How to Harvest and Store Blueberries
As every New Englander knows, nothing beats a muffin fresh from the oven and crammed full of sweet, succulent blueberries - unless it's a big slab of blueberry pie or a stack of fat, juicy blueberry pancakes. It's hard to believe that something so luscious can also be good for you, but blueberries are packed with vitamin C, potassium and fiber. Does this Spark an idea?
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Resist picking blueberries that have just turned that tantalizing shade of blue - they need about a week more on the bush to develop fully.
-
2
Hold a container under a bunch of berries and rub your thumb over the cluster. The ripe berries will fall off; those not yet ready for picking will stay put.
-
-
3
Pick from a single cluster for up to a month - the berries ripen a few at a time.
-
4
Spread blueberries in a single layer on a shallow pan or plate, cover them with paper towels and then with plastic wrap. They'll keep for up to 5 days in the refrigerator.
-
5
Freeze blueberries in a single layer, then pack them into covered containers and put them back into the freezer, where they'll last for months.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
If you can bear to do it, rub off developing berries until your plants are 3 or 4 years old so that the bushes can devote their energy to growing. You'll reap the rewards when they reach the 5-year mark: they'll give you about 6 quarts of berries per bush.
