When the opportunity arose to preserve a longtime community favorite, Kristy Ralphs and her family decided it was worth taking a chance at blueberry farming.
After years of bringing their five children to pick berries at the former Kaye's Blueberries, Ralphs and her husband purchased the farm in 2018 as the previous owners prepared to retire.
Now in its seventh season under the Indigo Acres name, the family has continued a tradition that stretches back decades while introducing a few additions of their own at the blueberry farm west of Dollars Corner.
"We always came here because I knew they had the best blueberries," Ralphs said.
Neither Ralphs nor her husband, Ryan, had a farming background before taking over the operation. Ralphs said their closest connection to agriculture came through family members who grew potatoes in Idaho.
"The community is really great. Other farmers and Kaye were really helpful with passing along information for us and stuff," Ralphs said, highlighting the helpful agriculture community.
Today, Indigo Acres features about 1,100 blueberry bushes spread across roughly 2 acres. Many of the mature bushes are around 40 years old, while a stand of Collins blueberries may date back 70 to 80 years after being transplanted from another farm decades ago.
"My kids call it the plumpy forest because you can literally walk through it," Ralphs said of the overarching Collins blueberry bushes.
The farm is open Tuesday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. during Clark County's blueberry season, which typically runs from around the Fourth of July through late August.
She said weather largely dictates each harvest, with hotter temperatures speeding ripening and cooler conditions extending the season well into late summer. During an especially productive year, the farm donated 300 pounds of blueberries to a local food bank after volunteers gleaned fruit that remained into early September.
Ralphs said the extended evening hours have become popular with families looking to avoid the afternoon heat.
"It's really great to pick in the evenings," she said. "I tell people it's like a golden hour after dinner. Bring the kids out. You got some filtered sunshine, a breeze across here. This is all in full shade in the afternoon. It's just a really magical time to pick."
For Ralphs, the greatest reward isn't the berries themselves but the relationships built with returning customers.
"I just love talking to the customers," she said. "It's really fun to see people year after year, you know repeat customers, watch kids grow that used to be in strollers and now they're here picking."
She recalled how her own family's visits inspired them long before they became owners, including one afternoon when her husband disappeared into the rows after a stressful workday.
"I was like, 'Guys just hold on, dad is just calm,' and he was in zen mode," Ralphs said. "I was like, well whatever it is, there's magic on the farm. It's just peaceful."
The operation also offers pre-picked flats for customers who prefer not to pick their own berries, along with homemade blueberry syrup and jam.
Looking ahead, Ralphs plans to expand the farm by planting newer varieties, including Pink Lemonade blueberries, as well as Duke and Legacy bushes, while preserving the historic plants that make the farm unique.
Ralphs said preserving the farm has always been about more than growing blueberries. As development continues across the area, she wanted to maintain a place where families could create memories for generations.
"We just didn't want to see it scraped and turned into another subdivision," Ralphs said. "To us … this is a community thing."
That decision has resonated with longtime customers, some of whom first visited the farm as children and now return with families of their own.
"We've even had people come in that said, 'Oh we picked here as a kid,'" Ralphs said. "Now they're bringing their own kids back here to pick, which is really fun."
Indigo Acres is located at 5406 NE 219th Street near Battle Ground and can be contacted by calling 360-687-4630. To learn more, visit indigoacresblueberryfarm.com and on Facebook and Instagram under the farm's name.
