Maine Wild Blueberries are in season.
A Gift That Keeps on Giving
My daughter told me she had brought me something back from Maine that I’d love and enjoy everyday. I pondered what that might be.
. . . a plaid Mackinaw from L. L. Bean?
. . . a Stephen King or Longfellow novel from the authors home state?
. . . a live lobster, perhaps?
“No, no,” she said. “Better than that: Wild Maine Blueberries!” (She knows I eat a handful of blueberries everyday, usually with yogurt in the morning.) “Maine is the wild blueberry capital of the country,” she said, “99% of wild blueberries come from there. It’s blueberry season right now and the fruit shows up in everything from muffins, to pancakes to salad to milkshakes.”
The wild blueberry, the state fruit of Maine, grows near the ground and ripens between late July and mid-September. You can identify the berry by the five-pointed crown on its underside.
Wild or Cultivated?
“How do they differ from cultivated blueberries?” I asked.
“They’re small, almost the size of a large pea, exceptional sweet, and have double the antioxidants and fiber of farm-grown varieties,” she explained.
I was impressed. I did some freezer cleansing to make room for my five pound box of hand-delivered blueberries and kept some to enjoy right away.
Frozen to Enjoy All Year Round
So where do you get Maine Wild Blueberries in these parts? I’m told they’re available frozen, all-year round, at Costco and Walmart. But be sure the label says “Wild.”
