Blueberry harvest

Despite the depredations of the blackbirds, I have managed to harvest a decent quantity of Blueberries. It's not huge by most people's standards (I only have four plants, in pots) but in my view quality is better than quantity, and harvesting your own Blueberries is just so satisfying!

The ripe berries have a very attractive bloom or "patina", don't they? Almost as if they have been dusted with talcum powder!

I have had to keep my Blueberries covered with a piece of fleece, to stop the birds from raiding them, and I decided to pick the berries before they were fully ripe, and to ripen them indoors.

There are lots of berries on the plants, but they all ripen at different times, so I just picked the ones that looked nearly ripe. I ended up with about 300 grams this time. I reckon that between them the four plants will produce something like 750 - 800 grams of fruit this year. The harvest is increasing as the plants get more mature.

These will probably need 4 or 5 days' ripening indoors before they are sweet enough to eat. We tend to eat them as "nibbling food" rather than in any specific dish. We keep them in a bowl in the kitchen, so that as we come and go we just grab a few of them every now and then. Supposedly, Blueberries are a "Superfood", so it is easy to justify eating them in large quantities (if you call 300g a large quantity!). They are nice sprinkled over a bowl of Corn Flakes, or added to a pot of yoghurt. Until recently we might have eaten Blueberries in muffins or with pancakes and maple syrup, but since we discovered that Jane is diabetic we have pretty much stopped eating desserts. I particularly like the combination of Blueberries with Raspberries - something to do with the contrasting colours, textures and flavours, I think.