Blueberry Picking

At this point, I'd venture a guess that Matt is at least fifty percent blueberry.  When those tiny fruits are in the house, he maintains a blue-smeared grin, sneaking them a handful at a time and eating frozen ones like ice cream.  If you pay any attention to produce prices, you might be thinking that this is an expensive habit to maintain.  Enter the u-pick!

We've established a trip to Leavelle Farms in Buhl as an annual tradition for our family and look forward to it as the temperatures start to rise.  From the first day of summer vacation this year, Matt asked me each morning to check online to see if the berries were ready (they're usually good to go around the second week of June).

The bushes produce some shade, but it definitely helps to go as early as possible to beat the heat, so we hit the road early on opening day.  I aim for at least two gallons per trip, and I love that the owner provides little ones with tiny buckets so that they can contribute to the haul.  Matt worked on filling up his bucket for maybe ten or fifteen minutes before abandoning it to set up a "kitchen" among the twigs and leaves that had fallen to the ground under the bushes.

So far we've consumed most of this year's berries straight out of the fridge.  I do make a habit of cooking up something on picking day, though.  This year we kept it really simple by way of waffle dinner with blueberry compote - berries cooked down with sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla.