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BLUEBERRIES


Some botanists estimate that wild blueberries flourished as far backas 1O,OOO B.C. They are native to the northern regions of the Northern Hemisphere.Blueberries were staples in the diets of American Indians and Eskimos priorto the arrival of the explorers from the Old World. A similar type of berrygrown in Britain was called the whortleberry.

The annual commercial North American blueberry crop (both the wild and thecultivated blues) comes close to 200 million pounds each year. That's 95percent of the world's total production. While blueberries are gaining popularityin other parts of the world, nothing quite compares with the love affairthat Canadians and Americans have with the colorful, flavorful blueberry.

Until early in the twentieth century there was only one type of blueberry:the wild blues that were used by the Indians and dated back to prehistorictimes. These grow on low bushes, six to eighteen inches in height. Due tothe short stature of the bush and the very small size of the berry, thesewild blues can't be harvested by machine. They have to be hand-picked orgathered with a wooden rake after the bush has been shaken by hand. Gatheringthese wild blueberries on a commercial scale is both slow and costly.

Today's low-bush blues are still known as wild blueberries even though theyare grown commercially. Most of them are grown on privately held land andare produced on fenced-in acreage. Every other year after harvest, the fieldsare burned down to the ground, eliminating the need for pruning or weedcontrol. The only thing wild about these wild blueberries is the price tag.Those plentiful wild blues that were free for the taking by the Indiansand early settlers are now usually quite costly. Most of them never reachthe marketplace as a fresh fruit. They are sold to commercial processorswho freeze them or put them up in tins.

It was not until the early 1900s that the wild blueberry was tamed. Thefirst cultivated blueberry made its debut in 1906 as a result of experimentsin New Jersey conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. These newcultivated blues were an instant success because they were much larger thanthe wild blue, had a more attractive color, and had smaller, less noticeableseeds. The cultivated blues have been improved by a constant stream of newvarieties.

The annual tonnage of the cultivated blues has increased geometrically.In less than a century the annual tonnage has risen to close to 100 millionpounds. This incredible and swift growth has never been matched by any otheragricultural item.

Unlike their low-bush antecedents, the cultivated blueberries grow on bushesthat may reach heights of more than eight feet. The greater height of thebushes and the much greater size of the berries permit them to be harvestedmechanically.

The cultivated blue is not only three to four times larger than the wildblueberry, it is also more colorful. The wild blueberries are a dark (almostblack) blue in color. The cultivated blues are a much paler powdery blue.Which type is more flavorful? That argument has been going on for yearsand has yet to be resolved.

The cultivated blue has all but replaced the wild blue in the market. Cultivatedblues are almost flawless dessert fruits. Not only do they have fine flavor,they require little or no preparation other than a cold water rinse. Theyare ready to serve at the time of purchase. They don't have to be peeled,pitted, sliced, or cored, nor do they have to be further ripened or aged.While they do have seeds, those seeds are so minute and tender that theygo unnoticed. With all these attributes, the cultivated blueberry comesvery close to being a perfect fruit.

If the cultivated blues have one fault, it is the shortness of their season.They are available less than five months a year. Only cherries and apricotshave shorter seasons. Cultivated blues arrive in May and wind up in September.There are a few blues flown in during the winter from the Southern Hemisphere,but these imported blues are usually very expensive because of the highcost of air freight.

The season for the cultivated blue is kicked off each year early in Mayby a trickle of a new variety of berry called Rabbit Eyes that aregrown in northern Florida and Georgia. The tonnage is still very light,but the shippers plan to increase their acreage. Late in May the seasongets into high gear with the arrival of fairly heavy supplies from NorthCarolina. In June the huge New Jersey crop comes on line. Oregon startsto ship in July. Michigan, Massachusetts, Washington State, and BritishColumbia blues arrive in August and wind up the season in late September.

Cultivated blues are usually marketed at retail in paperboard pint baskets.The net contents of each pint is fourteen to fifteen ounces. A pint of bluesyields four servings, but a pint of strawberries yields but two to three.

Color is one of the hallmarks of quality and offers an effective way tojudge their worth. The best blues have a powdery light blue color. Theyappear to have been dusted with a waxy powder. This wax was put there byMother Nature and serves to protect the blues from the direct rays of thesun. This wax coating, which also appears on several other fresh fruitsand vegetables, is called bloom.

The bloom is a clue to freshness. Although it won't rinse off in cold water,it gradually fades away within about a week of harvest. As the bloom disappears,the color of the berry gradually changes from light blue to almost black.Dark black blueberries aren't as fresh, firm, or flavorful as the light-coloredblues.

Firmness and dryness go hand-in-hand, as do softness and wetness. Soft bluesare on the verge of breaking down and are starting to decay. Always checkthe bottom of the paperboard pint baskets for telltale stains or leaking.Never purchase leaky blueberries. This same advice also applies for blackberries,raspberries, and strawberries.

In most of the other fresh fruits (with the exception of Bing cherries),size has little bearing on flavor and texture. Even though the larger sizedfruits are usually more costly, they are not any more flavorful than smaller,less costly fruit of comparable quality. However, when purchasing cultivatedblues, the bigger the berry, the better the flavor. Pay the premium priceand buy the largest blues available.

Patriot Earliblue

WHEN TO BUY: At peak June, July, and August
WHAT TO LOOK FOR: Large, dry, plump, powdery fruit that are light blue incolor
HOW TO STORE: Refrigerate immediately


Deamer 5/97