It is family tradition that the kids and I pick pounds and pounds of blueberries each June to last until the following June. Some years the picking is sparse and laborious and it takes hours upon hours to pick a year's worth. Other years the blueberries practically jump into our buckets. The latter was the case this year because all the wonderful rain that fell during the spring months. It was a race to see who could eat and pick the fastest.
After stuffing our faces and picking simultaneously for an hour, we returned home with the reward of our labor. The berries were emptied onto pans so the dew could evaporate off of them. Near the end of the day, I noticed that the blue juicy balls were slowly disappearing, so I began to pour them into gallon sized zip lock bags for safe freezing. I set several pounds to the side so the girls and I could make a few fresh items over the next few days.
That evening Annalise made a yummy fruit pizza to share with company.
The next evening I stirred up a piping hot blueberry sauce to pour over cold vanilla ice cream as a Saturday night treat.
And the following evening Madeleine concocted homemade blueberry pancakes complete with fresh from the orchard blueberry syrup for dinner.
This is one tradition we will always love.