One of my favorite summer activities for as long as I can remember is blueberry picking. Blueberries and raspberries are my favorite fruits and something I missed while living overseas so I cherish the access we have to them even more now.
When Zoe was a little over 2 months old, on a perfect Saturday that was not near as hot as it usually is on a midwest summer day, we loaded our water bottles, sunscreen and bug spray in the car, ate breakfast cookies on-the-go and drove 45 minutes to The Berry Patch.
Blueberry Picking Tips
We wore clothing we didn’t mind getting messy in but none of us (not even the boys) got dirty.
FYI: We soon realized that wearing sunglass made it harder to see the berries.
Eli did fantastic. He loved picking and carried his bucket around happily.
I gave Micah a little basket with a ziplock bag around it for his blueberries since carrying a full size bucket would have been difficult for him. I later realized the small play-kitchen basket was almost completely unnecessary, because he played the role of Little Sal the entire time. If there happened to be a blueberry in his basket, he immediately ate it up. We taught him how to pick and modeled putting them in his little basket, but it was no use. He popped one after another into his little mouth and left singing and swinging his empty basket down the road as we walked back towards the car.
I hardly picked any. Shortly after getting to the correct area to pick, Zoe needed more milk. I brought the stroller since it wasn’t muddy and I didn’t want Zoe to be too hot in a carrier. I sat down on the IKEA bag I threw in the stroller and nursed her in the middle of a row of blueberry bushes.
After picking, we couldn’t pass up some blueberry lemonade and giant melt-in-your-mouth homemade blueberry muffins from the bakery on the property.
The boys spent another hour playing on the property– an old tractor and very vintage firetruck and wooden structures/ obstacle course type elements to climb on.
After all the berries and high sugar foods, it was helpful for us to have a high-protein snack for the ride home such as beef sticks or mixed nuts.
Berry Care
Store fresh blueberries in a covered container in the refrigerator and do not wash them until right before eating.
