Shawn Newell has been working hard to dramatically expand Creekwood Farms’ footprint and community profile since he purchased the business five years ago.

“We started in 2020 with about 7,000 blueberry bushes, and we’re up to 22,000,” said Newell, who is the owner and president of Creekwood Farms as well as the owner of a roofing company in North Texas. “By the end of 2025, we’ll be around 40,000 that will produce about a half million pounds of fresh blueberries a year.”

Located near Houston in Vidor, Texas, Creekwood Farms was started in 1984 by Mike and Cheryl Beard after discovering they could grow a certain variety of blueberries that can be harvested in the spring rather than the summer. What started as a small orchard grew into an association with more than 75 affiliated farms, but the numbers dwindled over the years to nine today.

“We’re in the only geographic area in Texas where you can grow blueberries for harvest during April and May,” Newell explained. “There is something special here about the climate, humidity and soil that make it just right. Anywhere else, they are not ripe until the first of June.”

A hidden gem no more

Newell wants the community to know how special Creekwood Farms is too, so he’s created two festivals per year that allow the public to come and enjoy the fruits of the farm’s labor. The first happened around last spring’s harvest with more than 5,000 people attending. In addition to picking blueberries, they could enjoy music and visit with on-site vendors. Creekwood Farms’ fall festival featured a hay maze, a pumpkin patch, a petting zoo and a market with blueberry-themed items.

“There were a lot of people who said they lived within 10 or 15 minutes of the farm their entire lives and never knew it was here,” said Newell. “I got a lot of satisfaction out of knowing that people were getting to enjoy and experience the same feeling that I did the first time that I stepped on the farm, because I grew up about 5 miles from here and wasn’t aware of it either. It’s been a hidden gem since the mid-1980s. The previous owners built a beautiful property that they enjoyed for themselves. When I bought it, I fell in love with the property.”

Newell could have easily soured on the property, though. Just seven weeks after he purchased it, a hard freeze wiped out the entire first year’s crop. Undeterred, he pressed on, and as his love for the property grew, so did his desire to make it work and expand it. Today, he has up to six people who work year-round to maintain Creekwood Farms. During harvest, that number significantly increases with people handpicking approximately 12 million blueberries. Several family members are among those who help out.

“Watching it in full swing during harvest time is my favorite part of the business,” Newell indicated. “We’ll have 50 to 60 people picking, processing and packaging blueberries from daylight to dark. It’s satisfying to see the hard work being harvested. Probably the most satisfying is seeing the berries loaded onto a truck knowing that they are going to H-E-B stores across the entire state of Texas.” 

Moving dirt faster with Komatsu used equipment

To expand operations, Newell recently bought an additional 73 acres of land, which will allow Creekwood Farms to plant more blueberry bushes, as well as construct new roads, ponds and parking areas. The purchase included a Komatsu PC200 excavator. Newell augmented his equipment fleet with the addition of two pre-owned machines—a Komatsu PC360LC excavator and a Komatsu D61PX dozer—through Kirby-Smith Machinery Inc. (KSM).

“I liked the first Komatsu machine so much that I added another excavator and dozer, so we could increase productivity and get more done in less time,” commented Newell. “Being near the Gulf Coast, it’s swampy and rains a lot. We need to be able to do as much as possible when it’s dry. The Komatsu equipment gives us excellent production.”

Newell continued, “I’ve run all the machines extensively, and what stands out to me is how intuitive they are and easy to use. We can quickly train farmhands how to safely and effectively operate the equipment.”

Newell added that buying used equipment was more cost-effective for his operation, and he knew KSM had thoroughly inspected it and would stand behind it.

“Kirby-Smith has been exceptional to work with, especially servicing our older machine, which has had a few issues and needs a little more TLC,” said Newell. “Anytime I need something, they’re responsive and get me back up and running quickly. They’re a big reason why we’re able to make a lot of progress on our expansion projects as quickly as possible.”

New pick-your-own operation

Creekwood Farms’ expansion is going beyond its current location to a new venture in North Texas where Newell is currently working on starting a pick-your-own blueberry farm in Farmersville, just northeast of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. He also has plans to grow the current operation in Vidor.

“We’re excited about what the future holds with the new place and how things are progressing on our existing farm,” reflected Newell. “My long-term goal is to grow the farm to more than 100,000 blueberry plants in our orchard, which will produce anywhere from 800,000 to 1.2 million pounds of fresh fruit a year. That will likely push us toward machine harvesting and automation technology. It will help meet what we see as a growing demand for fresh blueberries, especially ones grown in Texas. We see it increasing year over year, and we’re looking to fill some of the demand as it grows.”

*The opinions expressed here are from the end user as quoted. The results described herein are those of these end users under certain conditions. Individual results may vary.

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