Ohiofarmgirl's Adventures in The Good Land is largely a fish out of water tale about how I eventually found my footing on a small farm in an Amish town. We are a mostly organic, somewhat self sufficient, sustainable farm in Ohio. There's action and adventure and I'll always tell you the truth about farming.


Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Blueberry Rampage

Wow have I been on a blueberry rampage! Sunday was a day of days for the best berry - the blueberry.

The best berry ever - blueberries!

We drove a fair piece to get to a UPick place and we were not disappointed. The bushes were LOADED! I ran down the rows of bushes snatching and grabbing up handfuls of those beautiful blue orbs, yelling my rallying cry "More buckets! Bring me more buckets!" I was unstoppable. Finally, exhausted, we hauled our catch up to the weigh station.


Strawberries are fine, but blueberries... that's the ticket.

The owner's eyes bugged out of his head when he saw we had almost thirty pounds of blue heaven. The folks behind us barely had five pounds. Amateurs.  And yeah, I smirked a little at them. As we were walking away I heard one of them say, "What are they gonna do with all those berries?"

HA! What aren't I gonna do with all these berries! The possibilities are endless! I'm in heaven!

It took a couple days but all the lovely blue gems are either frozen whole (on a cookie sheet in a single layer, then put into freezer bags), mashed and jammed using my favorite Pomona's Universal Pectin - low sugar of course, baked in a crisp then portioned and put in smaller containers, or made into pie filling for later use.

How can you resist? Go and pick some! Quick!

I was so ga-ga over the berries I almost forgot to just leave some whole and fresh. For.. you know... perfect scones. Or maybe there will be blueberry pancakes... ah yes, I believe there will be blueberry pancakes.

Happy Wednesday everyone!

15 comments:

Tami said...

Mmmm, they look could. I love to hear about people who ask you that "Whatcha gonna do with all that___?" People don't think further than the next couple of days. I love my strawberries and applesauce best.

Mary said...

We picked our first berries off of our bushes yesterday. The stinking things were as big as strawberries! Blueberries are really good for you. Enjoy!!

Jody said...

What a delicious post! Thank you. I think Bel could give you a run for your money. She picked 20 lbs last week. She freezes them the same way you do -on cookie sheets then into baggies. Have you ever tried drying them? Mmmmm...

IanH said...

It sounds like you will have to go back and get some for eating!

Bobbi@SnoodleDoodles said...

YUM! My daughter would be in blueberry heaven right now if she were at your house! We love them here too! We have some on our property, but the previous people really didn't tend to them over the years. I'm *hoping* to give them enough TLC that we may get some next season.

Too bad you didn't have video of your escapade! I'm sure you would have been like the little old ladies during the half off at Christmas sales collecting gloves!

Ohiofarmgirl said...

Hi Tami! Yep - and a lot of folks still dont understand the "doing it yourself thing." But thats OK - we had a great time and are loving the berries.

Don't you just love the big berries, Mary?? We found some huge ones - maybe its from all the rain?

Twenty pounds is pretty darn good, for sure! I'm not a big dehydrater fan, but know folks who are and love it. But we might have to give it a try - or get another freezer!

Ian - I laughed a lot about this. Shhh... I want to go back again just because!

Ha, Bobbi! I was more like the bridezillas at the $99 dress sale!

Made by Hand on Planet Earth said...

There is a blueberry you-pick place 2 miles up the road from us. 60 acres of gorgeous berries. No spray. We work for them and get all we want for free. Last year I picked over 50 pounds. I understand your obsession. I get up there and feel like I have to pick until the job is done. But with 60 acres, this is impossible. So I freak out and time flies, and we come home with buckets and buckets of berries. LOVE the blueberries!

Gingerbreadshouse7 said...

Why do you freeze them separate first, and then bag.
Wouldn't it be just as easy to put them into baggies (enough to make a cobbler each bag)? i do that with my other fruits (apples,pears). Making sure I'm not missing something!

Melanie said...

yum! How much are they per pound at the you-pick place?

Tiffany said...

wow! those berries look amazing. ...and 30 lbs?! so great! i can't wait 'til blueberry season in MI.

Dave @ HappyAcres said...

We got 16 pounds of our bushes last year. I dream of the day when they are fully grown and we might get 30 pounds from them. Blueberries - yep, what's not to like? We freeze them like you do. Haven't had enough to try dehydrating them yet.

jj said...

I'm jealous. It'll be weeks before the blueberries are ripe here...

Ohiofarmgirl said...

Hi MBH! 50 pounds!?!!? wowza... ok that almost sounds like a challenge!

Ginny - the only reason I do this extra step is so that the berries dont all stick together in the freezer bag. I'm more likely to just use a handful rather than a whole bag. It just a little easier than whackin' the bag on the counter trying to get a few berries loose.

Hi Melanie! The berries were $2.75/pound... They are sold by the pint for about $4 here so I thought it was a good deal.

TW - they are as good as they look. I think I'm getting a tinge of blue to my skin from eating so many!

16 pounds is GREAT, Villager! I'd like to get more bushes planted here.

Hi JJ! Hopefully you'll have an early season too - ours were a bit early. Yum!

small farm girl said...

Blueberries are my farvorite too! Where did you go to pick them?

Anonymous said...

We love blueberries!! We bought 30lbs for $30 direct from a blueberry field last year. What a steal!! Best part was they were all picked, cleaned and flash frozen. I just had to repackage them into usable sizes. It's been such a blessing to have those fresh berries this past winter. This year, if they offer the same deal, I'm getting 60lbs!! :)

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