New Research Shows Wild Blueberries Have Potential to Improve Heart Health
Wild Blueberries are already easy to love – but now there’s yet another reason to keep those tiny, delicious berries close to your heart. Researchers at the University of Reading (UK), the University of Dusseldorf (Germany) and the University of Northumbria (UK) have used state-of-the-art techniques to show that Wild Blueberries can improve vascular function in healthy men – that is – they’re good for your heart!
In their study, researchers learned that Wild Blueberries may help blood vessels to function better and remain healthier, meaning that the heart does not have to work as hard to circulate blood through the body. These findings are the first to link Wild Blueberry polyphenols, natural compounds that are abundant in Wild Blueberries, to improvements in vascular function in healthy men.
“For the first time, we have shown that Wild Blueberry consumption can improve endothelial function, which has been shown to be a highly sensitive marker for the overall cardiovascular risk of an individual,” said Dr. Ana Rodriguez-Mateos, PhD, from the Division of Cardiology, Pulmunology and Vascular Medicine at the University of Dusseldorf in Germany.Dr. Rodriguez-Mateos is first author of the study and a contributor to the annual Wild Blueberry Bar Harbor Research Summit.
“Importantly, even the lowest amount of Wild Blueberries tested in the study, equivalent to 3/4 cup of Wild Blueberries, was able to improve endothelial function,” noted Rodriguez-Mateos. That means that less than a cup a day of those Wild Blues (the amount, for instance, in a yummy breakfast smoothie) may be enough to help reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease. Talk about a delicious way to stay heart healthy!
And remember, not every blueberry is a Wild Blueberry.Wild Blueberries are smaller than regular cultivated blueberries, have a more intense blueberry flavor and have double the antioxidant capacity. They are available year-round in the grocer’s frozen fruit section – so don’t wait for summer to start stocking up. Try this easy Wild Blueberry Smoothie today!
Easy Wild Blueberry Smoothie
•3/4 cup frozen Wild Blueberries
•3/4 up vanilla or plain yogurt
•1 Tbsp honey (optional)
•3-4 ice cubes
Place all ingredients in a mixer and blend at high speed until smooth.Enjoy immediately.
For more Wild Blueberry recipes, and additional research about their incredible health benefits, visit www.wildblueberries.com.
Wild Blueberries grow naturally on over 200,000 acres of fields and barrens that stretch from Quebec to Eastern Canada to Downeast Maine. On an average year the Wild Blueberry crop is usually around 223 million pounds.
Wild Blueberries are harvested commercially only in Maine and Canada. Many of today’s independent, family-owned growers have been in the Wild Blueberry business for generations.
Naturally suited to acidic, low-fertility soils and challenging winters, Wild Blueberries are a low-input crop requiring minimal management. The berries are grown on a two-year cycle. Each year, half of a grower’s land is managed to encourage vegetative growth and the other half is prepared for harvest.
We recently visited Wyman’s of Maine in Washington County to experience the Wild Blueberry crop at peak harvest. Founded by Jasper Wyman in 1874, Jasper Wyman & Son is one of the largest family-owned Wild Blueberry growers and processors. The company is based in Maine, where it manages more than 10,000 acres of Wild Blueberry barrens as well as the fields of other Wyman growers from Maine, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.
Across the road from Wyman’s manufacturing plant in Cherryfield, Maine one can see 1200 acres of Wild Blueberry barrens. Drive a couple miles down the road, and there are thousands more.
An example of a mechanical harvester at work.
Hand vs. Mechanical Raking
Many small to midsize Wild Blueberry farmers still hand pick the rockier rougher ground and use mechanical harvesters on the more even land. A mechanical harvester is usually operated by two people, a driver and a person to handle the boxes of berries on the rear-loading platform, and goes about .8 mph. According to the University of Maine’s Cooperative Extension Blueberry Specialist, David Yarborough, these machines have been proven to reduce the harvesting costs as much as 50% and are more efficient than hand raking for product recovery. For more information on blueberry harvesting equipment go to the University of Maine’s Cooperative Extension site.
Whether hand raked or machine harvested, Wild Blueberries are sorted, cleaned and processed within hours of being picked, using state-of-the-art technology to preserve their flavor, quality and powerful antioxidant properties, which are in the deep-blue pigments of the berry’s skin.
Wyman’s receives fresh fruit from the barrens and third party growers on a daily basis during harvest season. Within 24 hours of arrival, the fruit is frozen (when their flavor and antioxidant goodness are at their peak).
At the end of harvest, by early September, the leaves on the Wild Blueberry plants will have reddened up providing an extraordinary palette of colors. For nature lovers, the Wild Blueberry barrens become an unforgettable vision.
Add Frozen Wild Blueberries to your favorite recipes – right out of the freezer! They’re frozen fresh at harvest, so they keep their great taste and healthy attributes. In fact, the FDA has concluded that frozen fruits and vegetables are just as healthy as fresh and may even retain their nutritional value longer!
These Wild Blueberries just arrived at the processing facility, where they will be cleaned, sorted and individually quick frozen within 24 hours of being picked.
In Maine, Eastern Canada and Quebec the Wild Blueberry crop is about to hit peak ripeness. Wild About Health made a trip into the fields with third generation Maine Wild Blueberry farmer Greg Bridges to check in on this year’s crop.
In 2012, Wild Blueberry production in Maine totaled 90.1 million pounds. So far, this year’s crop is looking good.
A mechanical harvester at work. While farmers like Greg Bridges still rake much of the crop by hand, mechanical harvesters are necessary to help harvest the crop on time.
A family affair! Bridges’ son and son-in-law operate this harvester.
Bridges is proud of his family’s heritage as Wild Blueberry farmers. Here he admires some of the crop.
These Wild Blueberries will likely find their way into pies, pancakes, muffins, and smoothies before the year is out.
Spring is a very important time for Wild Blueberry farmers in Maine, Eastern Canada and Quebec where the Wild ones grow. This is when migratory beekeepers move tens of thousands of beehives into farmers’ fields to perform the invaluable service of pollinating their crop just as it is flowering.
This year, Wild About Health caught up with third generation Maine Wild Blueberry farmer Greg Bridges to get the latest buzz about this year’s pollination season on his Wild Blueberry fields.
Every year, Greg will watch for bloom, set up bear fencing around the bee yards in his fields, and for three weeks keep an eye on the weather and wait. Last month, there was reason to be nervous with morning temperatures cold enough to freeze blossoms where Bridges fields are followed by a week with several days of rain. When it rains for that long with low temperatures it can hurt pollination, because bees don’t generally fly when it’s raining or cold out. The concern was the blossom period would go by without being pollinated. Bridges said the other issue was too much rain would drown the plant roots.
“You grow up thinking in seasons, with each season bringing a different task at hand,” said Bridges. “Our family has always taken the low risk approach of not as many inputs. We are trying to pass the farm on to the next generation by keeping the plants and fields healthy. Since it takes two years to get a crop off of a piece of ground you are wishing for just the right amount of sun, rain and a snowy winter.”
This spring, even with a few days of rainy cold weather that kept the bees in their hives, Bridges thinks the crop looks good, maybe as good as last year’s above average harvest, but he’s not making any “official” predictions. http://www.pressherald.com/news/blueberries-grow-like-wild-this-year_1969-12-31.htmlAs far as Bridges is concerned, Mother Nature has the final say on yield.
“There was good weather last summer during the prune cycle,” said Bridges. “Not too much rain and plenty of sun. We had a good snow cover on this year’s crop last winter. The spring was fairly dry up until a couple weeks ago. This along with a good number of flowers showing on the plants gives a good potential for a good crop.”
“Wild” or lowbush blueberry flowers grow in clusters on the last several inches of the stem. The white, greenish, or pink petals of the flower are united to form a tubular or bell shaped corolla, which hangs open-end downward.According to University of Maine Wild Blueberry Specialist David Yarborough, a lot of bloom is a good indication of potential yield if those flowers are pollinated. That means good weather, no wind over 15 mph, no rain, and sun with temperatures above 50 F.
“When you see the plants above the surface what you don’t see is the complicated root system that is under the ground,” said Bridges. “Some of these plants are hundreds or maybe thousands of years old. I often wondered if you whispered or tickled a plant on one side of the field would the plant on opposite side hear or feel it?”
Bridges started working in the Wild Blueberry fields when he was 12 raking. After college and the military, he returned to the family farm in Calais, Maine, where he manages several hundred acres. This year he rented 148 hives from Swan’s Honey in Albion, Maine.
Commercial Pollination Service
Karen and Lincoln Sennett owners of Swan’s Honey delivered 2000 colonies to Wild Blueberry fields in Maine this past May. They delivered approximately the same number last year. Lincoln said additional factors responsible for the increase in pollinator demand is some acreage has been brought back into production, and the perception that having more hives acts as additional insurance against a wet spring pollination season.
Hive rental is one of the biggest and increasing costs for fruit growers.The size of a colony for pollinating Wild Blueberry fields is two hive bodies, each with 8-10 frames, for an average rental cost of $100 -115. This is an increase of $5 over last year and $25 over 5 years.
As for a shortage, Bridges at least has not noticed one “I have never had trouble getting hives. The price keeps going up but there has not been a shortage,” he said.
Bridges, for his part, is aware of the benefit of local bees, but also sees the value in commercial hives trucked up from Georgia.“Warm temps and strong hives can lead to better crops,” said Bridges. “If the hives show up in a weakened condition the hive will not do the job. By the time the hive gets it strength back the flowers will have gone by. Local bee hives can be quite light coming in to the fields. When the (commercial out-of-state) hives leave after pollination they have gained a lot of weight. We use a set of weight scales under one of the hives to see this gain. Some hives could gain 30 to 80 pounds. This means everything. I think there is a benefit to the Maine farmer having southern bees. The hives are stronger since they did not have to battle a long Maine winter.”
Want to get in on the yummy smoothie action and win a Cooking Light Chill Cookbook? If the answer is yes, Wild Blueberries is launching a fun Twitter Contest that is sure to help you cool down just as the dog days of summer get underway. On Monday, June 24th we will kick off a five-day Twitter contest that concludes on Friday, June 28th. Each day we will give away two copies of the new cookbook Cooking Light Chill: Smoothies, Slushes, Shakes, Juices, Drinks & Ices.
Here’s How it Works:
During the five-day contest period, Wild Blueberries will post two contest tweets each day – one in the morning and one in the afternoon –that include the hashtag #wildblueberrieschill
All you have to do is Retweet the two daily contest tweets and use the hashtag #wildblueberrieschill to be entered to win
Two winners will be selected randomly at the end of each day to receive a free copy of Cooking Light Chill
Following the New York City launch, we had an opportunity to sit down with two of the Cooking Light Chillteam — Shaun Chavis, Foods Editor at Oxmoor House and Editor of Cooking Light Chill, and Allison Fishman Task, author of You Can Trust a Skinny Cook and spokesperson for Chill. They were a great tag team for our interview, sharing some wonderful information about how this new cookbook came to be, a favorite recipe or two, and why Wild Blueberries should become everyone’s “frozen” pantry staple.
Shaun Chavis shared with us the inspiration behind Cooking Light Chill.
How did the idea for Chill come about? Why a cookbook with recipes for healthy smoothies, slushes, shakes and juices?
SC:One of the things Cooking Light does so well is to show people how to enjoy all the foods they love in healthful ways. So many Americans now turn to beverages for health — juices for a health boost any time of day, and smoothies for a quick portable meal, especially for breakfast. The challenge is that many commercial, drive-thru drinks are oversized and overloaded with calories. We wanted to give people recipes for smoothies and juices they can make that can be part of a healthy diet. Another reason we did Chill,is with summer approaching, we all have nostalgic memories for creamy shakes, drive- thru slushes, snow cones, and other cool treats. Again, a lot of what’s out there is oversized and overloaded with calories and sugar and fat, and offers no nutritive value. The recipes we did in Chill use real fruit and veggies, and every recipe meets the nutrition standards you see in the magazine every month. Dietitians and health advocates are telling people to think about what they drink — that drink calories count, too— and this book gives you recipes for healthy, delicious drinks and ices.
What makes this compilation of smoothie/summer beverage recipes so special?
SC: Several things! 1) We didn’t want people to need to buy special equipment before they could try the recipes. Every drink can be made in a regular kitchen blender. You don’t need a juicer or an expensive specialty blender. And, most of the recipes in the ices chapter require only a baking dish and a fork. 2) A lot of people need or want dairy-free recipes, so as we tested recipes that have dairy in them, we also tested non-dairy versions. You can always substitute in your favorite dairy-free products, but we tested to see which ones gave the best taste and texture, so what you see in the recipes are our recommendations. There are more than 80 dairy-free options in Chill, so no one has to feel left out or forgotten! 3) This book is the perfect inspiration to get you out of a smoothie or juicing rut. We wanted all the ingredients to be easy to find in a neighborhood grocery store, but that said, we found a lot to play with. Lots of sweet juicy fruits like Wild Blueberries… herbs like basil, mint, lemongrass, ginger… veggies… nuts and nut butters. We also had fun dressing up drinks with garnishes like crushed cookies and toasted marshmallows.
Where can you purchase Chill?
SC:At your favorite bookstores like Barnes & Noble and on Amazon.
Allison Fishman Task, author of You Can Trust a Skinny Cook and spokesperson for Chill, shared with us her favorite smoothie recipe and how she selects her ingredients for what she calls her ‘frozen” pantry staples. She also suggests why smoothies are a great addition to any healthy diet – young or old.
What’s one of your favorite recipes in Cooking Light Chill?
AFT: One of my favorite recipes is the Wild Blueberry Pomegranate Smoothie. All it takes is four ingredients that you place in a blender: 2 Cups frozen Wild Blueberries, 1 Cup chilled Pomegranate Juice, a tablespoon of honey and a container of fat-free yogurt. What you’ve got is a refreshing smoothie that’s high in protein and antioxidants. It also has a good tart flavor which l love and that little bit of honey sweetness to take the edge off.
Watch Allison Fishman Task make this recipe in the below video. The recipe for this Wild Blueberry Pomegranate Smoothie can be found on page 33 of Cooking Light Chill.
How do you select your Smoothie ingredients?
AFT:When it comes to fruit for my smoothies, I always have Wild Blueberries on hand as a key ingredient. In fact, for smoothies, I prefer frozen Wild Blueberries over fresh because they are already frozen and I don’t have to use ice. I prefer the texture of a smoothie without ice. With frozen Wild Blueberries I have freeze and fruit all in one.
Frozen Wild Blueberries are a great “pantry” ingredient when you extend the idea of the pantry to the freezer. My freezer is definitely like my second pantry. And, there are a number of ingredients that live in my freezer all the time including Wild Blueberries, baby peas, extra butter, nuts and seeds.
Are Smoothies a great way to get kids eating more fruits and vegetables?
AFT: When feeding children, I subscribe to the European approach of feeding fruits and vegetables. That means I don’t start them with sugary processed foods like cereal but start them with actual natural fruits and vegetables. I don’t want their first bite of food to be processed food, but natural food and nothing can be more natural than Wild Blueberries.
However, if you are in a situation where you need to hide fruits and vegetables in food to get children eating more of the good stuff, smoothies are a great way to do it. In some cases, children may not necessarily be resistant to the flavors of the new fruits and vegetables but to the texture. Smoothies are sweet and creamy and more similar to the texture they enjoyed as babies. So give them that familiar texture. Just change one thing at a time for them.
Why do you choose to eat Wild Blueberries?
AFT: Wild Blueberries happen to be my favorite fruit not only because of their health benefits but also because of their incredible flavor.
In baked goods, Wild Blueberries are amazing because they are so small they distribute well which means more blueberry in every bite. And, these little berries are extremely flavorful. I love when I put a fork into a hot pancake or muffin and I have a hot blueberry. There’s something about heating up a Wild Blueberry that makes that delicious and potent flavor come through even more. It’s like liquid blue. It’s the manifestation of blueberry – the ultimate blueberry flavor.
Wild Blueberries are so accessible. Even though I don’t live in Maine or Canada, I can always find frozen Wild Blueberries in the freezer section of my local grocery store. And because they are frozen I can use them for the next couple of months. I don’t have to be prepared to use them right away.
Wild Blueberries are also a local regional food and I love that they are wild. When you purchase Wild Blueberries – even frozen ones – the fruit is in its natural state and hasn’t been created or manufactured. I like foraging and eating what is seasonal. I like to see what’s growing naturally. Most people don’t know this but Wild Blueberries are frozen at their ideal state of freshness so when you pick up a bag you are still eating that naturally growing indigenous ingredient.
My preference is always a frozen Wild Blueberry from Maine or Canada than a fresh cultivated blueberry from Chile that’s been shipped all over the country. Think about it: How would you feel coming off a plane from Chile – not great.I would rather have my blueberries be the Wild frozen ones because they are frozen and preserved at their state of peak freshness.
When is the best time to add a Smoothie into your daily diet? Snack time, breakfast, etc.?
AFT: Smoothies are great anytime but for me I like to encourage my clients, friends and family to add a smoothie in at breakfast or the end of the day. On hot mornings, starting your day with a healthy smoothie full of protein and antioxidants is a great way to help you stay cool and refreshed on your commute to work.
A lot of people come home and have a cocktail and a snack. A smoothie offers snack and beverage combined. A delicious smoothie – especially one made with Wild Blueberries – can help you relax after a tiring and stressful day. A healthy smoothie will also help cool you down. You have to cool down from the outside and the inside. Smoothies are a great way to do that.
Pictured above is Wild Blueberry-Ginger Juice. Visit Wildblueberries.com for this refreshing summer beverage recipe (pg. 125 of Chill).
Salads just aren’t what the used to be, and that’s a good thing. In fact, May is a month dedicated to salads – it’s National Salad Month, a perfect time to take a close look at your big bowl of greens and make sure it represents this brave new world. Today, the best salads are enlivened with colors and tastes that give them a whole new dimension. What was once just a way to get a serving or two is now an integral part of contemporary cuisine.
You know the advantages: salads are filling, fibrous and interesting to eat, and they incorporate a variety of veggies and fruits with such ease that it makes it almost impossible not to eat from the rainbow. And now, something sweet and delicious has become a new salad staple, as much so as a leaf of romaine or a slice of tomato. That something is wild blueberries. They turn up the volume on taste, turn sides into the main event, and provide superior nutrition at the same time.
Using wild is the key: the smaller size of wild blueberries means more berries in every bite for more taste and concentrated antioxidant power (twice the antioxidant capacity of cultivated blueberries). Nature also provided wild blueberries with a unique and delicious variety of sweet and tangy tastes that the larger cultivated berries simply can’t match, a real advantage when it comes to salads. They are the choice of chefs and home cooks for their versatility and ease of use as an ingredient in any recipe, especially those that start with a bed of greens. (They also make an incomparable vinaigrette. Keep a carafe in the fridge and serve it up on the fly.)
Ready to see what wild blues can do to take your greens from boring to bodacious? May provides the perfect opportunity for a long overdue journey into a new world of salad. Start tossing!
Wild Picks For Salad Month (or Anytime)
These recipes take salad to the height of taste and creativity, and thanks to frozen, every single one is seasonless – even those that call for fresh. Today’s wild blueberries are frozen within 24 hours of harvest at the peak of taste and nutritional goodness and available in the frozen fruit section of supermarkets across the country year round, making them as nutritious and delicious as those just picked – simply thaw and serve.
Wildly Simple
Plating Up, the culinary blog of Maine Food & Lifestyle magazine may call this salad recipe The Blues for its combination of wild blueberries and blue cheese, but it provides nothing but happiness – it’s a perfect example of the superb pairings that can come from wild.
Gwenyth Paltrow isn’t just an actress, she’s a foodie of the first order, and in her newsletter goop she points out some of the best in the art of eating, among other things. This Blueberry Salad uses ricotta and cucumber and small, tasty wild blues to achieve minimalist salad perfection.
Blue Twist on the Traditional
You’ll know this Waldorf Salad with Wild Blueberries salad by its celery, lettuce, apples, and walnuts, but its sweet variation is anything but traditional. Wild blues update this simple salad and make it sensational.
Caesar Salad with Wild Blueberries is classic, not common. This salad change-up creates the perfect flavor profile with its superfruit enhancement.
Salad Sensations
The Portland Press Herald pulled out all the stops when they highlighted some mouth-watering wild blue recipes from auspicious origins in Tried True and Blue this past month. It includes a blueberry salad from Five Fifty-Five that combines blueberry gastrique, granola crumble, and Champagne-blueberry vinaigrette – a superb salad experience!
The images are rendered in black and white, a medium that illustrates the rough-hewn world of field labor. The subjects are workers and their families who formed the Wild Blueberry raking crews. They are engaged in work and rest, framed by the foggy hills or by a field strewn with crates, or engaged in a candid moment that represents the hours spent during Wild Blueberry harvest season making a living off of the land.
Blueberry Rakers: Photographs by David Brooks Stess is part of the Portland Museum of Art’s Circa series, which features the work of contemporary artists from Maine and beyond, and Stess’ photography, on display at the museum through May 19, features rakers on Maine Wild Blueberry fields during harvest. It is an affecting documentation of an important part of the state’s agricultural history, and ultimately, a fitting tribute to the Wild Blueberry.
The show features more than 50 gelatin silver prints which the Portland Museum of Art describes this way:
Stess has captured the physical aspects of their labor, as well as their social life in workers’ camps on the edge of the fields. By focusing his camera on the hard realities of manual labor and the relationships among the workers, Stess brings an unsentimental view to his subject.
Stess, 51, whose work has appeared throughout Maine galleries since 1995, captured images of rakers during the 20-plus year span when he served as a raker himself. Raking the naturally occurring low bush Wild Blueberry fields of Maine, Eastern Canada and Quebec was once the best way to harvest the small Wild Blueberry. And, nature has given our Wild Blueberries some unique and special attributes that make them superior to the larger cultivated blueberry that are planted and farmed all over the world. The Wild Blueberry has double the antioxidants and a delicious and complex taste that combines sweet and tangy flavors.
An Artist’s Passion for the Wild Blueberry
Stess is not shy about showing his true blue colors when it comes to the Wild Blueberry. In an article in the Portland Press Herald, he exclaimed that cultivated blueberries hardly hold a candle to the taste of wild (read about Stess’ passion for wild in Meredith Goad’s enjoyable interview, Soup to Nuts: Black-and-white and Blueberries) He also shared with Goad a genuine awe over “berry colors that vary from albino to black to different shades of red and blue”. He explains how the Wild Blueberry possesses its own “terrior” and expresses his enthusiasm for the variety of clones found in the fields, one of the unique characteristics of the Wild Blueberry (these naturally occurring varietal clones give Wild Blueberries their unique, complex flavors). And, as a fanatical pie baker and experienced farmer’s market vendor, Stess expressed the enjoyment he feels when he helps others see the connection between food and its origins.
Because the Wild Blueberry – a beloved part of the state’s culture – is central to Stess’ work, interest is high, and the exhibit set off something of a Wild Blueberry fête at PMA. The museum has included favorite recipe packets from well-known area chefs and classic institutions like Helen’s restaurant in Machias along with the show’s posters from the museum store. And for after the show, the café serves blueberry-themed items to complete the experience. And by all means, if you miss harvest season, don’t despair because 99% of the Wild Blueberry crop is typically quick frozen within 24 hours of being harvested and available in the frozen fruit section of supermarkets across the country year round.
History of Raking
Stess’ work is described as giving “a face and a context” to the iconic Wild Blueberry that is at the center of the Maine’s agriculture. His images depict the non-mechanized harvest of the fields. Hand raking, the traditional method of harvesting Wild Blueberries, began in 1910 when hundreds of laborers would come North to work fields with hand-held rakes designed to clean the plants of their fruit.
Some small or family farms in Maine and Eastern Canada have preserved their hand-raking traditions. Members of the local community and some migrant workers still clean the fields by hand, and are paid for what they rake, often making hundreds of dollars a day on productive grounds. But hand raking represents a dwindling percentage of the millions of pounds of Wild Blueberries that are harvested today. Now, capturing Wild Blueberries at the height of taste and nutrition requires a combination of traditional and high-tech methods, and most large farms have turned to mechanized harvesting to harvest most of their land.
The integration of technology in this century-old harvesting process ensures only ripe tasty Wild Blueberries end up in the frozen bag when it gets to us. Harvesting by machine is a technologically advanced process, with harvest and cleaning equipment controlled by onboard computers. Using machines to harvest the land is efficient and can also mean less damage to the crop. It also allows growers to mow the grounds, a more environmentally sound practice than the traditional burning, and lessens farmers’ dependence on hand labor, which is increasingly difficult to find.
While the face of harvesting continues to change, many Wild Blueberry farms (Welch Farm in Roque Bluffs, for example) provide summertime tours that expose visitors to the “lost art of raking” – that sweeping of the field with the hand held rake to fill buckets to be carried to the winnowing machine for cleaning and then loaded into boxes – just as Stess’ photographs portray.
Nothing less than a rakeful of appreciation goes out to David Brooks Stess for sharing his passion for this special berry, and making the wild blueberry’s story part of his artistic vision. You can learn more about Blueberry Rakers: Photographs by David Brooks Stess at the Portland Museum of Art. You can also find out more about the history and traditions of the wild blueberry harvest at WildBlueberries.com.
The Harvest is Months Away, But Growers Are Thinking Blue
Each year when winter is slowly replaced by high sun and rising temperatures, our thoughts naturally turn to planting. It means spring is on the way, and the time for taking advantage of the earth’s bounties is close at hand.
In Maine, Quebec and Eastern Canada, wild blueberry barrens are stirring. In early spring, plants begin to emerge from snow cover, and before too long, green leaves and white blossoms of fruit will appear. It’s a time when those who farm wild blueberry fields begin planning for late summer when they will finally burst with blue fruit.
Late winter on the wild blueberry barrens in Maine’s Washington County.
Photo courtesy of Geoffrey Leighton.
This year, wild blueberry plants have endured another harsh winter, but that’s part of their wild nature: they are naturally resilient to challenging winters in the Northeast. They have evolved to grow in acidic soil, thrive through wildly changing temperatures, and use their natural UV protection to survive unshielded in summer sun. In fact, these environmental challenges make them uniquely powerful when it comes to the phytonutrients they produce to protect themselves. Scientists believe that resilience may translate into superb disease prevention and aging protection when we eat them – that’s the unique power of wild.
Wild berries naturally have a distinctive taste and variations in color that their larger cultivated counterparts simply can’t match. In fact, winters with abundant snowfall are good for the crop. Snow provides protection to the plant as well as plenty of moisture, which can increase the size of the bud and the potential to have more fruit per plant. More fruit means more healthy, antioxidant-rich berries.
During March and April, growers spend their time assessing crop damage and pests in the field. They may order supplies necessary for the harvest season and to prepare fields that are “fallow” – non-crop bearing fields that are resting as part of their two-year rotation – and continue the mowing and burning of fields that would have begun in the fall. They may also prepare to bring in bees to pollinate the plants when spring is in full swing. Bringing bees to the fields is a necessary part of production, and every year wild blueberry growers import a billion bees to help pollinate their barrens. (You can read about spring bee pollination in this week’s Portland Press Herald). It’s all in service to the millions of pounds of wild blues that will be harvested in the growing areas in July and August.
But while it’s still early, and the fields are quiet and snow-covered, there’s time to reflect on the many things wild blueberries offer the area – not to mention kitchens and freezers all over the country. And it’s a perfect time to tip our hat to the growers who carefully manage and nurture them, right here in harvest country, all year long.
We have nature to thank for the wild blueberry. Wild, lowbush berries are naturally occurring berries that have been growing in Maine, Quebec and the Maritime Provinces for over 10,000 years. They differ from cultivated or planted blueberries – you can identify cultivated by their larger size – that are propagated, planted and harvested in commercial operations throughout the U.S. and other parts of the world.
Wild blueberries spread naturally and slowly here, where they survive in the glacial soils and northern climate, and those natural challenges only makes them special. Here are some of the unique advantages of the smaller, wild berry that is only grown in areas of the Northeast:
Antioxidant capacity. Wild Blueberries are being studied for their powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that may help protect against diseases such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes and Alzheimer’s.
Genetic diversity. Wilds consist of hundreds of different naturally occurring varietal clones – a mix that provides the intense, complex flavors that range from sweet to tart.
Smaller size means higher skin-to-pulp ratio. Because of their size, foods that contain wild blueberries have more berries in every bite. That translates to more taste, more nutrition and more antioxidants.
Wild blueberries are a cherished part of Maine and Canada – and their wild nature is why.
See Wild Blueberry Country First Hand! It’s your last chance – there are only a few days left to enter to win Five Days of Food and Fun in the Land of Wild Blueberries.
If your entry is chosen, you’ll receive transportation for two to Québec City, Canada, 4 nights lodging in the historic Château Frontenac, and a $1,000 Wild Taste dining allowance to experience the city’s culinary delights.
NatGeo Traveler Editor Comes Clean About Life in the Fields
Costas Christ, Editor-at-Large at National Geographic Traveler, admits that he may have surprised a few of his friends when he wrote in his Traveler column, “Tales From The Frontier”, that his life is split between his role as an international traveler and his work as a crop tender in a small Down East town. He said the revelation may have surprised a few of his farmer friends as well.
In his recent piece Blueberry Fields Forever, Christ proudly revealed his double life as a Maine wild blueberry farmer on a 40-acre farm in the heart of wild blueberry country. He writes that he bought the farm in the 80s from a farming family that could no longer sustain life working the land, and it’s been a part of his life ever since.
While he is quick to point out that wild blueberry farming is no “get rich quick scheme”, Christ said that for local farmers like him, it’s the summer visitors that allow them to make a living. Intrigued with this centerpiece of the local economy, they come to buy, learn, and take part in processing – a fact of life that those who live here year round already know.
From “Blueberry Fields Forever”:
There is a satisfying, natural cycle. In the fall, I cover the fields—Maine’s indigenous low-bush blueberry plants stand only 6 inches tall when fully grown—in a thick blanket of golden straw. When spring arrives, family and friends come together and we set the fields on fire—a technique originally taught to settlers by Native Americans, who have harvested these berries for centuries. After burning, the plants sprout thick foliage, but no fruit. The following summer, the same plants flower exuberantly, tripling, even quadrupling the yield.
Christ is an expert in sustainable tourism and founding member and former Chairman of the International Ecotourism Society, and he writes for a number of publications, including the New York Times and the Boston Globe. Each August and September he can be found tending his wild blueberry farm and managing a Maine farmers market cooperative which represents local family farms.
You can read more from Costas Christ and other contributors at National Geographic Traveler’sTaste of Travel where the world of food, drink and wanderlust come together in posts that highlight everything from the best BBQ joints to Bangkok food markets.
Did you know that wild blueberries have been a mainstay of the economy in Maine, Quebec and Eastern Canada for well over 100 years? Learn more about the heritage and farming traditions of wild blueberries.
