Cross another one off the bucket list! The kids and I took the plunge today and went to a blueberry farm to pick blueberries. Every year we order blueberries at a local farm, who in turn gets them from a farm in Michigan. We’ve never had better berries, and this year I ordered 50 pounds, which have been shared, jammed, and frozen for future use. And yet, we’ve never picked them ourselves, and we remedied that today.
We pick strawberries annually. Those are delicious, but you need to hunch down or squat or figure out a way to rove along a row of plants right at ground level- it’s back breaking work! Blueberries are a completely different animal! The only real experience I’ve had with picking blueberries has been wild ones, which grow on small bushes maybe a foot tall. Cultivated blueberries get really tall! Some of the bushes we picked from were a good five feet tall- and loaded with berries. It was really neat. We’d grab a cluster of berries and kind of run our fingers along, and the berries would slide right off into our hands- and then into our waiting buckets. It did take a while to fill our buckets, but it sure was fun to do so!
Anyway, it was a wonderful experience, and I wanted to share in case any local readers would be interested in blueberry picking. I was surprised to learn that blueberry season is really long! They began picking in mid-July, and anticipate being able to harvest at least through August- and maybe into September. The folks at the blueberry farm were so delightful and excited about their blueberries- and they should be. They’re absolutely delicious. Sweet and delightful, and worth every penny. The farmers at Blueberry Haven have found a new loyal customer, because we will definitely be going back next year.
Do check them out, and tell them I sent you! Oh, and one final note. While they happily supply buckets for the picking, they don’t provide containers for transporting the berries home. They have plastic shopping bags, which, while they do the job, I fear we ended up with a few too many squished berries because of it. Now I know that next time we’ll bring along a few flats from our strawberry picking adventures. So bring a few sturdy containers for packing your beautiful berries in.
One of the great things about blueberries is that they have a long shelf life. Up to 2 weeks for dry, refrigerated blueberries. This gives you some time to enjoy all of your pickings!