I like produce. I like to grow it. I like to eat it. I like to create recipes with it. I’m also kind of a nerd and like to get to know my produce. I like learning new or fun tidbits of info about the produce I’m growing/eating/baking. If you’re a weirdo like me then buckle up for this new series as I dive into a plethora of produce facts and share them with you.
Like did you know that plums are one of the first fruits domesticated by humans? Cool, right? Or how about the fact that in 1984, 7175 peas were consumed by one chopstick using person in 60 minutes. Okay, so they won’t all be that crazy, but I can promise they’ll all be fun. Here we go:
1. Blueberries are one of the 3 popular fruits that are actually native to North America {the other two are cranberries and Concord grapes}. A lot of blueberries can actually be found growing wild and are often eaten right off the bush {including 60,000 acres of wild blueberries in Maine}.
2. Blueberries are rarely found growing in Europe and have only recently been introduced in Australia.
3. The most popular medical use for blueberries is to help improve vision and to protect against eye degeneration. Way back in WWI, pilots in the British Royal Airforce would consume blueberry preserves before their night missions because they believed it improved their night vision. Turns out they were right!
4. Blueberries are pretty awesome on their own but are even more delightful in baked goods! Blueberry muffins are the most popular muffins in America and are actually the state muffin of Minnesota {did you know that states had “state muffins?” I sure didn’t’!}.
5. You can use blueberries as a natural food dye. In fact, early American colonists used to boil blueberries in milk to make grey paint.
6. The month of July is National Blueberry Month in America, and August is National Blueberry Month in Canada. Between June and September there are almost 20 blueberry festivals throughout the US and Canada. You can never have too many festivals is what I always say!
7. The US is the world’s largest producer of blueberries, harvesting almost 600 million pounds of blueberries each year! Wowza!
8. If all the blueberries grown in North America in one year were spread out in a single layer, they would cover a four-lane highway that stretched from New York to Chicago. That would be fun to see!
9. You can boil blueberries in water for twenty minutes and then strain it and use the liquid as a natural Easter egg coloring.
10. The North American Blueberry industry ships more than 100 metric tons of fresh blueberries each year to Iceland, and more than 500 metric tons to Japan. Sheesh. That’s a lot of blueberries!
Had you heard any of those fun facts before? Do you have any of your own to add? Is there a particular produce item you’re just dying to know more about? I take requests!
Grow on,
Mavis
photo credit RAF Museum
Nora says
Sorry Mavis!
But #2 is simply not true. Wild blueberries grown from Norway and Sweden throughout Germany, Poland, Czechs Republic to Austria, Switzerland, Italy (at least the northern parts) as well as in France and other countries.
We love to eat them, we love to pick them in the forests and many a region have specialties with blueberries.
Love from Europe!
Aileen says
Hi Mavis
In agreement with Nora on No 2. Here in Ireland, we have the Latin named ‘Vaccinium myrtillus” – we refer to it in Ireland as the bilberry/whortleberry or in Gaelic it is the ‘Fraughan’. The American native variety is the ‘Vaccinium Angustifolium’ – same family. In Ireland, we have a significant day in our calendar, ‘Fraughan Sunday’ – the ‘fraughan’ is said to be the first of the wild fruits to open & there used to be a special day set aside in the early autumn to go to the hills for a day out, picking fraughans & courting!
Kaia says
I also came to dispute that one! We’ve picked 20 liters of wild blueberries here in Finland in the last week 🙂
Joanna says
I rarely comment on blog but clicked to comment on Nr 2 and see that people already did… Blueberries are growing all over Europe in forests, that’s actually one fruit that I miss most from Poland because they taste sooo much better there than the once we have in USA
Melissa says
And here in AUstralia we have been growing them since the 1970s! They weren’t so popular for a while but now it’s a thriving industry.
Carolina says
I know you have some blueberry bushes on your property, but here is a fun place for an outing—Berrybogg Farm in Strafford, NH. They have acres and acres of pick your own blueberries, with different varies that are ripe at different times. They are just about at peak season now. Check them out at their blog or Facebook page. It is also a lovely country drive along Bow Lake. You can also check out Union Lake Peach Orchard (which is not pick your own) on the way to or from Berrybogg, as well as stop at Calef’s country store for some cheese!
Nancy D says
I live in Washington state and we have a blue wild huckleberry that resembles a blueberry. I wonder if they are like your wild blueberry. So good and so many good memories of camping and fishing and huckleberry picking,
Diana says
I am currently on vacation in Bar Harbor, Maine and we are loving all of the wild blueberries along the hiking trails!
Kimmy says
Tell us about sweet potatoes!
Linda Sand says
When I shared this with my husband he told me that when his family went canoe camping in the Boundary Waters in northern Minnesota his mother would bring a pre-baked pie crust. Then they would pick wild blueberries and have blueberry pie.
Gee says
They are without doubt my favorite fruit. I have frozen ones almost every morning on my cereal. They keep the purple milk cold until I’m done.
We live about five miles from a pick-your-own place, so I went and picked the first year we lived here. Got lots of (big) blueberries and lots of bug bites.
When those ran out, I found “Wyler’s of Maine” wild blueberries in my local Hannaford. I’ve not picked any local ones since. They have so much more flavor than the bigger cultivated ones. The smell nearly knocks me over when I open the bag, even though they’re frozen.
So that’s my recommendation for the day.
As for requests: I would like info on wild edible herbs that grow in New England. Maybe you’ll discover you’re pulling out the stuff you’re supposed to eat. 🙂
E in Upstate NY says
We lived in Bangor Maine when our boys were little and PBJ sandwiches were standard fare in our house. The J was Maine blueberry jam. The first year, I purchased to many that one of the farmers gave me my own blueberry flat! [Still have it these many years.] Ever since then, I associate the month of August with blueberry jam. Learned how to assembly line the production of jam to get the most done during naptime. Wonderful memories!
For those who never have had wild Maine blueberries, the major difference is that they are low bush and very small compared to the ones found in the grocery store. And yes, the flavor is divine and subtle.
Barb H says
RE: “Like did you know that plums are one of the first fruits domesticated by humans”.
Curious, how do you “domesticate” a fruit?