Blueberries

Blueberries are an excellent berry.

I figured that despite not being something I forage for regularly; they’re a national favorite so I just had to talk about them!

When I pick it’s usually because I’ve gotten permission to pick at old/abandoned blueberry farms but there are definitely wild blueberries out there that I’ve found.

They can be tricky to grow unless you’re in a good location for them, but if they’ll grow for you I’d say they’re worth it.

I happen to live in one of the good spots for blueberries in Michigan, so it is easy to find fresh good fruit in my area.

Let’s take a look:

Plant Profile:

Scientific Name: Vaccinium sp. (V. corymbosum, V. angustifolium, V. boreale, V. mytilloides, V. pallidum etc)

Preferred Habitat: Abandoned farms, areas with acidic soil, near lakes, in areas with sandy soil, and near coniferous forests. Some species also prefer growing in the higher parts of wetlands or in forests.

Edible Parts: Fruit

Distribution: The Eastern half of North America, and parts of Western Canada. Important to note that this is for multiple blueberry species not JUST the highland blueberry.

Harvest Season: Mid-summer

Key Identifiers: Round blue to purple berries with hazy yeast blooms on the skin of each berry.

The flowers are small white and bell-shaped earlier in the year.

Toxic Look-Alikes: The main toxic look alike that I’m aware of is Virginia creeper berries. Those are actually toxic but they grow on a vine and not a shrub like blueberries do.

Occasionally black currants, serviceberry, or wild grapes can be mistaken for blueberries, but all are edible. Black currants grow on canes like raspberries, serviceberries grow on trees, and grapes are vining plants while blueberries grow as shrubs.

Nutrition per 100g raw:

• Calories: 57

• Water: 84%

• Protein: 0.7 g

• Carbs: 14.5 g

• Sugar: 10 g

• Fiber: 2.4 g

• Fat: 0.3 g

  High in:

• Vitamin A

• Vitamin E

• Vitamin K

• Vitamin C

• Manganese

• Vitamin B6

• Copper

• Antioxidants

• Anthocyanin

• Quercetin

Uses

Blueberries are used in baked goods, eaten raw or dried, added to drinks, desserts, juiced, or used to add flavoring to desserts or meals.

Blueberries are also a great source of many nutrients and are top tier as far as berries go!

For those who have been unfortunate enough to never try blueberries, they have a very bright and summery flavor that is sweet and tart at the same time. the riper the berry, the sweeter it gets and the less ripe the more tart it leans.

I’m personally partial to tart-leaning blueberries but most people I know prefer sweet berries.

Growth Habits

Blueberry cultivation is an interesting topic.

Native American tribes used to use slash and burn techniques to enhance wild blueberry yields, but more intentional cultivation wasn’t really achieved before the 1900s.

A lady by the name of Elizabeth White started working a botanist by the name of Fredrick Coville to experiment with cultivation in 1908, and by 1916 they had released the first blueberry cultivar in North America.

In the 1920s and 30s, commercial production started in New Jersey (which is famous for blueberries) and the focus was on Highbush blueberries which are easier to cultivate than the lowbush varieties.

Highbush are the kinds you’re probably familiar with on the large shrubs, and lowbush are very small scrubby plants that stand about 1-2ft tall.

Blueberries prefer acidic well-draining soil and have sensitive shallow roots. Whenever you plant a blueberry bush you should always leave the roots very close to the surface of the soil.

They like being well-watered but really don’t do well in soil that doesn’t drain well so I’d avoid planting them in clay-heavy soils or even just heavier loamy soil unless it drains well.

They also benefit from being mulched.

Additional Information

My first experience with lowbush blueberries was when I was about 13. I was at a camp hiking, and we would periodically stop along the trail and I’d eat lowbush blueberries as a snack!

Generally, there are a few main classes of North American blueberry: Northern highbush, Southern, Rabbiteye, and Lowbush. Most species fall into one or more of those categories.

While blueberries are a top tier berry, I would be cautious of attempting to grow them unless you really live in a great region for them or unless you’re willing to do all of the extra care they’d need otherwise.

If you don’t live somewhere great for blueberries and don’t want all the extra work to baby them along, then I’d suggest giving honeyberry a try. (I’ll try to have an article on them out soon!)

I If you’re looking to add more native fruit to your landscape, blueberries are hard to beat!

Cultivars

There are so many great cultivars that I haven’t grown but that I have on my list should I ever have property in a good area for blueberries:

• Titan Rabbiteye - A large sweet southern type.

• Powderblue Rabbiteye - A high yielding sweet southern variety

• Hannah’s Choice - One of the earliest ripening varieties, a great choice for short seasons

• Elliot - A popular late season blueberry that ripens in September

• Northland - A Michigan State University variety known for extreme cold tolerance

• Midnight Cascade - A weeping blueberry that spills downward like a weeping willow!

• Pink Lemonade - A rare genetic mutation of blueberry that bears pink fruits!

• Chandler - The biggest fruit of any blueberry variety as far as I’m aware! (Yes, they still taste good)

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