Bring On The Black And Blue!

No, I do not want a punch in the face. 

However, I am so ready for some black and blueberries.  As of today, the blackberries are red, and the blueberries are green going to pink.

Blackberry trellises

Though the blueberries bloomed a few weeks early this year, survived some frost scares and look fantastic, I still don't think they'll ripen much earlier than last year.  We must wait until early July.

Blueberries

It's hard not to be impatient.  Look at all these berries! 

As for the strawberries, it's nearly time to say "goodbye," until the fall.  Some of the high tunnel plants are still pumping out a few plump ones, but I'll soon renovate the beds.  Thanks to freezing and fermentation, we will be able to enjoy them all year long.

A Good Start

It's that very sweet time of summer, when the berries are rolling in at high speed.  I've been solo-picking almost every day (sometimes twice a day) for the past couple of weeks.  These first pints have been going to family, friends, and neighbors.  We've also put up several for ourselves.

We don't use any synthetic fertilizers, insecticides or herbicides, so the berries can be enjoyed the way nature intended - directly off the bush.

I made several pints of pectin-free blueberry jam last week.   Simply boiled-down berries and sugar.

We will be freezing many gallons of blueberries (mostly for breakfast smoothies), and making jams with them.  I'm going to make "black and blue" jam next week!

These will go to family, friends, and into storage.

I relish my time in the blueberry orchard.  I can't seem to stay away from it.  Even after just having spent a couple of insanely hot days, surgically weed-eating around all the bushes, I am still completely drawn to the serenity of the blueberry forest.  Just last evening, after a sweaty day of working there, I strolled over to the bushes for some peace, quiet, and picking.  I gathered a few pints of blueberries for Ben to give to coworkers, and a few pints of blackberries for us to hoard away in one of our three freezers.  Ben's lovely father grows blackberries and raspberries in a fenced-off portion of the orchard, safe from deer.

The blackberries are divine this year.

We're going to a family friend's pre-garage sale this evening, and we thought it would do no harm to sweeten up our hosts. So, after I walked the dogs and fed the chickens this morning, I headed out to pick blueberries.  It's best to pick early in the morning, when the berries are plump and full, and I couldn't think of a better way to start the work day.

Just after sunrise

Sunset last night

The blueberries have been slowly ripening for a few weeks now, and Ben and I will officially begin Fat Bear Farm's 2011 berry season tomorrow.  Just the two of us will pick that day, and our regular group of four will pick starting next week.  I'm so excited!  We sell our berries to a CSA in Floyd that has been wonderful to work with. Our post-harvest trips up the mountain are always a joy.