SALEM, Ore. — Once they get past the smile-inducing name of the business, customers at Thank You Berry Much blueberry farm in east Salem can settle into finding the best way to bring home the product.

Cristina Wheeler, who with her husband, Mike, purchased the 10 acres that are home to nearly 3 acres of blueberries in 2013 after living in nearby Keizer for 18 years. Prior to the purchase, the 1970s-era farm had been a mostly commercial operation.

The Wheeler family, which includes a son, Jonathon, and daughter, Julia, chose to transform the berry crop to a full-time U-pick operation. The farm features varieties such as Earliblue, Blueray, Bluecrop, Olympia and Jersey.

Mike Wheeler is a forester appraiser for Northwest Farm Credit Services, while “queen of the farm” Cristina works as a Spanish translator for the City of Salem. She is also an avid beekeeper.

The couple started their blueberry operation with just a horse trailer on their property that was converted into a U-pick stand.

“It was the only structure we had,” she said, and the rudimentary operation produced “a lot of leftover berries” that ended up being picked by food bank workers.

“Every year we figured something else out and every year something new would come up,” she said. “It was a little overwhelming.”

They built a barn a few years later and the Wheelers set up a store and U-pick operations center. Last year, the U-pick berries were priced at $1.25 per pound. Those who just wanted to bring home berries without the U-pick experience could purchase “Ready Pick” quarts at the stand for $3.75 with larger quantities available.

At the end of each season there still can be a volume of berries left unpicked, she said.

“Our philosophy has been, ‘We have berries that need to go home, so we need to make it easy for people to come and take them,’” she said, explaining the 8 a.m.-to 8 p.m. hours the farm is open.

Wheeler said the COVID pandemic last summer encouraged them to start a new venture — flower farming.

“I learned that local flowers are more in demand now,” she said, “so I did my first trial last year with zinnias, sunflowers and other varieties, selling them in bunches and bouquets at the store.”

“My highlight,” she said, “is the relationships we have and such loyal customers, people who have been coming here for years who enjoy the quiet and the nice environment out here, out of the city.”

Oh, and that business name: Thank You Berry Much Farms.

“It was a family effort,” Wheeler said. “We moved here and were talking about this new venture and missing my husband’s mom who had just passed,” she said. “We were thinking of her and her love of Elvis (Presley) and, well, Thank you berry much.”