Fresh blueberries from the forest or your own garden are a real delicacy in fresh and processed form. When collecting the fruits, also known as blueberries, a few things should be considered.

Forest blueberries and cultivated blueberries

The forest blueberries that grow in sparse moor forests and in depressions in this country have their harvest time in midsummer over a period of several weeks from around the beginning of July. The cultivated blueberries for cultivation in the garden, on the other hand, come from North American varieties and botanically have little in common with the plants that grow wild in the forest. While you have to bend quite far down to the forest floor to pick the forest blueberries, cultivated blueberries ripen at eye level on the bushes, which are about 2.5 meters high. Forest blueberries have a particularly aromatic taste, but the fruits of cultivated blueberries are larger and juicier.

The right way to collect

For collecting blueberries in the forest, the following things should be brought:

  • large and rather flat bowls or baskets
  • Cushions for the knees during longer picking jobs
  • Water for washing fingers and fruits

You shouldn't put too many layers of blueberries on top of each other in the bowls so that they don't get overly crushed during transport. Especially in extensive clearings with dense blueberry growth, it can be worth taking a knee pad with you in a good season. Since wild blueberries have a strong coloring juice, you should have a bottle of water with you. You can use it to clean your fingers or to clean fruits of the fox tapeworm pathogens that may be present if you want to taste the blueberries right in the forest.

Storage and processing of blueberries

Blueberries, which are also called blueberries in many regions, are not only a particularly vitamin-rich refreshment when fresh. Since they can only be kept in the refrigerator for a few days, boiling down or freezing are ideal for longer storage. Frozen blueberries can be processed into delicious fruit sauces and pastries at a later date.

tips and tricks

Blueberries collected in the forest and garden have always been used in the natural treatment of health problems. Dried blueberries are said to have a regulating effect on many digestive problems.

Category:

Vegetable garden