July 25, 2013

berry days


When I was looking around for strawberries to pick at the end of a dismal, rainy season, one of the growers told me "the strawberries are terrible, but the blueberries will be fantastic." I'm not sure if that's a general truth or something he was hoping for, but either way, he got his wish. I know Maine is more generally associated with blueberries but they grow like mad here. I wish we'd thought to put in a few bushes last summer, we're hoping to get at least a few in soon so we'll have the beginnings o our own little patch next year, but for now we are picking where we can. Last night it was at a farm, this weekend I'm hoping to find more at the lake or at a friends. Frozen blueberries are a breakfast mainstay for us and if I can pick enough to last the year, I'll be a very happy girl. So far we've brought home eight quarts. And one tiny green spider.

I'm sort of torn over what to do with them. On the one hand I know we'll eat every frozen blueberry we can fit in the freezer but I'm also a fan of blueberry syrup. And while we love strawberry jam best of all, a little berry variation wouldn't hurt. I guess we'll see just how many bags I can scrounge up.

What are you picking this week?