The best way to get a lot of blueberries picked in a short amount of time is to have two competitive people with buckets around their necks have at it. Maddie is convinced she picks more blueberries than I do, and of course I know that I pick the most. We then dump our full smaller buckets into the bigger bucket. She is convinced that she has put the majority of the berries in, and of course I know that it is me. Therefore we are both happy and we get a shitload of blueberries!
We went to a new place this year because the one we usually go to isn't open on Tuesdays, and I wanted to go! So we checked out this place in Warner, and we are hooked. It is so free! The place where we've always gone in Newport is crazy in the way that they treat you. The man leads you to a bush and tells you that you can't leave it until you've picked it clean. In the meantime, he comes back to check on you. You always feel like such a toddler, and of course you keep looking around at all of the bushes surrounding you that have WAY more berries than your bush!
Well, at this place it is as loosey goosey as the other place is Nazi-ville. She told us to grab whatever buckets (sizes) we wanted and to park our car where the others were way down the field and pick away. Really? She wasn't going to escort us to our bush? (At the other place you literally have to stand and wait to be led to your particular bush.) We were giddy with the freedom of it all, and it really wasn't too hard to figure out where to start picking, because every bush as far as the eye could see was laden with berries. The first bush I picked clean, because I had been taught well, but then I thought, I can go anywhere! So being the crazy rebel that I am, I skipped the next two bushes and went to the fourth one in! HA! I picked high and I picked low, I did whatever I felt like it, and it was wonderful! I have to admit though, that my first concern is for the bushes themselves, and so I spent a lot of time picking those branches that were so heavy with fruit that they were about to break. I relieved them of their burdens and felt a sense of satisfaction when the branches started to go up again.
I felt very one-with-nature as I picked, the bees buzzed, flies flied and the plunk of berries falling into the bucket was most satisfying. The sun was brutally hot (yes!) and sweat dripped into my eyes, but I didn't care. I love picking berries and I love knowing how much money I will save over the course of the next year and I love knowing where each berry in my morning smoothie comes from.
Now I must go and undertake the task of freezing the little buggers. 29 pounds is going to take some time! But as soon as that is done, I am going for more.
As we all know, winter is just around the corner!
UPDATE: Only idiots pick this many berries at a time. I am exhausted from touching each blueberry in order to make sure it is plump, stem-free and ready to freeze. I have invested hours in this venture and I still have half as many left to do. I did, however, make a delicious raw blueberry pie. Perhaps I need to make blueberry soup!
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