The Summer of the Blueberry

This summer I have had the most spectacular blueberry harvest imaginable. It should be remembered in history, at least here in Northeast Ohio, as "The Summer of the Blueberry." My blueberry bushes are about 5 years old now and have never had a big crop at all. But everything came together this year, somehow: weather, rainfall, maturity of the bushes, pollination, bee activity--whatever. As I noticed the proliferation of flowers early in the season I thought that I better put netting over my bushes as the fruit developed. I think the netting (old netting salvaged from Sage's Apple Farm in Chardon) saved the berries from the birds. And by early July the huge harvest began--and continued into mid or late August. We baked blueberry pies, pancakes, and muffins. We had blueberries on our cereal every morning. And we gave away many containers of berries to family and neighbors.

What a fantastic harvest! The Summer of the Blueberry!