Blueberry Season

We have blueberries!!

There are wild blueberry plants all over the property. But other than a handful of blueberries, they’ve never really produced. Until this year. Conditions must be just right, because we have more berries than ever before. Of course, that isn’t saying too much. There are still many spots with lots of plants and barely a berry. And of course, wild blueberries are so small. However, this season gives me hope.

I’ve been reading up on how wild blueberries grow, and it seems there are a few things we could do that might help to keep the berry-momentum going into next year. Pruning the plants this fall, after the first frost, would be a good start. As I understand it, we mow the plants down to within an inch of the ground’s surface, which helps to stimulate new growth the following season. And incidentally, right along the Blueberry Trail, I have the perfect patch to test out this pruning method. It has a pretty big area with plants, but few of them actually bear fruit. Maybe, with a little attention, this spot can start living up to its Blueberry Trail name!

I also learned this from the wildblueberries.com website:

Unlike ordinary blueberries, wild blueberries only grow in the wild, right where Mother Nature put them. They can’t be planted or farmed in the ways that many industrial food crops are. Wild blueberries are spread primarily by rhizomes (underground runners), which give rise to new roots and stems. All shoots arising from the same rhizome system have similar characteristics. That’s why in every field there are thousands of different plant varieties, which account for the variations in color, size, and flavor that characterize the wild blueberry crop. Ordinary blueberries might only host a half-dozen varieties in one growing area. This plant diversity is the reason behind the wild blueberry’s medley of naturally occurring blueberry flavors that create its unique, complex wild flavor profile. It’s also wild blueberry’s plant diversity that creates its potent combination of phytochemicals that gives the wild blueberry its antioxidant power.

Diversity is it’s super-power. Now I love wild blueberries even more!

So, we’ll see what a little pruning and care might yield next year. But, regardless, I’m grateful for this year’s bounty. What a glorious way to spend yesterday afternoon. Walking the trails and searching for blueberries. I was so excited with each find, that I pretty much thanked nearly every berry that landed in my bowl.

And today, we’ll enjoy wild blueberry pancakes!