I always get a little melancholy this time of year. As much as I dislike the 90-degree temperatures and nearly as much humidity, the end of August and beginning of September mean meteorological and astronomical summer are coming to an end. Winter gets closer with each passing day.
It also means something else. Maine’s wild blueberry season is coming to an end. When we first purchased our property and started improving it, we discovered blueberry plants everywhere. Now, when I say blueberry plants, I mean the wild highbush variety that stands anywhere from 5 to over 6 feet tall, not the backbreaking lowbush type normally associated with the Washington County barrens and common on some of our open mountain slopes.
We fell in love with them not only because they are easy to pick while standing up straight but also because of their sweet taste. We started clearing around them and removing dead wood, something we do every year as we pick.
Maine’s wild blueberry season generally runs from late July into early September, depending on the region and environmental factors such as winter conditions, spring and summer rainfall and temperature.
Some years, the bushes on our property produce a decent crop and we manage to pick and freeze enough for muffins throughout the winter. Some years, it’s not worth picking anywhere on the property. Other years, the crop is spotty and we have to search and work for every berry. I didn’t really keep track of the various factors that determine annual production, but whatever the reasons, Mother Nature blessed us with a bumper crop this year.
Actually, I would say a mega-bumper crop. Wild highbush blueberries were everywhere. In some cases, we found shrubs we hadn’t picked for a couple of years so abundant they were literally blue. They grew in clusters, some as large as my thumbnail. On many of the plants, we could peel our hands along fruit-bearing canes and come away with a handful. On several occasions, we picked nearly a quart from one shrub while another was ready to pick behind us. There were also green berries that had yet to ripen, which meant a long picking season.
Over the course of a few evenings with little else to do, my wife, Diane, and I picked 20 quarts. After each outing, we spread the berries on a flat cookie sheet to remove twigs, leaves and other undesirables before freezing them. As the end of summer grows near, we are still picking, although with less urgency.
Even after using some for a homemade blueberry pie and a couple of cinnamon- and sugar-topped cakes, both favorites topped with whipped cream, we now have enough in the freezer that we probably won’t have to pick next season or the one after that. That’s a good thing because, if history is any indication, the crop might not be as good. We never know. A lot of things in nature, from grouse and snowshoe hare populations to hard mast production, are cyclic. The same is true of highbush blueberry production, so we pick and freeze what we can when we can.
It may be a tad strange to be so overly enthusiastic about Maine wild highbush blueberries. In our town, we see folks picking where they grow close to the roads, so it’s good to see we’re not alone and to see people taking advantage of what nature provides and Maine’s first-in-the-nation constitutional right to harvest food, which has been interpreted to include gathering wild foods.
We’ve been doing it for nearly 30 years on neighboring property as well as our own. During bumper years like this one, I often count our blessings and wonder if others are as fortunate.
Highbush blueberries grow wild near woodland lowlands, swamps, bogs and moist meadows, habitats not uncommon in some of our wildlife management areas, state parks and public reserve lands for those willing to take the time to look. It’s a shame not to.
That’s true for several reasons. We enjoy being outside, listening to birds and other forest sounds as we pick. On Maine’s public lands and along town roads and public highways, the picking is also free. You can’t say that about too many things these days.
But it is also their unmistakable taste that makes wild blueberries such a treat worth picking. Sweet, tangy and intense, sometimes perhaps a tad earthy, they can be all of these and then some. To be honest, I find it difficult to describe the taste. All I know is they hit the tongue with a bang and make you close your eyes as you savor the flavor.
On our property, we have bushes that produce berries of different colors, some light blue, some darker blue or purple, if not almost black, and each color has a noticeably different taste. Perhaps that has something to do with it. I read somewhere that the unmistakable taste of wild berries comes from their smaller size and higher skin-to-pulp ratio, which results in a more concentrated flavor. Whatever the reason, it makes little difference. What matters is that wild highbush blueberries are a flavorful, free food here on the Maine landscape for all to enjoy.
All you have to do is find them and go get them. But hurry. The season is coming to an end.