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Buckets O' Blueberries

Posted at 11:54 AM on August 5, 2008 by Autumn Long (7 Comments)

Last weekend my mother and I visited the McConnell Berry Farm, a you-pick blueberry farm located about 10 miles south of Morgantown on Route 119. The McConnells also sell summer apples (Lodis, Pristines, and William's Prides) and manage a mason bee business called Bee Plus.

Mom and I went a bit crazy picking blueberries. The McConnells have more than a thousand blueberry bushes, some of them over 20 years old. Mom picked about five gallons of berries, while I called it quits at four gallons. I also got a chance to talk with Mr. McConnell about mason bees, and I convinced him to sell me a bundle of 20 tubes (mason bee "houses") with eggs laid in about a dozen of the tubes. Next spring I should have a new population of mason bees to pollinate my fruit trees and bushes.

I devoted a large part of the next day to processing the blueberries. I used about one gallon of berries for a batch of jam that set up perfectly and tastes delicious. I canned the remaining three gallons of berries whole for use in pies and cobblers this winter. The only thing more decadent than a blueberry pie is a blueberry pie in February!

Comments (7)

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Hi Autumn, love the post and that you included bees in your blueberry story. I recently learned we depend on them for about 1/3rd of the food we eat. Could you post your recipe for canning blueberries whole for us preservation newbies? thanks.

Posted by Donna McClurkan | August 6, 2008 5:59 AM

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Hi Donna,
I'm glad you enjoyed the tale of berries and bees. I found that canning blueberries is a fairly simple task: I just followed the advice in that kitchen mainstay, The Joy of Cooking. First I washed and cleaned the berries, removing as many stems as I could find and any wrinkled or mushy berries. While sterilizing the jars and lids as per canning usual, I made a medium sugar syrup. Then I packed the berries into hot jars (I used some quarts and some pints) and covered them with the boiling syrup. I processed the jars in a boiling-water bath for 15 minutes, and voila! Successful berry preservation.
Cheers,
Autumn

Posted by Autumn Long | August 6, 2008 9:22 AM

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Whoops! Looks like my attempt at italics got away from me.

Posted by Autumn Long | August 6, 2008 9:22 AM

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Hi Autumn,
You reminded me that blueberries are on my to-get list, too.. I'm a member of the LiveJournal community picturing_food, and someone recently posted photos and a recipe for homemade blueberry soda. It looks *wonderful* - let us know if you try something like that yourself!

Posted by Beth | August 9, 2008 1:54 PM

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Thanks for your comments, Beth. Enjoy your blueberries! Blueberry soda does sound delicious. You can't really go wrong with a blueberry, can ya? Happy local eating,
Autumn

Posted by Autumn Long | August 11, 2008 10:23 AM

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I had a succesful blueberry picking here in Ashton, Md this year!! I froze mine on a cookie sheet and put them in freezer bags.

Posted by karen | August 13, 2008 9:48 PM

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Autumn,

We just received our mason bee hive. I use to beekeep, and had never heard of mason bees before-they must be all the rage now with decline in the honey bee population. Thanks for the link!

Gina

Posted by Gina | August 18, 2008 6:19 PM