Picking
| How to Choose and Use |
Nutrition | Varieties
| History |
Indians | Breakfast Recipes |
Dessert Recipes |
Other Recipes
BLUEBERRY PICKING
For many an adult, one of the fondest memories of childhood is that of
blueberry expeditions: the trek out, happily swinging empty baskets or pails,
then the thrill of discovering a hidden patch of low-lying bushes laden with
tiny blue-black capsules of sweetness, and finally the triumphant return with
the treasure and also, inevitably, with lips stained a telltale blue, for who
could resist sampling now and then?
But Maple Lawn Farms customers know today that blueberries are far more than a
matter for nostalgia. They are the stuff that realities are made of, for here on
7 acres of highland blueberries nurtured since the mid-1970's, they can find
large, succulent berries on bushes that won't give them a picking backache.
Our cultivated bushes are high and easy to access. Children can sit on the
ground and peek underneath to find the biggest and best of the crop. Since we
have had to turn excellent basic pH soil into acidic, growing blueberries has
always been a challenge. As the fields age, there is the expected mortality of
plants, and we have begun replanting several years ago. We'll continue to search
for the perfect varieties to fit your every needs.
HOW TO CHOOSE AND USE
Anyone can pick blueberries, young or old. Just look for those with deep
purple-blue color.. Gently remove them from the stems on the bush and put them
in your pail, box or bucket. The red and green ones are still growing. Leave
them for the next pickers.
Blueberries should be pump, fresh in appearance, fairly uniform in size, clean
dry free from leaves and stems and with full color throughout the lot.
Once you have your precious blues home, just refrigerate them. Or you can freeze
them immediately without washing. Wash only just before using without allowing
them to stand in water, and drain immediately. Water can seep into the stem
opening and cause your berries to ripen faster or thaw from freezing mushy.
Refrigerated blues can last up to two weeks, so just enjoy them on cereal, and
in recipes, or just eating out of hand. There's nothing like a cup of frozen
blueberries in winter for a quick pick me up.
NUTRITION INFORMATION
Food and Drug Administration labeling laws state nutrient content
descriptors for blueberries: low-fat, saturated fat-free, sodium-free,
cholesterol-free, a good source of fiber and a good source of vitamin C. Recent
research shows that whatever makes blueberries blue makes them the best source
of anti-oxidants of all produce. And whatever also makes them so good allows the
nutrients in blues to enhance your memory and keep you young and healthy. So
gorge while you can with your own private stash of MLF Blueberries available now
and all the month of July.
VARIETIES
Bluecrop is the major blueberry variety. Among other major varieties are
Earliblue, , Weymouth, Patriot, Blueray, Herbert, Berkeley, Colville.
HISTORY OF BLUES
Blueberries offer the consumer convenience and delectable nutrition. They
belong to a well-traveled family going back, perhaps to the Garden of Eden. A
relative of the blueberry plant is today the oldest living thing on earth,
estimated by botanists to be more than 13,000 years old.
Virgil and Pliny recognized blueberries giving them their Latin genus VACCINIUM,
meaning cow. Perhaps cows were blueberry eaters, although we've never offered
them any.
Blueberries were here when the first wave of settlers arrived in what was to
become America. The small, wild blueberry explorers found was less foreign to
them than the land. Some had known a similar berry in Scotland, the blaeberry.
Blaeberry jam, the story goes, was invented in the court of James V who became
the King of Scots in 1513. His French wife brought her own cooks when she
arrived at the castle in Scotland. They harvested French gourmet fashion,
devised a delicacy which still delights Scottish palates at the Maple House here
at MLF.
English immigrants related the New World blueberry to their whortleberries and
hurtleberries; the Danes, to bilberries; the Swedes to their blabar. People from
northern Germany recognized their bickberren; those from southern Germany,
blauberren. Later arrivals from Europe, such as the Russian, also had the frame
of reference for these berries whose blue reflected the promising blue skies of
the New World.
INDIANS DRIED BLUES
The new arrival learned some blueberry tricks from the Indians who had long
utilized this native American fruit n many ways. It was an important item in
their diet. After a fill of the fresh fruit in summer, they dried the berries
for use during the winter months as a seasoning for soups, stews, and meats.
In 1616, Samuel de Champlain saw Indians near Lake Huron gathering blueberries
for their winter store. He wrote in this journal: "After drying the berries in
the sun, the Indians beat them into a powder and added this powder to parched
meal to make a dish called Sautauthig. We found it delicious."
Ancient Indian tribes regarded the blueberry with an almost religious awe due to
the fact that the calyx of the berry is the shape of a perfect 5-pointed star.
Some tribes tell the legend of how during a time of starvation "the Great Spirit
sent the 'star berries' down from the night of heaven to relieve the hunger of
his children."
In their search for the Northwest Territory, Lewis and Clark has journal entries
relating to this remarkable, versatile fruit. One of their first meals with the
Indians consisted of venison cured by having blueberries pounded into the flesh
and then smoke dried.
A pungent, aromatic blueberry tea made from the root of the plant was a widely
recognized anti-spasmodic among the Indians. It was such an effective relaxant
that it was considered to be the medicine used by squaws when they were birthing
their children. This practice was adopted by settlers' wives, as attested to by
an 1813 medical book.
Blueberry juice and syrup were used for "old coughs" by the Indians, and a leaf
tea made from blueberries was used by the pioneers when the frontier was young
as a general tonic for "purifying the blood."
Blueberries traveled, too, with the Union troops during the Civil War. The first
commercial venture with blueberries in America was started by some enterprising
entrepreneurs in Maine, who canned wild blueberries for the military.
Although you may think of New Jersey, Michigan, New England as primary blueberry
growing states, our MAPLE LAWN FARMS PLANTATION OF 7 ACRES will convince you
that blueberries are indeed a local product.
Cultivated highbush blueberries you find here are larger in size than the wild,
lowbush berries and lighter n color. They are prized for their dramatic good
looks and flavor. You will want to add them to the "tastes of summer" you can
find at MLF, then freeze plenty for use in recipes.
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