Shed Antler: 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.