Blueberry Picking

There is a farm a few hours from our house that has acres of blueberry bushes.  They came ripe in the middle of July and my mom loaded us up and took us blueberry picking!  She wanted to make sure the kids knew where blueberries come from and how they grow :)

Notice the bucket is still empty...this is at the beginning! 

It was opening day so it was "blueberry chaos" as they call it.  As we were pulling in I saw a guy with a Camelback water pack on his back and thought, "wow he must plan on picking a lot!"  We road a hayrack out to the fields and began picking.  It was my first time to pick and I was surprised how easily the berries fall off into your hands.  They are a lot less labor intensive compared to strawberries because you can stand and aren't on your hands and knees.  It was a pretty warm day.  Elizabeth started strong but she started fading pretty quick.  Grant took to just eating the berries right off the bush!

About 30 minutes in Elizabeth says "I can't see straight."  Of course I didn't think to haul water out to the field with us (smart guy with the Camelback!)   Mom and I decided we should take what we have and head back.  We believe Elizabeth was overheating and on the verge of passing out.  I held her while we waited for the tractor to take us back.  In true blueberry chaos fashion the check out line was a 45-60 minute wait!  Yep it took more time to get our berries weighed and paid for than what we spent picking (and remember it took a few hours to get there!)  Luckily, mom had suggested a packing a picnic lunch.  She was gracious enough to stand in line and let me get the kids fed.  I think we ended up with a just under 10 pounds of blueberries.  We have already strategized about our picking technique for next year and part of that includes taking Pops with us to entertain the kids!

The "Blueberry Chaos"