Blueberry Picking

Our family went berry picking this Summer for our first time ever. We weren't exactly sure what to expect, but I was inspired by my friend Anika who had gone to this farm a few weeks prior for strawberry picking. We went to Plow Creek Farm for their U-Pick blueberries. The Google Map said it was about 2.5 hrs away, basically smack in the middle of Nowhere. We packed up the kids, a lunch, lots of water and the sunscreen and braced ourselves for a possibly horrible car ride. To our astonishment, BOTH kids made it there AND back with NO crying!!! That's no small miracle.

When we started getting close, it seemed like we'd driven into another decade from long ago. We drove through "downtown" and passed a feed store and I swear I saw a tumbleweed. But after following a wooden sign that said "blueberry field" with an arrow, we found ourselves driving through trees, uphill, on a muddy, rutted path that was certainly not made for a car like our civic! Suddenly it opened up and we were there...in a field of orderly blueberry bush rows.

We were told by the young guy in charge as well as by some of the other more seasoned pickers, that this was not peak season and the bushes had already been picked over, but to me, it seemed like there was an endless supply of yummy berries! AJ thought so too, since he ate every blueberry he picked from a bush, as well as a few handfuls that others had picked. We had to watch him since he was not ashamed to stick his little paws right into a stranger's bucket and help himself to the literal fruits of their labor! I had imagined that only one of us would be able to pick while the other would mostly just be chasing after AJ. But he was actually pretty into the whole thing and we both got quite a bit of picking done.

Here's a shot where you can actually see how many berries there were on the bushes. I can't imagine what "peak season" would look like!

Elizabeth slept for a while in her carseat, and then when she woke up I wore her in the sling while I picked and then she laid on our blanket while we ate our lunch before leaving. Then she slept the whole ride home again. What an easy baby!

Here she is in the sling. OK, well at least you can see her hat!

She was only about a month old when we made this little trip.

We ended up with about 12 lbs or blueberries and I they were delicious fresh, but I froze most o them right away. They are awesome in pancakes, and Anika promises to share her sour cream blueberry cake recipe with me. I also want to make some jam, and a blueberry pie...maybe for Thanksgiving this year. The blueberries worked out to be way cheaper than they ever are at the grocery store, and they are grown at Plow Creek Farm without any chemicals or pesticides. No wonder they taste so good! I can't wait to go picking again. It was such a great day! If we don't get to go again this year, we'll for sure make a point of it next year. Thanks, Plow Creek!