Talking about blueberries

[RPCookin]

The wild blueberry bushes I have seen were less than two feet tall. They seem to do well enough through hard Quebec winters with no help.

This was my experience in Minnesota, Wisconsin and in southern Ontario. Low bushes, but I was young and the picking wasn't nearly as hard as it would be today. I did pick huckleberries in the Mission Mountains of Montana that grew on bushes that were as tall as I am (6 feet).

The best blueberries ever were in pies made on Quetico canoe trips back in the early '60s. 5 or 6 days into an 8 day trip, blueberry pie made in a reflector oven, made with fresh berries that grew all over the island we camped on. Nothing in the world could taste better than such a wonderful sweet treat when you're 50 miles back in the wilderness.

 

[cara]

hmm... I just found out the difference between the "Heidelbeere" (Vaccinium myrtillus) and the "Blaubeere" (your blueberry or Vaccinium cyanococcus).

The Heidelbeere is native to Europe and the blueberry is imported from North America and is widely cultivated.

We have two bushes Heidelbeere in our garden, and even as they are still young (planted last year) they had wonderful tasty berries this year ;o)

you find them wild in conifer forests and in the heath, that's something UK has, too, so there might be a possibility that they are UK-grown blueberries...
Do you have a farmer's market or likely around your area?

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Blue berries come in three flavors, under-ripe - sour, too much water - bland flavor as its diluted by the over-abundance of water, and perfect - just the right amount of water, and allowed to ripen until sweet. Michigan is the largest blueberry producer in the U.S., and we have an abundance of wild blueberries too, especially in the U.P. I and my DW pick every year, and purchase wild berries from local Native Americans who sell them by the quart. We usually have a couple gallons by the end of the season.

And if you think you can get pancakes in my house, without blueberries in them, well, let me tell you that you aren't thinking straight.

Blueberry snack is a wonderful thing as well.

I am sorry that good blueberries are not available in the U.K. And I have to state that the ultimate blue berry experience is had by shoving a double-handfull of freshly picked blueberries into your mouth and munching them, all at once. The intensity of the flavor is as close to a perfect flavor as you can get, all juicy, sweet, with that special and unique flavor of the blueberry. I taught my granddaughters how to do that this year. Even at the tender ages of 4 and 2, they really enjoyed that. I created the next generation of blueberry lovers in my family right then and there. My own berries aren't sweet yet, though they are deep blue. I'll test them again in another week. I cover them with netting to keep the birds out while allowing bees in.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[Mad Cook]

hmm... I just found out the difference between the "Heidelbeere" (Vaccinium myrtillus) and the "Blaubeere" (your blueberry or Vaccinium cyanococcus).

The Heidelbeere is native to Europe and the blueberry is imported from North America and is widely cultivated.

We have two bushes Heidelbeere in our garden, and even as they are still young (planted last year) they had wonderful tasty berries this year ;o)

you find them wild in conifer forests and in the heath, that's something UK has, too, so there might be a possibility that they are UK-grown blueberries...
Do you have a farmer's market or likely around your area?

Yes, Heidelbeere are our bilberries/winberries/whimberries/whortleberry/blaeberry to name but a few country names for Vaccinium myrtillus. They grow wild profusely in the Derbyshire hills and one of the butchers in Glossop (about 8 miles from me) sells home-made whimberry pies during the short season. Yummy! You get a very sinister purple mouth when you've eaten them!

 

[Mad Cook]

Blue berries come in three flavors, under-ripe - sour, too much water - bland flavor as its diluted by the over-abundance of water, and perfect - just the right amount of water, and allowed to ripen until sweet.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

"bland flavor as its diluted by the over-abundance of water" I think they must be the ones we get. Greedy farmers, I expect.

I think I'll have a go at cooking them with a little sugar to have with cream or yoghourt and if that works I'll have a go at muffins or a pie.

 

[biscotto]

The blueberries we get in Switzerland are terrible. They're tasteless and expensive and imported from Spain, which doesn't seem like a great place to grow blueberries.

 

[Addie]

Although the wild blueberries are much smaller than those giant ones from the supermarket, they have so much more flavor. And the further north you go to pick them, the better they taste. So it takes a lot more to fill the pail than cultivated ones. When it comes to blueberries, bigger is not better.