The Best Blueberries in the World

Good Morning,

 

Immediately upon arriving in St. John's, there was talk about the blueberries being ready to get picked.  "Where do you pick them," I would ask.  "Anywhere," said the first person who told me about this unique aspect of Newfoundland.  I was a bit skeptical that these berries could be picked and found so easily, but nevertheless, I believed them and desperately wanted to get my hands on some wild blueberries. 

Shortly after arriving at my host families house for the first time, I was looking through the fridge and saw a big container of blueberries.  I took the container out of the fridge and looked at them.  They looked smaller than normal.  "They must be wild," I thought to myself.  I went to ask Dwight (one of the host parents) what the deal was with the blueberries, and he told me that they picked them.  "Now is a great time to pick the blueberries," he told me, along with many other people in town.  He mentioned to me that the wild blueberries have higher antioxidant levels than any of the usual cultivated blueberries.

 Fast forward about a week, and here I am hiking on the east coast trail which I blogged about a couple of entry's ago, and I didn't notice any blueberries.  "Where are they?" I asked my friend Jon.  He tells me, "I'm not sure.  We saw a lot of them last week when we were hiking over by Signal Hill."  I knew that they must be around, so I got down to ground level and looked with some determination.  HA!  They were everywhere!  The wild blueberries are what they call "lowbush" blueberries--meaning that they basically grow on the ground, unlike the highbush blueberries that we see so often in south eastern United States.

From this point on out, I would just lean over while hiking and pick blueberries whenever I felt the urge to eat a blueberry or 10.  These blueberries grow like weeds once you get out of the city.  It is very special.  Not only can wild blueberries be found in abundance, but partridgeberries, blackberries and crowberries can also be found.  While driving out to Eilis and Dwights cabin in the woods, we saw someone parked on the side of the road with a bucket in his hand.  He then began to walk up the mountain to go pick some fruit!  In the peak of the blueberry picking season, supposedly loads and loads of people are out doing the same thing. 

This morning I will be putting some wild blueberry jam on my toast.  YUM!

Sincerly,

Benjamin