is working erratically, a local farmer tries to shake Jake down when he puts up a sign, and a wheel barrow full of berries destined for Twinkle’s market, hits a rock and spills. Despite all this, the berries sell out quickly as the tumbled over berries that had to be washed are re-branded as “wet with the morning dew.”

Episode 13 – Season Finale County agent Mark is warning Jake that since he doesn’t spray pesticides, he has to get the berries out of the field quickly. In desperation, Jake asks Fernando for a Sunday crew, which is not going to be cheap. At the farm, Delbert is managing u-pick. A young woman with two bratty kids shows up for a “picking experience”. She expresses delight for finding a place with healthy berries as she continuously sprays the children with bug repellant. At t...