A day picking blueberries.

Sunday's blueberry outing was, despite the charcoal-gray skies, quite a success. Though the weather may have convinced a few potential pickers to stay inside, those of us who made the trek had a great time. Yes, we had to wait out a passing storm beneath the shed:



Meanwhile, Bill gave us a history of the blueberry patch, with its two thousand bushes still going strong after more than thirty years. He and Sally have been tending these bushes for the past sixteen years, and, with regular pruning, it sounds as though it'll keep going strong when it's time to change caretakers again. Ten minutes each year to prune each bush - multiplied by two thousand - and they'll simply keep producing berries.



As near as I can tell, everyone ate their fill of berries; when they're so ripe and fresh, eating another one, or two, or a handful, is just too hard to resist. We weren't the only ones with that idea, from what Bill tells us. The birds flock to the patch to feast on the ripe berries, and there are so many to be had that no one seems to mind. A neighbor's deer, meanwhile, get to enjoy all of the berries that aren't good enough to sell, particularly those with bugs inside. The deer don't seem to mind, and it helps keep the pest problems to a minimum.



And there were a few occasional sprinkles once we started picking, but the day was cool, refreshing, and there were seemingly endless rows of ripe berries just waiting for us to take them. When we began picking, Bill estimated that the patch had already exceeded their worst year of production, with 3,300 quarts of berries picked so far. With plenty more to go:



For those looking for a recipe to use up some of their excess blueberries this year, here's one for blueberry-peach jam that's become a standard in our house:

Blueberry-peach jam with star anise and lavender
Makes about 4 pints

Ingredients

• 4 cups blueberries
  
• 4 cups peaches, peeled and chopped
  
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  
• ½ cup water
  
• 5½ cups sugar
  
• ½ teaspoon salt
  
• 1 3-inch stick cinnamon
  
• 4 points star anise
  
• ½ tablespoon dried lavender

Directions

1. Place the water in a small saucepan with the cinnamon and star anise. Bring just to a boil, then cover and remove from the heat. Allow to steep at least thirty minutes before removing the spices.
   
   
2. Place the spice-infused water, fruit, and lemon juice to a large pot and bring to a boil. Boil for ten minutes, stirring occasionally.
   
   
3. Add the salt, sugar, and lavender, stirring to dissolve. Bring back to the boil, and stir constantly until the jam thickens. Remove from the heat.
   
   
4. If canning into pint or half-pint jars, leave ¼-inch headspace and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Alternately, refrigerate and use immediately.