Six Quart Saturday

On Saturday, we picked blueberries at Crummet Mountain Farm in Somerville. The farm is owned by an inspiring woman in her 70s. A book designer, artist, and fiber artist, she shares the farm with about 20 sheep and a few chickens, and lives off the grid, her farmhouse powered by the sun, propane, and wood. After getting a tour of the farm, petting a few sheep (a lamb April, and her mommy Ginger), we set down the drive to a hill covered in acres of organic blueberries.

Crummet Mountain Farm berries are low-bush, shrubs 10-12 inches from the ground that yield tiny fruits. People seem somewhat baffled that we chose hand-picking over the more economical rake method. Not that we weren't offered the rake, but we preferred contact with the blue skinned fruits (easier to sneak a taste and find the ripest berries). Rather than picking single berries from the busth, the trick is to seek out clumps of three or four of the ripest berries, and with the paper carton beneath, quickly roll the berries off the plant with your fingers into the carton. I loved how the sound of the berries dropping into the carton changed from a papery plink to a tiny vibration, berry against berry.

Besides our host, we were the only ones picking at the time, but apparently two berry enthusiasts had arrived at the farm at 6:30 a.m., perhaps to resell the fruits on the side of a road somewhere. What a delight to have this whole place to our selves on such an amazing day - no humidity, just clear, golden skies, the crickets and cicadas whirring and buzzing around us.

Nelson was a man on a berry mission, he quickly accumulated 4 quarts to my 2. I meandered from bush to bush for clumps of plumps, content to rest a bit in the hot sun and stretch out my achy back. There were berries everywhere, deep in the grass, on every bush in every size. At the end of the day, my cuticles had bits of blue fruit in them, and my two big toes were stained blue from berries that got wedged in my sandles. This required a good scrub in the tub!

So now we have a freezer full of berries, poised for blueberry smoothies, blueberries on cereal, blueberry cake, blueberry muffins, blueberry pancakes. What else can you do with blueberries?