Blueberries

I also love blueberries. I tried some this weekend to see how the pouch would react to them. Blueberries are now on my good list!!!!

Yes, I do eat about 10 pounds of blueberries a week in July through mid Aug.  These are very large juicy blueberries;  they are around 1/2 inch in diameter.  There are only a few small seeds in them and they are juicy and only mildly sweet.  I know when I was a kid, we used to go picking low growth blueberries in the hills of northeastern PA and north NJ.  We'd be lucky if we could get the larger tall bush blueberries.  The ones I get on the farm grow on tall bushes.  The farm sells all of it's produce directly to consumers--i.e., they don't sell them in stores or to any processors.  They opened a stand on one of the primary routes to the NJ Shore which is convenient to some of their customers.  But, you can only get the bulk boxes or flats right on the farm.  NJ is a large blueberry growing state like Michigan and a couple other states.  It seems that the sandy soil that is so good for cultivated blueberries is also good for cranberries.  The same states produce both.

We've been eating blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries like crazy this summer.  Before surgery they would have been just ok....or they would have had to been sweetened with a lot of sugar.  Now we either don't sweeten them at all or we put a little Splenda on them.

I'm in to blueberies too.  I mostly eat them frozen ground up in my protein shakes in the morning.   Makes them yummy.

I've been stocking up on strawberries and blueberries and cherries when they're on sale lately... have 3-4 pints of blueberries, bout 4# of cherries and bout same of strawberries in the freezer. Also have some fresh pineapple, bananas and mango that are cut up in the freezer. Grab a few chunks each morning and throw in blender for protein shakes.

Sometimes I'll put a few in with my lunch, they thaw by lunch time.

I don't do more than say 1/2 a banana, or maybe a dozen blueberries, or half-dozen cherries at any one time though.

The preserves recipe looks interesting, might have to try that... specially with some cherries.

 I guess I could get frozen blueberries any time of the year in the grocery store.  However, I've loved fresh blueberries since I was a kid.  We used to go picking the low berries ( small blueberries on bushes that are low to the ground) when I visited relatives in NE PA.  We rarely came accross the larger blueberries on the higher bushes.

Once I moved to S Jersey, I found a farm about 20 miles from my home that has Pic-your-own berries or you can buy them picked that day in pints or by the 10 lb box.  10 pints weigh 10 lbs.  I used to pick my own but have just bought the 10 lb boxes for at least 10 years,  I'm the only person in my house who eats them and a 10 lb box rarely lasts more than 5 days.  I know that's too much of a healthy thing, but it's one indulgence my doctor allows me.  The blueberries have been crossbred so that they are hearty and large and grow on the tall bushes.

Last week, I heard Kelly Ripa say that Haddonfield NJ is the blueberry capital of the world.  Wrong town and wrong facts.  The big blueberry growing area in NJ is Hammonton.  But, most people don't realize it, but MI is the blueberry capital.  Both areas have nice sandy soil and do get decent winters--both are necessary for growing blueberries.

Alas, the local farm has been out of their own blueberries for over a week.  I was paying $16.95 for the 10 lb boxes this year.  I just eat them straight up but a lot of people freeze them.  I remember going to buy some on the 3rd of July, and I was the only person in line only buying one 10 lb box.  Other people said they were going to picnics and were expected to bring the berries.  Others said they were having parties at home and that their grown children just expect them to have the berries.  And, they usually get cleaned out of their stock in one weekend.  So, they just have to go to the farm asap.