From Blueberry Picking to the Freezer: My Story

Blueberries are the one berry I really love to eat year-round, and this year I decided to pick my own and preserve them so I could enjoy them throughout the winter. Maine blueberries are so sweet and worth every moment it takes to pick them.

With that being said, I bought a peck.

Now, I could obviously see how large a peck was, and that did not faze me—until I stood in front of that first blueberry bush and realized how long it was going to take to fill that carton.

It was a very hot August afternoon. The sun was beating down on us, and although these were highbush blueberries, they were not tall enough to offer any shade. We started picking slowly, then began picking as fast as we could as time ticked on.

About twenty minutes into picking, my husband said, “Next year we are doing this first thing in the morning.”

I didn't have the heart to tell him that particular orchard didn't open until 11 a.m.

Fortunately, he found a bush that was peppered with ripe blueberries, sat down on the ground and began to pick away.

We filled that peck to the brim, and I couldn't wait to get my winter stash home. But we both agreed that maybe a peck was a little over the top for two people.

We ate them as we picked. We ate them in the car on the way home. We ate more when we got home. We put them in pancakes the next day. We gave some to family.

And after all that, we still had about three-quarters of that peck left.

I didn't want to keep them sitting on the counter any longer than necessary, so I started preserving them.

Freezing the Blueberries

I lined a cookie sheet with wax paper, poured blueberries from the carton onto the sheet and spread them out evenly in a single layer. Then I put the entire sheet in the freezer overnight.

The next morning, I removed the frozen berries from the freezer. I happened to have a berry basket sitting on my counter that I was doing something with and thought, why not?

I scooped the frozen berries from the cookie sheet into the basket until it was full. The basket was pint-sized, which turned out to be the perfect amount for us to thaw at one time. It also saved me from having one enormous bag of blueberries in the freezer that I would have to keep opening every time we wanted some.

I poured each basketful into a freezer bag. I used my FoodSaver because that's what I have, but you certainly don't need one. Any freezer-safe bag will work.

By the time I finished, I had sealed nine pint-sized bags of blueberries. I put them back into the freezer, where they'll stay until we're ready to enjoy them this winter.

Quick note before you go - I'm not presenting this as authoritative preservation instruction. I'm simply sharing what worked for me and my own experience. If you'd like to try it yourself, I encourage you to check current food preservation and safety recommendations.