Blueberries and the Beating Sun

When I was growing up, I had mixed feelings about blueberry picking.  There were wild blueberries in the forests around our cabin and most years we went berry picking a few times.  Wild blueberry season coincides with the worst of the horse-fly season and generally was paired with the super strong, hot July sun.  In addition to that, the area where we picked was also filled with mosquitoes and sometimes wild blackberry bushes with their menacing thorns.  Wild blueberry bushes are low to the ground and the berries are very small, which meant you really have to work at it to get any sort of volume.

The upside is that wild blueberries were free and delicious.  And, the experience generally involved a big group of family and friends, which meant singing and stories and jokes.  Plus, if we picked enough, we got to have pancakes with wild blueberries.  Delicious!  When you mix all of that together in a pot, I am not totally sure if those were good times or miserable times.  I'm going to choose to remember them as good times!

Compared with wild blueberry picking, the type of blueberry picking Jamie and I did today was easy as pie. The berries were big and growing on tall bushes in neat rows. The very kind hosts at Blueberry Fields of Stillwater came around with cups of water for the pickers and had a bathroom on site.  Way more amenities than the buggy forest!

The challenge today was the weather.  We got there as early as we could and still the full sun was a lot to bear when paired with the 90-some degree temperatures.  I picked for 2 hours before I felt like I had to stop. I came away with just over 4 pounds of precious berries.  I haven't decided what I will make with my limited quantity, but for now, they are a delicious snack.

For the record, the cool bath I took when I got home was heavenly.  I am feeling so grateful for air conditioning!  It is currently 99 degrees F here with a feels like temp of 104, which makes our 80 degree house feel like a total luxury.