How to forage and preserve wild blueberries

 Blueberries need water, sun, and some shade. My best patches are boggy areas surrounded by forest.

The wild blueberries have been in season now for about two weeks and will likely continue for another week or two. So far, I've harvested a little over three quarts, which has probably taken about twelve hours in all to harvest, not including drive time. Like most wild foods, they're significantly smaller than their domestic cousins and, in my opinion, a little tangier too. 


Last year was my first year harvesting wild blueberries. I got about a quart and froze them. Over winter, I would take a small handful and add it to my oatmeal in the morning. The improvement they brought to the oatmeal far outweighed the labor they required to harvest. No matter how cold it got, one bite of those blueberries sent me back to summer. They were pure joy, and the friend I harvested them with raved about them as well, so I know it was no fluke.


To newbie forager, it is hard to go wrong with wild blueberries. They look and taste very similar to the domestics. Plus, they require water. Lots of it. Why does that matter? Because it makes them easy to locate. Unlike some wild foods that require niche habitats, say, dry southern slopes with high acidic soils (good luck locating that with any consistency), the main requirement for blueberries is simply water. To locate, simply grab a map and locate the bodies of water. You still have to ground truth it, but at least you have a direct target to locate. 


A word on foraging ethics. It's generally assumed you should leave some for others. That means you have to have a feel for how many 'others' are frequenting the area. My main blueberry patch is well known, so I harvest what I think is an appropriate amount. It's a guessing game but I try to keep it reasonable. I also have a couple other patches that I'm nearly 100% positive that only I frequent. There isn't nearly as many blueberries in them and they require an off-trail hike, but they get the job done when I've reached my limit at the public picking grounds. 


To store blueberries, I simply freeze them. 
Here's the steps:
1) Soak berries in a large container. 
2) Remove any debris that floats to the top.
3) Drain water.
4) Lay out a towel of some type on a flat surface.
5) Spread your berries on the towel (you'll soon find out if the area you chose is actually flat).
6) Let them dry until the excess water on their exterior is dry. 
7) Place them in a freezer safe container and freeze them. If you place the berries in the freezer when there is excess moisture on their exterior, they will stick together and you'll will have one big blob of blueberries. So make sure they are dry.

My picking and rinsing bucket.

Debris from soaking.

Drying them. Sometimes I'll place a fan on them to speed the process.

Just stick them in the freezer and you have a treat that will last all winter.

That's it. Easy to locate. Easy to identify. Easy to harvest. Easy to preserve. As far as wild foods, it doesn't get much easier than blueberries.

Getting Lost

When I set out for my favorite foraging grounds the other week, it was in hopes of finding the last bit of wild strawberries and dewberries. Once there, I realized the weeks of oppressive heat had scorched any remaining berries to a small shrivel. Not wanting to waste a trip, I switched into exploratory mode in hopes of finding new foraging and/or hunting grounds.

A fresh dewberry! But they were few and far between.

I had forgotten my compass and since my internal compass has never--and likely will never--function to any satisfactory level, I soon found myself lost. This was no cause for alarm because 1) it's difficult to get too lost in the Finger Lakes National Forest due to the number of roads and trails, and 2) I have learned that getting lost is the best form of scouting, and I have come to enjoy and trust myself in such situations.

I learned this tactic awhile back, albeit not by choice. When lost, I find that I tend to follow the natural topography or natural corridors more freely than when I have my nose to a map and compass. Essentially, my travel pattern mimics that of wildlife. In this case, deer.

Within twenty minutes, I had picked up a faint deer trail. In these situations, I always follow the trail. It seems like common sense, but you'd be surprised at many people would stick to a map and compass rather than risk getting lost, even it if means finding a great deer stand.

Deer trail through thick vegetation. Not much choice but to follow it.

Sure enough, the trail led to some great deer habitat that I likely wouldn't have found otherwise. Satisfied with my new find, I then needed to find myself, and do so in manner that would allow me to revisit the place I had just discovered. I decided to follow a line of trees (most likely an old property line) which eventually led to a creek. I then followed the creek which eventually intersected a trail. So next time, all I have to do is take the trail that leads to creek and take the creek to the line of trees. 

When the trail opened into this field, I knew I had found something special. An overgrown field lined with pines is a deer haven. Sure enough, as I traversed it I kicked two deer out of the back corner.

Evidence that I was following a deer trail: tracks through the field in what was once a wet area.

Oaks just twenty yards from the field's edge.

A view of the tree line I followed. It runs from the left side of the photo to about the middle. Surely an old property line, and a good guide to find the place. 


Here's a short recap of my scouting strategy:

• Locate an area that I'm comfortable getting lost in. I typically find an area that is surrounded by a road or large trail on all four sides. This way all I have to due is walk in a straight line to refind myself. I pick an area that I am comfortable with and always err to the side of safety.
• Get lost.
• Allow myself to wander freely. I will most likely follow the easiest route, which is what wildlife do too!
• Upon satisfactory findings, devise a plan to find myself in manner that will allow me to retrace my steps. Perhaps here is where I break out the map and compass that I might have been secretly hiding in my knapsack.