Summertime means fun in the sun, fireworks and picking blueberries for our family! It’s a tradition we started when Bailey was little and we look forward to continuing it each summer. The girls are both blueberry addicts and a little container doesn’t last a few hours in our house so when I saw that The Berry Patch was opening for the season I knew we had to get out for some picking.
The Berry Patch is our favorite blueberry farm, but there are a lot of other great places to pick fresh blueberries around the city. Another favorite, Gieringers Orchard and Happy Valley Farm – (we’re going to visit them soon) are also great local farms for fresh blueberries.
Never been picking before? Here are a few tips that we’ve learned along the way:
Start early.
The best picking is in the morning and if there are a lot of people out picking, they may shut the fields down early. There’s nothing like starting the morning off with some outdoor picking…plus there’s nothing like fresh blueberry muffins to start off the morning!
Grab a picking partner.
Not only will you have more fun picking blueberries with friends and family, it also makes picking easier if you have someone picking while the other holds the bucket. Or in our case, keep the kiddos from over-stuffing themselves with blueberries and chasing them in the field. It’s a great activity for the whole family and the perfect way to spend some summer time with the ones that you love.
Find the BLUEberries
You want to make sure that the berries you pick are ready to be eaten. They will be dark blue, especially after a light rain. If it’s been dry for a few days, the blueberries may have a light purple haze, but you can easily rub it out to see the real color. Leave the green and red ones on the bush so they can ripen for future pickers.
Wear comfy clothing and good sneakers.
You have the option of driving near the fields but there will still be a lot of walking and you’ll be on your feet for quite awhile. We went picking right after Bailey’s soccer practice so we avoided any fights over princess dresses before we left.
Keep hydrated.
Blueberry picking is at it’s peak when it’s hot out, so it’s important to drink lots of water and stay hydrated in the summer heat. It also takes a lot of work to pick all those blueberries so make sure both the kiddos and the adults take some water breaks.
Slather on the sunscreen and bust out the bug spray.
You’ll be out picking for awhile and even if there’s some cloud cover, you’ll get a lot of sun. And bugs love berries and the woods surrounding them so make sure to spray before going out in the fields to avoid any pesky mosquitoes and ticks.
Taste test.
You can’t go blueberry picking without trying some of the sweet berries right off the bush. How do you know if you’re going to like them or not, right? It’s a good thing they don’t weigh the girls before and after or we’d probably double our total cost.
Fill your bucket.
You’re out there and it’s super hot, but fill up your bucket. Blueberries last quite a long time and they freeze really well. We love frozen blueberries as snacks and in smoothies, plus they are easy to bake with. Go big or go home right?
Have Fun!
It can be tiring and quite a bit of work filling your bucket, but take time to enjoy the fields and spending time with your family. Make a fairy house with your kids, play tag or hide and seek in the bushes. Then cool off with some blueberry lemonade and fresh blueberry muffins for the perfect summer morning.
We hope you and your family enjoy blueberry picking as much as we do. It’s a little more work than strawberries, but even more fun. Here’s another look at part of our haul:
Looks like we’ll be coming up with lots of blueberry recipes for this summer. Stay tuned!
