Cultural - It's Blueberry Time!

I missed buying blueberries last summer. I don’t know where I was, but I wasn’t “in the moment”.

Here in Poland there are many places where people go out and pick blueberries in the woods and then stand by the side of the road and sell them.

Or they take them to the open market and sell them.

Last Saturday we went and got some. I wanted to get 12 liters (quarts) of them so I would have plenty to do various things with.

So we did.

Dealing with blueberries is so much easier than other things like the cherries.

First, we drove to the bazaar and bought them - I really wanted to get them from someone whose family had picked them - just to eliminate the middle man. The young lady we found said her mother picked them.

She also graciously allowed me to take her photo! (We here in Europe have to ask before we take people’s pictures if their faces are recognizable!) She doesn’t live right here in the area - had to travel 70 km or so to get to the local bazaar. We bought 10 liters from her. She seemed very nice.

Then we went a little farther and bought another 3 liters from a different lady who told us she did not pick them herself. In fact, she laughed at the idea and said, “No, we buy them from the ladies who pick them!”

Then we brought them home, I washed them a bit, picked a few more stems and leaves out, put them on trays and put them in the freezer in thin layers.

We ended up with about 13 lbs. of them. Not sure if that is a lot or not. It was enough for me. I did end up paying about 12 zl for a liter or $3.06 at today’s exchange rate - that is just over 4 cups of blueberries.

After many hours they froze. Click on the arrows for more photos.

After they froze, I took them off the trays and put them in freezer bags.

All in all, it took until Sunday evening to get them all frozen. I ended up with 4 nice sized freezer bags. By freezing them on a thin layer on a tray like that, it kept them from freezing in a clump. That way I can take out what I want.

One of my favorite recipes is blueberry cheesecake dessert and it is delicious!

These little tiny wild blueberries are very flavorful. And after picking them in the wild in Alaska, I can appreciate how long they take to pick! I’m glad to pay $3 per liter!

Now my freezer is stocked with blueberries - I should be fine for the year!

I know…It’s not quilting - but it is one of the things I’ve been up to lately! And you don’t really expect a “new” quilt or top every day, do you? Nah…didn’t think so!

Have a great day wherever you are reading this!

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Be sure to check out what my sis has for you in the store!

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