Tuesday, May 12, 2009

I'm Not Blue(berry) Anymore

May in the Sunshine State means it's the beginning of BLUEBERRY SEASON!!

We had the day off, so we headed out of the city, up to Lake County to find a blueberry farm. The one where we expected to stop was closed on Tuesdays, so we kept driving, through the town of Howey-In-The-Hills and the Census Designated Places (too small to be towns) of Astatula and Yalaha.
We found a farm stand at a blueberry and raspberry farm and picked out a pound and a half to bring home.

Sorority Girl looked in my baskets and commented on the size of the berries. I put the baskets at the register, along with zucchini and cucumbers. As he was ringing up the produce, the grower and I chatted about how they deal with birds in the fields (fireworks and falcons). It would cost $40,000 to buy enough nets to cover all the rows of bushes. I'm guessing they are a fairly new farm because the bushes are only about 2 feet tall.

I asked how the lack of rain was affecting the size of the crop. Then he apologized for the small size of the blueberries. My eyes nearly popped out of the sockets because..... LOOK!

Blueberries the size of my eyeballs!
(Is this picture blurry or are my new glasses too strong?)
I'll be making some blueberry muffins and throwing these babies in my yogurt.

Next time, I'll tell you about the famous German Bakery next door to the blueberry farm.

8 comments:

Pretty Things said...

Yummy antioxidants! (I haven't quite figured out what antioxidants ARE, but I know they're very GOOD, so thank goodness they're not in, say, okra or tripe).

Heather T said...

They look great! I wish I was there for your muffins - yum!

No, your glasses aren't blurry. I'm just happy to know that someone else has trouble taking good photos of inanimate objects on flat surfaces.

Do you know what kind of blueberries they are? I think I've finally decided to plant some bushes, and I'm trying to decide on which kind of blueberry.

Missy said...

Yum....makes me want some! Photo was a little blurry. Don't worry, you don't need new glasses!

Jen on the Edge said...

Yum! I can't wait for blueberry season (about another 5-6 weeks for us).

Cat said...

Okay, call me weird, but I like my blueberries small as in teeny-tiny. Wild Maine are my favorite, but you can only get those frozen in Georgia.

Jenn @ Juggling Life said...

I totally love blueberries. Locally grown be damned!

Fannie said...

We used to pick blueberries every year. And then bake muffins and read "Blueberries for Sal". Now I'm feeling all nostalgic. And hungry!

Anonymous said...

Dang! Those are some nice big berries! Yum!