The Wild Blueberry Story
The wild blueberry story begins some 14,000 years ago, at the period of time when a mile-thick glacier melted and receded, leaving the coastal regions of Maine and Eastern Canada, a barren and desolate wasteland. From this bleak and forbidding landscape, without vegetation, strewn with boulders and great gravel ridges, emerged a hardy, ground-hugging survivor known today as the lowbush wild blueberry plant.
Throughout the generations, this survivor multiplied, flourished and spread with an underground network of vines called rhizomes - in soil 100 times more acidic than that of your average garden variety. The wild blueberry plant struggled, adopted and found a way to bloom with a tiny bell-shaped flower which matured in a small, delicious light blue fruit, known today as the wild blueberry - the official berry of the State of Maine.
These small berries are often subjected to the blistering heat of the summer sun and shrouded at night by dense fog rolling in on the prevailing Downeast winds from the Gulf of Maine and Bay of Fundy. Natural evolution has produced a multitude of varieties, each variety blessed with a distinctive taste - from tangy tartness to succulent sweetness. Some say the blending of the many flavors results in the "greatest taste on Earth".
Native Americans taught the newly arrived European settlers the secret of pruning by fire to increase nature's bounty - a technique still used today. Since wild blueberries are truly wild and don't lend themselves to normal farming techniques such as tilling or plowing, a wild blueberry grower just "minds" the fields. "Minding" wild blueberries is a family tradition, and often family members with full-time jobs "away" take vacation time to help with the harvest. Wild blueberries are still gathered with handheld rakes dating back to the 1800's, truly a labor of love.
Coastal
Maine presents an autumn viewing extravaganza as the blueberry barrens
changes to a sea of flowing crimson. What a complement to the justly
famous New England fall foliage!
One must marvel at the wild blueberry, undoubtedly one of the great gifts of nature. The wild blueberry is unique, versatile, and nutritious. It doesn't require peeling or removal of seeds. It can be eaten fresh, stored frozen, dried, jarred or canned, and has become a favorite of chefs around the globe. Wild blueberries are also delicious when combine with other fruits.
Modern research has uncovered many natural compounds in wild blueberries that are beneficial to our health, such as polymers that cleanse away harmful bacteria, anthocyanins that are used to combat computer-induced eye strain, manganese to maintain a healthy heart, and is the highest in antioxidants, Vitamin A and nearly one-third of an adult's daily requirement for Vitamin C of any fruit or vegetable. Wild blueberry are also fat-free and contain no cholesterol. As the younger generation would say, wild blueberries are both "wicked good" and "good for what ails ya"!
Nature's great taste, available in every small wild blueberry, coupled with outstanding versatility, wholesomeness, and that certain Maine Coast mystique, come together to create a unique taste sensation - only found in the Wild Blueberry!
Sanford Kelly Jr., Rockdale Farms, est. 1790
Edited by: Sharon Foss, District Office Manager (2002)
Compliments of: Sunrise County Wild
Blueberry Association P.O. Box 284 Cherryfield, Maine 04622