Picking Blueberries

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Yesterday (in between the showers, and whilst being battered by strong winds) I picked the best part of a kilogram of Blueberries.

This is a real labour of love, because picking Blueberries is very laborious. Each berry in a cluster ripens at its own speed, so you can’t pick a whole sprig at once, you have to pick the berries individually. I don’t know how many berries there are in a kilogram, but it’s a LOT!

To be honest, it wasn’t a complete kilogram, it was 980g, but that’s pretty close. They all came from three of my four bushes (the 4th one is a Pink blueberry and its fruit are not ready yet). Here they are posed on the garden table next to my drying onions.

Not all the berries were 100% ripe, but I felt that they were OK to pick. I tasted a few and even the ones with a slight pink tinge were fairly sweet.

After washing, the berries were laid out in a big basket, in a single layer. This way the air can circulate around them, so hopefully they will continue to ripen without going mouldy.

Actually, a few of them have already disappeared into some muffins that Jane made, scarcely an hour after the berries were picked!

No, honestly, there were only ever 10, not 12. You have to believe me!

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