One day last week marked my initiation into the world of blueberry picking, and I found it a great way to spend an otherwise lazy summer morning.
Promptly at 8:30 a.m., three of my gardening chums, Fran, Thelma and Karen, arrived at my home to carpool for our trip to Krasinski’s U-Pick Blueberry patch in Morrisdale. This is a family-owned and -operated patch which offers different varieties of high bush (up to 8 feet tall) blueberries in row upon row, almost to infinity.
About a half hour later we arrived at the Rolling Stone Road parking lot and prepared for our pick. The first order of business was sorting out a picking container, as well as one larger holding container (or more) for each of us.
The picking container was custom crafted by Karen. It was made from a smaller empty Cool Whip tub with slits that we slid onto a man’s belt, then put around our waists. This expedited removing the berries from bush to ground without constant stooping. We also made sure to have head gear, cool light-weight clothes and sturdy shoes for our outing.
After having our various containers weighed before picking (the berries are sold by the pound), we grabbed some bottled water and headed off.
The berry patch was well designed for pickers, nicely mulched and weed-free, with wide rows that encouraged great picking.
Fran and Thelma worked one row, Karen and I another, carefully checking each bush for the plumpest, ripest berries. I had no idea how many berries each bush can produce. There were large clusters of fruit, each one containing berries in every shade of ripeness, from milky white to pink to a deep magenta.
We worked down the rows, carefully selecting the ripest fruit and dropping it into our picking container first until it was full. Then, we emptied the container into the larger one on the ground, chatting as we went.
From across the rows we picked up on other conversations — mothers calling under rows for their errant children, as well as folks talking about the status of bushes in their particular row. It was a strangely disembodied world — you heard people but couldn’t see them.
I gradually fell into a rhythm of picking, plunking and transferring, all the while observing the bees, beetles and caterpillars competing for a blueberry snack.
When exhaustion finally overtook us a few hours later, and our containers were full, we sat on a wooden bench for a spell to rest and cool off before heading back.
Fran told us about coming to this patch with some friends awhile back. They brought a picnic lunch to enjoy at one of the tables after picking, where her friend proceeded to pull out a cheesecake and a colander. After washing some just-picked berries, she sprinkled them over their cheesecake dessert. Thelma remembered how she and her brother fooled her mother who sent them out one day to collect blueberries for a pie. They were worn out after picking a small amount, so they stuffed leaves in the bottom of the pail and carefully topped it off with a small amount of berries. Needless to say, that was not the end of their berry gathering chore that day.
Our blueberries were weighed and paid for and we returned to the car and admired our stash. We had done well. Karen, the “winner,” gathered a whopping 14 pounds. I took the novice prize with just six.
The next day, my neck was a bit stiff and my right arm a bit sore from all that stretching and bending, but I have two big containers of fresh blueberries sitting in my refrigerator. They’ll be waiting there to be baked into muffins, or pies, or special kuchen. That’s if they last that long.
Facts about blueberries
■ Blueberries are high in nutritional value, low in calories and rich in antioxidants.
■ Maine produces more blueberries than anywhere else.
■ The U.S. is the world’s largest producer of blueberries.
■ Blueberry production and consumption has tripled since 1995.
■ Blueberries have 80 calories per cup, and one serving supplies 25 percent of the recommended values for vitamin C and manganese, as well as four grams of fiber.
■ Blueberries have a low glycemic index, which is good news for diabetics cautious about eating fruit.
■ The are native to North America.
■ The blue color of the skin comes from anthocyanins, which may help reduce the risk of cancer.
Garden notes
Krasinski’s U-Pick Blueberries is open 8 a.m. until sunset seven days a week during the blueberry season, which lasts into September. The address is 3163 Rolling Stone Road, Morrisdale. Phone is (814) 345-5208; email geokraz@verizon.net.
Picnic tables, restrooms and cold soda and water are available.
Be sure to bring your own containers.
