Picking Blueberries in West Michigan

Hello!  Yesterday my mom and I had a great blueberry picking date!  It was like a real life Blueberries for Sal (if you’ve never read the book, drop everything, drive to the nearest library or bookstore and read it!) except in Michigan and my name is Kate, so today it is blueberries for Katie. 

Picking Blueberries in West Michigan

Fritz’s Blueberries in Paw Paw

We picked at Fritz’s Blueberries in Paw Paw, Michigan. It was a perfect Pure Michigan morning.  The farm had a nice shop area where they sold baked goods, already picked blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries, honey, jams, and other local goods. We got our buckets and sampled a few varieties of blueberries before deciding where to pick.

Then we headed off down our row to pick, pick, pick! The bushes were full of berries!  A far cry from last summer when the weird weather basically ruined the blueberry crop. They were all good sized and nice and sweet.

I have the rope in my hand because I originally started off with the bucket tied around my waist, but then it started to hurt my back so I switched to just holding the bucket. If you are a pro-blueberry picker, like my mom, you tie the bucket on and use both hands to get the berries. I’m not that good yet.

Isn’t she cute?  My mom’s first job was picking blueberries in a farm near here.  She actually had a friend that lived close to this farm when she was little and she told me they used to sneak over and eat blueberries sometimes. #hoodlife. haha!

Together we picked 40 pounds of blueberries in 2.5 hours. It got a little hot, but there was a really nice breeze as we picked and chatted. The berries were $1.25 a pound—which is a steal! After we weighed our blueberries we looked around the store and I felt like I needed to reward myself for all my hard work with a blueberry muffin the size of my face!

**Well hello, luvvaa!!** It was so gosh-darn good! Afterwards my mom hung out with us at home for a bit. We also had a mother-daughter nap time in the afternoon—we were both beat!

I’m going to freeze most of my blueberries (see my how to freeze blueberries post from last year) and use them for pancakes, cereal toppings, snacks, and smoothies throughout the year. We’ll also eat some fresh and use some to make some blueberry treats this weekend.  I love my blueberries!

Have you ever done u-pick for fruit or berries? What do you look for in a farm?

What’s your favorite way to eat blueberries?