Summertime and the Picking’s Easy

One of the pure joys of summertime is picking blueberries (and raspberries).  You haven’t truly lived until you’ve eaten fruits and vegetables straight from the plant, vine, or tree.

This is my sad lonely blueberry bush.  It produces a few blueberries.  But blueberry bushes need friends to really take off.  Next year I will purchase him a few friends.  Because while picking blueberries is great it is even more awesome when you can pick them for free!  Right in your yard!

Sad blueberry.  You can also see my sad "Pea House" in the background.  

I am very fortunate to have an insanely awesome mother-in-law who loves gardening as much as I do and who also has an amazing patch of blueberry bushes.  Which she lets me raid every year.  (If you don't have a friend or relative with fruit search out your local picking spots!  Support farmers and your local economy and pay less than store price!)

Proper blueberry patch!

It’s also great to get the kids involved!  Teach your children where their food comes from!  I truly believe that through teaching children how to garden we can change the world.  Not only to give them the knowledge to provide for themselves but to show them the hard work that goes into producing it.

Hands in the Dirt,

Head in the Sun,

Heart with Nature.

To Nurture a Garden

Is To Feed not Just

The Body, But the Soul.

-Alfred Austin

His bowl is the round one.  Work ethic comes with age right?  ;-)

Now you have all these beautiful blueberries!  What are you going to do with them all?  There are so many options!  You can make jams or blueberry pie fillings to can, eat them as fast you can, or my favorite is to freeze them!  (Make sure you set aside fresh blueberries for eating or any baking you want to do immediately).

Step 1- Wash your blueberries really well.  Picking out any stems or bad blueberries.

Step 2-Spread out your blueberries on a kitchen towel and let dry.

Step 3- Spread out blueberries on cookie sheet and freeze until hardened. The best part about washing them, spreading them to dry, and then spreading them again to freeze is that you have three chances to catch any stems or bad blueberries you may have missed!

Step 4- Place blueberries into freezer safe bags in increments to your liking.  I usually do about 2-3 cups depending on how many blueberries I’ve picked.  Make sure you remove as much air as possible.  

OR I’m super excited because this year I got a food saver for my birthday!  I’m really hopeful this product will prolong the life of my freezer berries.  So far I LOVE THIS PRODUCT.  (Please note that it’s still really important to freeze on a cookie sheet before you use the food saver otherwise they will be squished).

*I'm only linking to products that I've tried and tested and really love!*

And voila!  Lots of packages of frozen blueberries for baking, smoothies, pies, and jams.  If you can dream it you can do it!

Happy Picking!  And Happy Gardening!