Blueberry bonanza

Blueberry season is one of our favorites. From frozen blueberries to canning jam and making batch after batch of blueberry muffins and cobbler, it's by far the most popular fruit at our house every August. We pick about 20 pounds of cultivated blueberries (these are larger and more tart than wild berries) along with whatever wild blueberries we can find in our yard and surrounding area each year to ensure we have a stockpile of "blueberry popscicles" (L.'s nickname for plain 'ole frozen blueberries eaten directly from the freezer container) to last us through the winter.

This year our trip to the blueberry u-pick farm in Limerick included a special treat - blueberry donuts. I'm not a donut fan (I adore sweets yet donuts don't hold much appeal for me) but these blueberry ones smelled so good that when the kids asked to buy one, I agreed. They were still warm and oh soooo delicious!

The cultivated blueberry season runs through mid-September at some u-picks in Maine (find a u-pick farm near you). Call ahead though to ensure this month (and next) that there is fruit to pick on a particular day (u-pick farms close when they are "picked out" and waiting for more fruit to ripen on the bushes).

Happy blueberry season.