Blueberry Season!

 Early morning, sun just rising behind my blueberry bush.

The blueberries are ripening at a pace of every other day so out to pick I go.  This morning I was out at 5:30 a.m.  I love the early morning pickings if I can bring myself to put my feet on the floor & get out of bed.  It’s almost always cooler in the mornings!  The berries are easier to see if the sun isn’t shining brightly on them.  The blueberries almost always have lovely dew resting on them.

While I pick, I let Sammy out of the gated yard to investigate.  He usually runs out into the field to check where the coyotes ventured out of the woods the night before.  While in the midst of picking I’ll call out his name and he always shows up.  After about an hour, he’s usually laying down close to me.  Then a bumble bee will take a notion to come close to us.  That just ticks Sammy off big time.  He chases them & bites at them.  Every now & then his aim would hit the mark, down goes the bumble bee.  Then Sammy proceeds to torture the thing if he hears it buzzing.  I would let Subria out but she’s a roamer—like in front of a car roamer- and she’s hard of hearing so when I call her, she never comes, thus comes break time to go find her.  So I let her out in the back yard where she can see me and she seems happy.

At 5:30 a.m. you’d think it’d be really quiet.  While it’s very early, there are so many sounds going on.  I heard several different birds: Cardinals, Whippoorwills, and even a Woodpecker on a hollow tree!  Then I heard a most familiar sound.  Every rooster in the country began waking up.  Once one crowed, all the others begin chiming in like it was a contest.  The Cardinals were sitting patiently in my neighbor’s yard waiting for me to get out of THEIR blueberry bush!  I honestly don’t mind sharing my blueberries with them but I sure wish they’d eat the WHOLE blueberry instead of leaving the un-eaten half berries for me to pick only to realize my fingers are touching a mushy mess.  OH come on now!  I’m sharing so do your part & take the WHOLE berry not just half of it.  I digress.

Picking blueberries so early in the morning is a refreshing way to begin the day.  I LOVE my blueberries bushes!  With only two bushes to pick from, I’m very picky about who I invite over to pick.  I always love company when picking.  When I pick blueberries, there’s no use going behind me, the branches will be stripped of ripened berries!  Not many blueberries will hit the ground (it’s a fact; some berries will slip through even the most seasoned blueberry pickers greedy fingers). Now let a first timer get into the blueberry bush.  They go after the largest berries toward the middle of the bush knocking off all the ripened berries along the way in.  It’s hard not to smile!  Now when I hear branches breaking any smile I might be sporting fades, quick like.  Van made the mistake of waking up & coming out to see me.  Be a dear & HELP pick these little puppies, will ya?  Well that lasted about 20 minutes then he was gone like the wind!  At least I got to chat with him while picking berries together for a little while.

NOTE to SELF:  lay a sheet down before picking begins.  That way every berry that slips through the fingers won’t be lost.  I draw the line at getting on my hands & knees picking up loners when I have picked over a gallon of blueberries!  Nope, not happening! 

My mother has a HUGE tall blueberry bush out in the country.  I help her pick from time to time but her bush invites CHIGGERS!  I’m not a fan of those buggers!  Will itch for weeks!  Then about the time the itch fades, it’s time to get back out & help her pick more, thus the chiggers hitch a ride.  Ever read up about CHIGGERS?  But that is one of the pleasures of living in the country!

I would highly suggest planting at least two blueberry bushes.  These are the best fruit bushes/trees to have!  No mess if left on the branches & so good for you!  I heard once that blueberries are nature’s little dynamo!   It’s true!

 

You will notice here some reddish blueberries.  When the dew is on them it's hard to tell if they are blue or not.  After picking blueberries, the berries are spread out in cardboard box lids for a day, then transferred to paper lunch bags in 2-3 cups servings to give to family & friends.