Blueberry Picking 2017

Blueberries are in season and we were in desperate need of replenishing our stock! We loaded everyone up and headed out to Watts Farm, grabbed 4 1-gallon buckets and some cups and got to work.

 Unfortunately, it was blazing hot and the kids wilted rather quickly. Of course, the littles faded first. They did more eating than picking, which is normal. Gabe was the next to fall out. Ezra powered on for a good while, picking and staying in good spirits. Olivia managed to pick most of a bucket on her own. Altogether we picked about 25lbs of berries. That should last us until next year! :)

Blueberry Picking

It's that time of year again! I really can't recall how many pounds we picked last year, but we were down to our last few so we knew it was time to go get more. This is one of the best things for the kids to pick because there are tons of them that they can reach and they can eat their fill while doing it. This year everyone got into the act. Seriously! Irene was even picking from her perch on Rebecca's back.

The people at Watts Blueberry Farm in Belews Creek are just so fantastic and their bushes are so wonderful that we keep coming back. This is our third or fourth year going to them exclusively (though I think we may have picked a couple of early-season pounds at Buttermilk last year). The haul so far this year? 15lbs. We'll be going back again. It will stay blueberry season until mid-September or so depending on the weather.

Blueberries

We took the kids blueberry/blackberry/peach picking last week. It's an activity we all enjoy a lot. It gives the kids a chance to stuff themselves with as many blueberries as they can eat while we attempt to fill a bucket or two. (Reminded me of the mother bear in Blueberries For Sal saying, "eat all you can" and Sal's mother saying she is trying to gather hers to take home for canning, not for eating at that moment.) We like that the kid experience that our food requires work and comes from a farm. It makes the food taste all the better.

5lbs of peaches, 3lbs of blueberries and 2lbs of blackberries. not a bad haul for an hour. 

To go hand-in-hand with the picking, Rebecca read Blueberries for Sal to the boys as part of the Before Five In A Row curriculum. They loved the book and begged for it at every meal. 



They loved putting the berries in the bucket to hear them go "Kerplink, Kerplank, Kerplunk!"




We use the books to talk about many different subjects, counting, trees, animal classification, working in the kitchen, seasons, colors.



More Blueberries

We went to Watts Blueberries in Belews Creek Monday evening. We shared some great company with our friends and picked tons of blueberries. Well, Jeremy and myself picked the majority. Olivia did her part and the boys did lots of eating. :) This time the blueberries were definitely in season and tasted yummy. We came home with a gallon. The kids are eating them by the handfuls right now but I may manage to freeze some too.