On Saturday, I went to Rutledge to visit my Dad. That afternoon, we picked blueberries just down the road at Hard Labor Creek Blueberry Farm. There is a nice article about it which you can read just here! How long did it take? I can't really say, time was suspended for me...there was a beautiful blue sky overhead with fluffy white clouds that blocked the scorching sun. The blueberry trees were quite tall and I wish that Richard could have been with me to reach up high. I didn't have my camera but I can tell you that the blueberries grow in a cluster, reminding you of grapes, and the colors of them! Pale green they are to begin with, and then pale pink, purple and then ripening into that lovely dark blue. (The blueberries are weighed after you pick them...they are $1.65 per pound, way better in price and quality than from the grocery store.)
If I were an artist, I am afraid that I would only want to paint fruit. As it is, if I ever make fruit salad, I always line the little guys up and they sit there and pose for my photo! (Okay, you know I made Richard take this one, right?) This time, I cooked the apples with some strawberries from my freezer (remember that I picked strawberries at the end of May?) and then put some blueberries in the same pot just at the end of the cooking. Very good over vanilla ice cream!
Anybody else remember that I told you about a little cafe in Rutledge that is in a red caboose? It is simply called "The Caboose"! We stopped there after we picked the blueberries and they have fresh lemonade made from real lemons. It sure was good after picking all those blueberries! I picked enough that I have SEVEN quarts of blueberries in my freezer. Blueberry muffins, anyone? Blueberry pancakes? How about some blueberry pie? HA! You get the idea! Just kidding, they keep in the freezer very well and I love to sprinkle a good handful over a fruit salad. Thanks, Daddy, for taking me blueberry picking with you. You are the best! (And you know he picked more than I did!)
Picking blueberries and drinking lemonade...it's a tough life, but somebody's gotta do it!
Kay, that sounds pretty heavenly!!! I've never been to a blueberry farm....but I did start growing my own this year. My first ripe blueberry may have been my happiest, most excited gardening moment yet. I read a great book last year called "The Blue berry Years" about a farm near my hometown in Virginia. I think you'd like it! Hope you guys had a beautiful weekend!!!
ReplyDeleteMy Dad planted blueberry bushes for the first time and he also was very pleased with his very first harvest!! (Of course these at the Blueberry Farm have been there for about 20 years and are huge!)
DeleteI will make a note of that book, thanks!
And I will do a post and tell you about the rest of my weekend! xx Hope you are having a fun summer!
I have friends who enjoy going to the blueberry farm. It seems to be too hot to me. I did pick up a bunch of blueberries last week at the store and made a blueberry peach cobbler that was so yummy. I never thought about taking pics of fruit, although you are right. They do look pretty when they fresh.
ReplyDeleteYou can tell I am a true farmer's daughter, it was a joy to pick those blueberries even in that heat!
DeleteGo on, take pictures of your fruit, dare to be a bit strange, like me! :-)
Sounds like a perfect day, and you have blueberries to boot!
ReplyDeleteIt was perfect! And the blueberries will remind me of this fun day!
DeleteGosh! I remember picking blueberries in Indiana. Sigh... I just loved it. I miss being able to go some place to pick berries in Hawaii.
ReplyDeleteSigh... you will just have to be content with your lemons, mangos and pineapples...poor you! HA!
DeleteI think I would love Hawaii, but I would miss the change of seasons. Autumn is so beautiful!!
I'm jealous that you went blueberry picking! Isn't it fun! Your description sounds perfect too!
ReplyDeleteThe blueberries in Maine aren't ready yet! If I can't pick them I buy my wild Maine blues from a blueberry farmer in Down East Maine. I'm embarrassed to tell you that I buy 60 pounds every year! I make jam too!!! LOL!!!
Lucky you to have fresh squeezed lemonade! How delicious and thirst quenching!
Oh! I read your recipe for Spiced blueberry jam and Lime Blueberry Jam, they both sound so good! I will tell my Dad, he is the jam-making expert!!
DeleteThe fresh lemonade was a true treat!
I love blueberries and used to love picking them! My grandaughters would line up for that lemonade. Hope you have a good night- xo Diana
ReplyDeleteYour little ones would have loved climbing aboard that red caboose and getting that lemonade. They have fantastic ice cream too!
DeleteI only get raspberries, usually from passing strangers.
ReplyDeleteOh, I am sure some of your friends give you raspberries also!
DeleteOver here, I think we'll have to wait another few weeks before blueberries are ready to be picked. The most old-fashioned way of having blueberries I know is: put a handful of them in a deep plate (one you'd use to eat a stew or soup from), then pour fresh, cold milk over them and - if you like - add a spoonful of sugar. That's it! I often had this for dessert on a hot summer's day when I was little, and still love it.
ReplyDeleteI really like the sound of the way you eat blueberries. Wait til I tell my Dad, if he knows you eat them that way, I am sure he will try it too. You know he has a soft spot for Germany, that is the only place he has gone to outside the USA!!
DeleteI love blueberries. I have a couple of bushes in the garden. Last year, following our very wet spring, I managed to harvest two blueberries; I confess, I ate them and didn't tell the others!! This year things are looking much more promising.
ReplyDeleteTracey!!! I am so glad to see your comment here!!
DeleteI know those TWO blueberries must have been good! I am hopeful that you will have lots more blueberries this year!
Once again, I am very pleased to see your smiling photo here, quite made my day!
Sounds like such a beautiful day! I'm glad you enjoyed it with your dad. I love fruit, particularly the berries. Mmmmm...
ReplyDeleteIt was great, wish you could have been with me. YOU would have remembered a camera!! HA!
DeleteHope your garden is doing well, dear Martha!!
Ahhh, that sounds heavenly! I feel like I've been eating nothing but fruit lately because everything is so tasty and fresh! Our blueberries in our garden aren't doing much at all. We'll be lucky if we get five blueberries this year. Thank goodness for farm stores around here...
ReplyDeleteLove, Silke
Hey Silke!
DeleteYou would have loved seeing all those plump berries in that hot sun, I just KNOW you would have wanted to paint them!!
I do remember the red caboose and, coincidentally, I met the word in a crossword yesterday too.
ReplyDeleteAh, one of those little things that make me smile and it matters not one bit to the world, just to me!! (I used to love to do crosswords with my father-in-law in England, he is so GOOD at them!)
DeleteWonderful! We don't have ripe blueberries yet here near the Canadian border, but soon! And I'll be at Lake Chautauqua in a week, just in time for cherry picking if they had a good year....
ReplyDeleteCherries! I love them but I have never seen them growing on a tree, I bet they are wonderful!!
DeleteWe buy frozen blueberries from Costco and store the bag in our freezer. They are great in smoothies.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds good, I'll be right over!
DeleteBlueberry picking sounds as fun as blackberry picking, which is what we get to do around here. Enjoy those fruit salads!
ReplyDeleteWe have blackberries too, and I love them in a cobbler!!!
DeleteI love Rutledge, such a great town that takes you back in town. We camp at Hard Labor Creek State Park often and eat at Yesterday's Cafe. I'm not fond of blueberries but my hubby loves them.
ReplyDeleteHappy 4th
Oh yes, my Dad eats at Yesterday's all the time! It would be funny if you saw him there and told him you know his daughter, Georgia Girl With An English Heart! He would be so tickled!! Maybe you just haven't met the right blueberry yet? :-)
DeleteHappy 4th of July to you too!
Sorry, I meant to say the town takes you back in TIME.
ReplyDeleteNo worries, I knew what you meant!
DeleteWe have 3 blueberry bushes in our yard but they are small and we're working on keeping them alive and growing! I used to go picking with my Mother-in-law at a place called "Blueberry Hill", many years ago and once we picked almost 50lbs! They were as big as grapes and soooo good that year! We couldn't stop picking! She also made the best fresh lemonade..she was from the south so I always attributed that with good lemonade! Enjoy your pickin's!
ReplyDelete50 lbs of blueberries! I know what you mean, some of these were also as big as grapes and very juicy!!
DeleteLemonade and sweet iced tea are the best!
" I didn't have my camera " -shame on you, Kay!
ReplyDeleteCan I have blueberry pancakes with ice cream please?
I know, I can't belive that I forgot my camera!
DeleteYES! Would you like one scoop or two?
Blueberry trees?
ReplyDeleteI promise you, they looked like trees! I expected bushes but these...were trees! Tall, I would say most of them were 10 to 12 feet. If only I had taken my camera...
DeleteOkay I was so nosey you got me - I love lemonade and I love blueberries. I have never picked them in my life. Sounds like fun. sandie
ReplyDeleteSandie,
DeleteGET yourself in your car and drive out I-20 EAST to Social Circle. Hard Labor Creek Blueberry Farm, you can look it up, it's fantastic! There's a first time for everything!
Sounds so lovely and yummy!! I love blueberries, and we have had some good ones this year!! Wishing you a sweet day!! xo Heather
ReplyDeleteIt was so wonderful, the warmth of the sun on my arms, the children squealing in delight at the blueberries, my Dad with his work-worn hands picking the blueberries so expertly...I wish you a sweet day like this one!
Deletexx
Oh I wish we could pick blueberries here. There's a pick-your-own not far away where we've picked strawberries and tayberries - I'll have to see if they've branched out to different fruits. It's such a lovely way to spend an hour. Wish I could do it in Georgia though :) x
ReplyDeleteOH, I must tell you, I LOVE English strawberries, just love them. I have never picked them in England, but I would dearly love to!! Now, I don't know tayberries, but I have never met a berry I didn't like!!
Deletexx