Blueberry Picking

[tangomonster]

Was all set to do this tomorrow at a local you-pick-it farm---was even going to miss the gym, which is huge for me. Someone discouraged me, saying it takes hours to pick all the berries and that they can be hard to reach since the most accessible ones have already been picked. She also talked about all the insects biting. I of course was prepared for the sun/heat. So now I'm thinking about not going.

Is this one of those things that sound romantic and fun, but isn't in actuality?

 

[Texas Proud]

My wife and kids went and picked blackberries and loved it...

They said they ate while picking even though you are not supposed to...


I think they picked 10 lbs.... so there has to be some there....

 

[KM]

I guess it depends on where you are going to some extent. We go to a large blueberry farm every couple of years, pick lots of buckets, and then freeze them so we can have them year round.

They have a couple of fields....so we never had a hard time finding full bushes. If you are going to a small place - it might be a problem as the season wears on.

Definitely go early in the morning to get the best picking and avoid the heat. Don't recall insects being a huge problem, but you can always wear bug spray.

I would never call it romantic - but we do enjoy having a freezer of berries year round. We also pick strawberries and raspberries from time to time.

 

[Rusa]

It's more about the fun and less about the food.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Even if you wait til you're done picking to actually eat any, they will be the freshest blueberries you'll ever taste.

Go. You can always cut out if you don't enjoy it.

 

[H2ODude]

Never done that but picked cherries in VA many years ago. Incredibly easy as trees were loaded. I was stunned that people were allowed to move long ladders around, must not allow lawyers in that part of the world!

 

[anethum]

In part, your enjoyment will depend on whether you'll be picking highbush or lowbush blueberries. Really. Varieties are one type or the other. As the name suggests, highbush varieties will involve less stooping over.

Overall, however, blueberries are fairly easy to pick and the plants don't have any thorns.

 

[tangomonster]

Thank you all! You convinced me. Will give it a try tomorrow. We don't travel, so we need to keep things interesting by having new experiences. What do we have to lose but $10 and a couple of hours? Have been retired for almost seven years...wonder when, if ever, I'll stop being so anal bout my time when technically I have all the time in the world....

 

[RE2Boys]

GO! Only ever had problem picking late in the season. We pick strawberrries, cherries, apples, and blueberries every year. Strawberries getting tougher on back as years go by. Black raspberries are the tough one's, thorns & bugs, but how I like a black raspberry pie at Christmas-a simple joy of life.

 

[tangomonster]

RE2, I never had black raspberries---must be wonderful---and how terrific to savor a simple pleasure like that.

 

[Dawg52]

A lady in my neighborhood has a few blueberry bushes. She always invites me over to pick some as she has more than she can handle. I picked enough to fill a large freezer bag. Didn't take that long at all. But the bushes were loaded.

I freeze them and use on cereal.

 

[powerplay]

Sounds like delicious fun! Go pick your blueberries and enjoy the adventure. You can stay as long as you want and leave when you get your fill of berries or the picking. It will be another whole year till the next blueberry season.

 

[JakeBrake]

We have two blueberry bushes in our yard that produce all the blueberries we can use. Our bushes are done for this year. We had an average crop.

Our cats like to hang out under the blueberry bushes, hoping to catch an unwary bird.

 

[Semiretired2008]

We pick them every year plus others. It is more about the family outing than saving money, but having fresh berries year round is great. Blueberry pancakes any time we want is a plus also...

 

[tangomonster]

Thanks so much for encouraging me to do this. We went to a nearby small farm. Took us one hour and cost $10 to fill a gallon pail. I'm now freezing the berries. Not too buggy. Not even too warm doing it early. Will make this a yearly tradition.

I'm so glad I posted this and y'all took the time to answer me. It was silly for me to think I wouldn't like it just because of a woman at the gym who said such negative things about it. When you said it would be fun, I knew I should listen to you rather than her since you all are more my type of my people than her (her favorite activity is shopping).

 

[FUEGO]

My in laws love doing this (except with strawberries). Drive 15+ minutes out of the city, and pick way more berries than you can consume fresh. Hot sun, bugs, bending over, etc.

I don't remember them being particularly cheaper than store bought, although they were a little tastier. But just a little.

I grew up spending summers at my grandparents who had a farm, and had all the picking of strawberry (and many other crops) that I wanted, and then some. So I don't consider spending an hour or two picking strawberries to be "fun". I'll have to agree with the woman at your gym - I love shopping at the grocery store for good (pre-picked) blueberries or strawberries. However I usually pay $1.50/pint for my blueberries, so you did get a slightly better deal than what I pay (before considering travel expenses). Although I wouldn't want frozen blueberries, rather have them fresh. So a pint or two is a good size for me.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

My last house had about a dozen blueberry bushes. Gawd I miss that. Too shady in my current yard. They required zero maintenance and I got more BBs than I could handle. Froze all I could, gave some away, made blueberry pies, cobblers, pancakes, muffins, jelly, even melomel (mead flavored with fruit). It was the Bubba Gump blueberry company. Never did get around to brewing the blueberry wheat ale, though. These days I can't imagine paying for them, although I do and I cringe when I see the prices at the farmer's market.

 

[Powor]

Was all set to do this tomorrow at a local you-pick-it farm---was even going to miss the gym, which is huge for me. Someone discouraged me, saying it takes hours to pick all the berries and that they can be hard to reach since the most accessible ones have already been picked. She also talked about all the insects biting. I of course was prepared for the sun/heat. So now I'm thinking about not going.

Is this one of those things that sound romantic and fun, but isn't in actuality?

I enjoy picking all sorts of berries. I think you should try it as you won't have anything to lose. I mean if you're really feeling bad while doing it you can always split and move on to something else.

 

[RE2Boys]

Picked my first wild black raspberries of the season today. Not enough for a pie, but great with vanilla ice cream.

 

[bentley]

We live on several acres in the country. I have about 18 blueberry bushes, with 8 of them being mature enough to produce a decent quantity of berries. In a normal year, it becomes difficult to keep them picked, but boy how delicious they are. This year was a much reduced crop because of several late frosts during flowering.

They are not difficult to pick, but be careful to only pick the dark blue ones. It's easy to pick berries that "appear" ripe, but in good light they are still red around the stem. These berries will not be sweet and will even be bitter.

If we have a normal spring next year, I should be overwhelmed with berries and I'm looking forward to that.

We also have a peach orchard, several plum trees, and even a persimmon tree.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

It's easy to pick berries that "appear" ripe, but in good light they are still red around the stem. These berries will not be sweet and will even be bitter.

+1

It can be hard to avoid this, however. I found the best way was to gently run my hands along the end of a branch with berries and only take the ones that easily fell off into the container. You'll still get some that aren't ripe enough. I used to taste berries of different levels of ripeness in order to get a feel for what's really ripe and what's not.

 

[Semiretired2008]

+1

It can be hard to avoid this, however. I found the best way was to gently run my hands along the end of a branch with berries and only take the ones that easily fell off into the container. You'll still get some that aren't ripe enough. I used to taste berries of different levels of ripeness in order to get a feel for what's really ripe and what's not.

Yep, that is about the best method. You will get predominately ripe berries that way. If the skin is to soft then they are over ripe and either should be avoided or consumed immediately (your preference)... In our area it can cost $7 - $9 for a gallon. The place we go you get 5 quarts if you fill it to the rim for $7... Much cheaper than the stores.

 

[SJ1_]

Was all set to do this tomorrow at a local you-pick-it farm---was even going to miss the gym, which is huge for me. Someone discouraged me, saying it takes hours to pick all the berries and that they can be hard to reach since the most accessible ones have already been picked. She also talked about all the insects biting. I of course was prepared for the sun/heat. So now I'm thinking about not going.

Is this one of those things that sound romantic and fun, but isn't in actuality?

We have been picking them at my mother in laws.
I think it is worth it. We freeze them and we usually have enough
to last us until next season.

 

[JustMeUC]

I planted 2 pecan trees, 2 cherry trees, blueberry bushes and various grape vines at my grandmothers house some 20 odd years ago. One of my smartest ideas ever!!!

 

[Semiretired2008]

Just finished some fresh Blueberry Tarts that my wife made up this afternoon...