Summertime Blue(berries)
For me, eating a handful of sun-ripened blueberries right off of the bush is a cherished summer experience. July is National Blueberry Month, and New Jersey celebrates blueberries in style! The blueberry is New Jersey’s official state fruit, with good reason. Blueberries were New Jersey’s number one crop in 2020, and the state’s farms harvested 46 million pounds of blueberries on 9,300 acres.[i] In 1916, Elizabeth Coleman White, working with Frederick Coville, was able to grow cultivated blueberries on the edge of her cranberry bog in New Jersey’s Pine Barrens, marking the first time that blueberries were cultivated in the U.S., and most likely in the world.[ii] There are many blueberry festivals in the state during the summer, including one at the historic Whitesbog Village (Elizabeth White’s home) and another in Hammonton, NJ, which is known as the “blueberry capital of the world.”
There are a number of locations for picking your own blueberries in and around the Mercer County area. I often stock up on berries in July, and then wash, dry, and freeze them to defrost throughout the rest of the year. The berries are juicy and a bit mushy when defrosted, but are great for baking and other uses, and always remind me of summer. You can also explore growing your own blueberries using Grow Blueberries at Home by Steve Ryan, which is available as an electronic book through the Mercer County Library System.
MCLS has recipe books available if you need ideas about what to make with your fresh blueberries, including:
Blueberry love: 46 sweet and savory recipes for pies, jams, smoothies, sauces, and more by Cynthia Stevens Graubart.
Blueberries take center stage in creative recipes for coffee cake, salads, pizza, cocktails, and more, plus classics like pie and jam.
Put 'em up! fruit : a preserving guide & cookbook : creative ways to put 'em up, tasty ways to use 'em up by Vinton, Sherri Brooks.
Vinton turns her preserving and cooking talents to fruit, with recipes for canning, refrigerating, freezing, drying, and infusing. She includes creative recipes for using the preserved fruits.
True blueberry : delicious recipes for every meal by Linda Dannenberg.
This celebration of a fruit long-prized by cooks begins by highlighting the health benefits of blueberries, and then presents 80 fresh, innovative recipes that will appeal to every palate.
To learn more about the history of blueberry cultivation and the Pine Barrens of New Jersey, you can watch or read the following:
In 1911, Elizabeth Coleman White and Frederick Vernon Coville united to carry out the mutual goal of taming the wild blueberry. The documentary includes an original musical score, archival audio recordings and film footage, filmed narrative accounts, expert narrations, and original artwork. The film knits together an analysis of contemporary blueberry commerce and science, with noteworthy images and documents, and compelling dialogue of the descendants of White and Coville.
The Pine Barrens by John McPhee.
In the low center of New Jersey is a near wilderness, larger than most national parks, which has been known since the seventeenth century as the Pine Barrens. The term refers to the predominant trees in the vast forests that cover the area and to the quality of the soils below, which are too sandy and acid to be good for farming. On all sides, however, developments of one kind or another have gradually moved in, so that now the central and integral forest is reduced to about a thousand square miles. Although New Jersey has the heaviest population density of any state, huge segments of the Pine Barrens remain uninhabited. The few people who dwell in the region, the "Pineys," are little known and often misunderstood. Here McPhee uses his uncanny skills as a journalist to explore the history of the region and describe the people--and their distinctive folklore--who call it home.
Discovering New Jersey's Pine Barrens by Cathy Antener.
The phrase "New Jersey Pine Barrens" often conjures images of desolate forests and even the piercing red eyes of the Jersey Devil. While those just might be true, there are over one million acres in southern New Jersey filled with remarkable people, charming communities, natural wonders and man-made marvels. Conservationists from around the state strive to protect the region from overpopulation and preserve the pristine wilds. From sweetly scented pines, blueberry and cranberry farms and family businesses to the proud inhabitants who welcome thousands of visitors every year, discover what makes the Pine Barrens one of the most beautiful regions in the Northeast.
Seasons of the pines : a photographic tour of the New Jersey Pine Barrens by Bob Birdsall.
This book unveils the wonders of the wildlife, plant life, and landscape that make up this little-known natural area, designated America's first National Reserve in 1978. From the cranberry bogs and cedar streams to the pygmy pines and deep forests, this photo album depicts it all in glorious color. Many of the wildlife and plant species shown here are designated endangered or threatened and are found only in the New Jersey Pine Barrens or isolated pockets elsewhere. Birdsall's remarkable portrayal of this unique landscape focuses our attention on the state's rapidly diminishing green spaces, and reminds us of the necessity of preserving these areas for future generations.
We also have fun and interesting books for families to read about blueberries and blueberry picking. Here are a few:
Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey.
This was one of my favorites as a child. In this classic Caldecott Medal award winning book, Little Sal and Little Bear both lose their mothers while eating blueberries in Maine and almost end up with the other's mother.
Blueberry patch Meennunyakaa by Jennifer Leason.
Based in Duck Bay, Manitoba, in the 1940s, an Elder shares his experience of packing up to go out to collect blueberries, a traditional gathering that took place every summer. He describes the journey and landscape with humor and such vivid imagery that readers will see themselves there with him, boarding the trail of wagons from surrounding communities and heading east toward the blueberry patch.
Blueberries grow on a bush by Mari Schuh.
Simple text and photographs describe how blueberries grow on bushes.
The secrets of blueberries, brothers, Moose & me by Sara Nickerson.
In order to earn money, twelve-year-old Missy and her older brother Patrick spend the summer working on a blueberry farm, where they learn lessons about life and growing up.
For the last two years, I’ve been getting part of my blueberry fix by volunteering with a community garden in Lawrenceville, at the corner of Princeton Pike and Allen Lane. The garden has a variety of produce, including nearly a quarter acre of blueberries. In 2020, we harvested 1,962 pounds of blueberries, and a total of 5,025 pounds of crops. All of the produce is donated to local food banks in Mercer County, including Homefront, Lawrence Community Center, and Meals on Wheels. More information about the garden is here: https://www.communitynews.org/archives/lawrence-s-living-in-love-food-pantry-garden-donates-7-tons-of-food/article_9d8611b9-5eda-5954-a85a-1c19b59a9624.html
If you haven’t had the chance to explore the blueberry fun New Jersey offers, I encourage you to do so. I hope I have inspired you to add some more blueberry flavor to your summer!
- by Sharon S., Ewing Branch
[i] https://www.njspotlightnews.org/2021/07/blueberries-njs-number-one-crop-46-million-pounds-9300-acres/
[ii] https://www.njspotlightnews.org/2021/01/commercial-blueberry-cultivation-1916-whiteblog-nj-elizabeth-coleman-white/
Comments
Post a Comment