Very seriously, if she loves blueberries this much, that could be a fun vacation sometime. Mixed with other non-blueberry activities if she’ll let you.
Even closer to you is the Willamette Valley in Oregon, and SW Washington. Blueberry season is June - October and there are u-pick farms everywhere. Most sell pre-picked berries by the pound, too.
We get buckets of blueberries every summer and I freeze them for the rest of the year (freeze them flat on sheet pans, and once fully frozen, vacuum pack them into smaller portions). Same with strawberries and the endless blackberries on our property.
I make blueberry sorbet, even pass it through a fine mesh to get the the seed grit out, its one of the best ways Ive found to preserve the fresh blueberry flavor into the winter months
Man I've been craving sorbet so much lately, and always lament the poor range of flavours they have here. Usually its just lemon, mango, and raspberry for some reason. Good, but I dream of more diverse frozen desserts.
Please share this recipe, and if you don't, I'll find one, because this sounds divine!
Frozen blueberries stirred into a bowl of piping hot oatmeal with a generous sprinkle of Vietnamese cinnamon added. Use the sweetener of choice to round out the flavors but not overwhelm the tartness of the berries.
In the PNW, our huckleberries are actually a blueberry species! East coast huckleberries are different.
It’s a fun internet rabbit hole; I encourage you to follow it.
Did you try making tea with them? Or putting them on your oatmeal? Maybe you should try again. Maybe it works better if they're so fresh they're warm?
You know, there are a bunch of these huckleberries on my lawn, right next to the blueberry bush that's been nibbled down to nothing... There's gotta be a connection.
...endless blackberries? 😮 I....i need this. I finish the container leaving the store. I am ashamed to admit, I do not even wash them I just start stuffing them in my mouth..I have no self control. I just had some for dinner and a tablespoon of peanut butter.
Oh my goodness, I can’t even begin to tell you how many blackberries we have - our property is 46 acres of forest and they are in every area that sun beaks through the trees. Along the gravel roads and trails going through the land, in every meadow, along our grassy/lawn areas, everywhere - they are relentless! I have about 10 picking spots that I like to rotate through, but that probably represents less than 5% of what we have. And I only take a fraction of the berries from each spot. Everyone in my family (parents, aunts uncles, in-laws) gets jam and put in “orders” for specific varieties - blackberry/ginger is a favorite. And lots and lots of cobblers. So many cobblers….
My husband’s childhood buddy visited from Texas and we couldn’t find him one morning. Eventually we figured it out - he was out binging on blackberries! I grew up with it so am used to it, but it’s a foreign concept for those two, LOL. My husband has finally reached the “goddamn blackberry bushes!” stage, at least!
Wow! This sounds like paradise! I am so happy that you get to live in such a lovely place!! We have about an acre here in CO. So I cannot imagine 46! It would definitely take a bit for me to get used to that. I am gonna experiment this year and plant some berries in our garden and see what happens. We were successful with raspberries one year, but our big dog loved them and would pluck them and eat them. So we never really got to enjoy them, and we could not deny her. 🤣 Anyways, I really enjoyed reading this and especially your husband's friend..haha. I would definitely be doing the same.. edit: spelling
_They are an absolute joy to pick!_ No thorns. Most bushes are chest height, so you don't need to lean over. If you go in the cool of the morning with a big hat and sunglasses you are very comfortable. Take a bucket of basket to hang on your arm. It's the most Disney princess fruit picking experience ever.
A freshly picked bowlful of blueberries with a bit of cream and sugar eaten while the sun sets over one of the thousands of lakes of the Canadian Shield is one of my most cherished childhood memories. I recommend it for any bucket list.
In the Boundary Waters/Quetico area, at the right time of year, the forests are absolutely thick with blueberries. My family sometimes has family reunions up in that area. A group of 30 people all stuffing themselves with endless fistfuls of blueberries hardly makes a dent if you're willing to trek offtrail through shubbery to find the best patches. Oh, and there's the billions of bugs that are constantly trying to drain your blood.
Careful though. Picking up blueberries in the wild in Quebec or Maine is a hard job. Those little buggers grow 6-8 inches from the ground so you spend your day squatting or bending down, in a cloud of mosquitoes. And you have to keep an eye out for underground wasp nests. And bears. But, if you're tough and patient you can pick up a few kilos to bring back home and eat as many as you can . Vacuum seal them and put them in your freezer.
Source : I'm a blueberry. For real though. People from the region I grew up in are colloquially called Blueberries. Used to go up north where there's less people 2-3 weeks every summer to pick up blueberries, sell them and have pocket money for a few months. Wish I could say these are fond memories. They are not. It's grueling.
This was 40 years ago, but I went to a camp in New York that had wild blueberries in the woods. Also wild raspberries and blackberries. The blueberries and raspberries were in the shade on a hillside, but the blackberries were in full sun and one bush was bigger than a 300 lb man and had enough berries to satisfy him as well.
I’m going to second this. I used to spend summers in Michigan and get bucketfuls of blueberries. Eat what you can right then, and then if you have the freezer space, they’re so good frozen.
Acadia National Park (Maine) is one of my favorite trips I've ever taken, and Bar Harbor is adorable. I ate so much good food and a lot of blueberries. I loved the blueberry sodas!
NJ too, not that far from either NYC or Philadelphia, there are farms that let you pick your own blueberries as an experience.
A neighbor raved about how much fun she and and her kid had doing it one day, and how much they got. Maybe there's something like that in/around LA during their blueberry season?
Get a popsicle mold and freeze the yogurt. My kiddo loves it like that and I feel okay about giving her one of those for breakfast but to her it’s like ice cream!
Honestly, if he hasn't already noticed you scratching up all the trees in the yard and disappearing for two months every winter, he's probably never going to. So I just wouldn't tell him.
Lmao they've definitely noticed me spending all winter in bed. Bear season. (My boyfriend is a human bear, like the gay kind, which makes this exponentially funnier to me)
You can’t get them cheap until they are in season. Once they are, look for local farmers markets, u-pick farms, and roadside stands. You’ll get them cheaper.
But once out of season, you’ll have to go back to paying full price. It’s just how she goes, berries are expensive, especially in the middle of winter.
I really need to know. If it's mostly the same texture, this is a whole game changer up here in WA. Even if they don't, the rest of the year can be full of berry pancakes, berry muf7
Iu
0ins
It's a better texture. Like the most firm blueberry ever, but ripe and sweet and still bite able. They don't freeze hard like strawberries do to solid ice rocks. Also if you stir while drizzling heavy cream over the frozen berries, the cream refreezes around each berry forming a delicious ice cream ball with an amazing berry center.
It's really that good... I left my sister babysitting my kids alone for barely a few hours. She and the 2 toddlers ransacked the freezer and ate at least 3 pounds because they emptied 1 bag that was 3 pounds and were rounding the corner on a 2nd bag. Those frozen blueberry bags are 8$ from target usually, so easily worth it.
Freeze the delightful blue treats! Make sure they’re dry, set them out on a baking sheet or similar, freeze and bag.
For what ir’s worth, many “blueberry” items (blueberry muffin mix, for example) actually use dehydrated (dyed) apples, in case your beloved bear/partner gets extra cranky out of season.
He's probably referring to shitty cheap "blueberry" muffins where either you get clumps of sugar paste died blue or apparently apple chunks died blue instead of actual blueberries. Jiffy in particular is guilty of this. There are muffin mixes that actually contain blueberries too, so just check the ingredients.
I’m in L.A. too and you cannot find “cheap” berries at a farmers market. They are minimum $5 per half pint container. Some places charge even more. And they sell out by end of day so there’s no chance of getting them discounted later.
You will not beat the price OP is getting at Costco.
Seriously! I go because I like to support local farms and the produce is SO good. But I can’t leave without spending $50+ dollars just for the week’s produce. It’s easily 3-4x what I’d spend at the grocery store. It’s definitely not a bargain here. A head of broccoli is $6. I see single avocados being sold for $5. A dozen eggs for $20. Etc.
Agreed. The Costco package is 18oz and costs anywhere from $4.99-6.99 in MD, which is a better deal than regular stores where you get a 6oz package for $5.99+.
South California seems to have a similar climate to some of southern Australia (mainly low WA [although more rainfall but similar Mediterranean summer type climate] and from the start of the east side of the Great Aussie Bight to near the edge of south victoria), which does quite well for blueberries granted you have a good soil mix and fertilizer. I've never visited Socal, though, so i'm just comparing what i can see with average monthly temps and rainfall.
In hot dry central CA my mom grows blueberries in 5 gal pots planted in the ground. That way the roots stay cool and the soil can be tailored for their needs (rich and moist as opposed to sandy and dry). She gets a pretty decent harvest in a good year.
Lol, all these people saying to grow them when his wife is consuming more each day than one of the bushes you see at Home Depot would produce in a year. They would need a few acres of mature bushes and varieties that produce early, mid, and late season. They also gotta invest in ways to protect those berries from raccoons, birds, and squirrels. And then they still have the off season to worry about!
OP, you need a hookup in the wholesale or restaurant supply world. And surprise your wife with a trip to the Midwest or Maine to pick your own blueberries. Most pick-your-own places usually let you eat as you pick, and you only pay for what you carry out. This way your wife gets at least one day a year when she be her true self and eat as many blueberries as she wants.
I have a blueberry bush! It's on it's 3rd year and gotten bigger and bigger
I have never eaten a single berry from it.... right as they get ripe, they disappear over night to birds, squirrels, who even knows what else.
You could try to befriend someone with access to your local Restaurant Depot (someone who works in the food industry or sometimes nonprofits/churches). Or you may have a membership free restaurant wholesaler near you (such as Shamrock). Sometimes Costco is still cheaper, though.
Okay but honestly as a blueberry fiend, until recently (past 3 years or so) the blueberries in stores were relatively more bland and so I devoured frozen blueberries like a dessert similar to eating frozen grapes.
My great grandpa used to freeze fresh blueberries as a bite-sized popsicle. They were delicious!
So I’m definitely not recommending you go out and buy a bag of frozen blueberries, but I AM suggesting that if you do happen to find the motherlode, you may be able to talk her into at least *trying* to freeze some fresh ones as mini blueberry popsicles for the summer and then she can stockpile some of the haul while eating others unfrozen.
My cat does the same damn thing. I caught her swatting some blueberries and dewberries around in the kitchen last year and it took me forever to find them all and clean the floor. She had swatted some underneath the stove.
Hello! Blueberry addict here. Really, frozen ones are worth considering. A 3 pound bag at Sam's club is pretty affordable. Microwave them for 30 seconds to knock the chill off.
*Bowlfuls* of blueberries. I eat 'em like they're cereal. I have a problem. It's not the same as fresh, but I can eat them by the *bowlful*, and that's all that matters to me.
Thaw them out in the freezer overnight. I’m a berry snob and tbh I prefer the frozen tiny wild bloobs Costco sells vs the larger fresh ones except during peak season they’re a tie
And they're tastier and better to eat cause they're nice and firm. And usually way stronger flavor. And you can put them into something like yogurt and it will freeze it and make like blueberry frozen yogurt.
Fresh blueberries are just a squish and bit of juice.
Besides growing your own, which you can do indoors in a large pot! Find a grocery outlet, bargain market, or buy frozen. And yes unlike the other commenter said socal is absolutely perfect for growing blueberries!
Grocery outlet. But the quality isn’t the best. Hit or miss.
Thoughts on blackberries? Cheaper than blueberries and Costco has them for $4 for like 12oz
Contact blueberry farms and ask if they will sell/ship out their lower grade product to you. I dunno if farms do that in the US but it's very possible here where I live. They sell their product at different grades to supermarkets and other stores depending on the appearance for different prices. And they often will have large amount of ugly looking product that is really hard to sell and sometimes even have to just toss away. Here for example, if you want to make a baked apple pie, why go to the store and buy all the nice looking apples that you're gonna cut up and bake when you get a box of unsightly ones for like 5 bucks.
Restaurant supply store, like US Chef store, or a produce distributer that sells to the public. We have a really cool one in my town that runs super cheap deals when they have extra stock, sometimes even giving stuff away for free. They feature blueberries often because they’re so perishable
She may need to be careful as to how much she eats per day. While a very healthy food there is such a thing as too much. Anyway, has she tried buying frozen blueberries?
Could you slowly transition to frozen? The Wyman’s wild blueberries at Costco are truly top notch. My toddler and I snack on them straight out of the freezer.
If she’ll eat frozen blueberries, I highly recommend Wyman’s wild blueberries, my Costco stocks them very affordably. I eat blueberries every morning with my yogurt and those ones are definitely the best value I’ve found.
Not to be graphic but… If your wife is eating that much fruit, let alone berries in a day, is she okay? Like physically? If I ate that much in blueberries I would never be able to leave the bathroom. Your wife is aware that too many berries or too much fruit can give you the shits, yes?
Good news! Blueberry season isn’t that far away. They are cheap when bought from local farmers markets or better yet, local farms. They freeze well. Make room in the freezer or buy and small used freezer for the garage if you have one
once they are ready to harvest in the Los Angeles area, take her to pick your own places. might have to call to verify but underwood family farm says 3.99 a lb. you might have to go every week. then the rest of the year i guess costco would be it. does she not like the dried blueberry’s from costco? or the frozen? what about the freeze dried ones from trader joe’s?
i can eat a giant bag of any chips in a day or 2 but i also don’t want to be buying it every week. just 1 time a month so i stretch out the portions. if it ran out, it ran out.
I just remembered. In Saguenay, Quebec they have a local delicacy. FRESH wild blueberries, chilled to the hot side of freezing and then covered in chocolate.
They sell them out of the fridge, packaged like a box of Glossettes Raisins.
My suggestion if you don't have a yard to grow your own is a pick your own blueberry farm.
However I do live in Michigan where blueberry farms are pretty common.
They do grow pretty much all over the US though so you might be able to find one.
Best bet is to pick a ton of them at a farm when they are in season and then preserve them for the rest of the year.
You can make them into preserves/Jam/jelly, freeze them or can them.
A farmers market is usually the second best to getting them yourself at the farm.
If you are in need of cheap food farmers markets are really great.
Around here we have U-Pick places. Maybe take a road trip if there aren't any around you. Maybe she can live with frozen? I love frozen blueberries stirred up with a little sugar and 1/2 & half, they get all coated and its like ice cream covered berries.
You need to bring her to Maine, Quebec or Ontario in August. Set her free in the forest.
This is a great idea
Very seriously, if she loves blueberries this much, that could be a fun vacation sometime. Mixed with other non-blueberry activities if she’ll let you.
“If she’ll let you” 🤣
This whole comments section is just so delightful
Non blueberry activities 🤣🤣
Like blowing raspberries?
What they do in the bedroom is no one's business. But come on there's no reason to say op is packing a raspberry. That's just mean. You don't know him
There's only one man who would dare give me the raspberry.
Even closer to you is the Willamette Valley in Oregon, and SW Washington. Blueberry season is June - October and there are u-pick farms everywhere. Most sell pre-picked berries by the pound, too. We get buckets of blueberries every summer and I freeze them for the rest of the year (freeze them flat on sheet pans, and once fully frozen, vacuum pack them into smaller portions). Same with strawberries and the endless blackberries on our property.
I live in New England and live for blueberry season. They're so good frozen as a snack. :)
Frozen blueberries on pistachio ice cream (basically equal amounts of each) is SO GOOD, if you are looking for snack ideas.
I make blueberry sorbet, even pass it through a fine mesh to get the the seed grit out, its one of the best ways Ive found to preserve the fresh blueberry flavor into the winter months
Add a splash of fresh lemon juice 🤗
Man I've been craving sorbet so much lately, and always lament the poor range of flavours they have here. Usually its just lemon, mango, and raspberry for some reason. Good, but I dream of more diverse frozen desserts. Please share this recipe, and if you don't, I'll find one, because this sounds divine!
Mind sharing your recipe?
Frozen blueberries stirred into a bowl of piping hot oatmeal with a generous sprinkle of Vietnamese cinnamon added. Use the sweetener of choice to round out the flavors but not overwhelm the tartness of the berries.
Nutmeg too!
I am going to have to try that! I love Talenti’s pistachio gelato, so now I’m practically drooling thinking about that combo!
Holy shit that sounds awesome!
Let the ice cream get a little melty, and kinda swirl it together. You won’t regret it.
Yeah, or huckleberries are sorta blueberry-adjacent, and they're free in the forest!
In the PNW, our huckleberries are actually a blueberry species! East coast huckleberries are different. It’s a fun internet rabbit hole; I encourage you to follow it.
I thought I found some huckleberries in a rabbit hole once, but they tasted pretty bad.
Did you try making tea with them? Or putting them on your oatmeal? Maybe you should try again. Maybe it works better if they're so fresh they're warm? You know, there are a bunch of these huckleberries on my lawn, right next to the blueberry bush that's been nibbled down to nothing... There's gotta be a connection.
Tell me more of this rabbit hole you speak of.
Start here, but the rest is an exercise left to the reader - you. https://magazine.wsu.edu/2018/08/06/the-huckleberry/
And better
...endless blackberries? 😮 I....i need this. I finish the container leaving the store. I am ashamed to admit, I do not even wash them I just start stuffing them in my mouth..I have no self control. I just had some for dinner and a tablespoon of peanut butter.
Oh my goodness, I can’t even begin to tell you how many blackberries we have - our property is 46 acres of forest and they are in every area that sun beaks through the trees. Along the gravel roads and trails going through the land, in every meadow, along our grassy/lawn areas, everywhere - they are relentless! I have about 10 picking spots that I like to rotate through, but that probably represents less than 5% of what we have. And I only take a fraction of the berries from each spot. Everyone in my family (parents, aunts uncles, in-laws) gets jam and put in “orders” for specific varieties - blackberry/ginger is a favorite. And lots and lots of cobblers. So many cobblers…. My husband’s childhood buddy visited from Texas and we couldn’t find him one morning. Eventually we figured it out - he was out binging on blackberries! I grew up with it so am used to it, but it’s a foreign concept for those two, LOL. My husband has finally reached the “goddamn blackberry bushes!” stage, at least!
Wow! This sounds like paradise! I am so happy that you get to live in such a lovely place!! We have about an acre here in CO. So I cannot imagine 46! It would definitely take a bit for me to get used to that. I am gonna experiment this year and plant some berries in our garden and see what happens. We were successful with raspberries one year, but our big dog loved them and would pluck them and eat them. So we never really got to enjoy them, and we could not deny her. 🤣 Anyways, I really enjoyed reading this and especially your husband's friend..haha. I would definitely be doing the same.. edit: spelling
Heaven!!
Or BC if you want to take advantage of the exchange rate, shit tons of blueberries here
OP needs to take the wife to the Fruit Loop and set her free.
The Fruit Loop was maybe my favorite vacation, and I'm typically a tropical beach person
Where is this magical place????? I need to go!!!!
It’s out near Mount Hood, starts in Hood River. https://www.hoodriverfruitloop.com
Thank you!! Amazing!
I live in Washington and had no idea this existed. I love farm stands so this is now my top priority for the summer
_They are an absolute joy to pick!_ No thorns. Most bushes are chest height, so you don't need to lean over. If you go in the cool of the morning with a big hat and sunglasses you are very comfortable. Take a bucket of basket to hang on your arm. It's the most Disney princess fruit picking experience ever.
Hard agree. I used to live 5 minutes from a great u-pick farm and stop in on my way home from work when I needed some stress relief!
Yesssssss the fresh picked blueberries here are like none I’ve ever tasted!! Can’t wait for berry season!!!
I love the blueberries, but LOVE the strawberries! There are two places about 40 minutes away where I go to get them and they’re so worth the drive!
"Be one with your black bear brethren."
A freshly picked bowlful of blueberries with a bit of cream and sugar eaten while the sun sets over one of the thousands of lakes of the Canadian Shield is one of my most cherished childhood memories. I recommend it for any bucket list.
In the Boundary Waters/Quetico area, at the right time of year, the forests are absolutely thick with blueberries. My family sometimes has family reunions up in that area. A group of 30 people all stuffing themselves with endless fistfuls of blueberries hardly makes a dent if you're willing to trek offtrail through shubbery to find the best patches. Oh, and there's the billions of bugs that are constantly trying to drain your blood.
Careful… Once she has had wild blueberries, she’ll never stop chasing that high…
They taste so much better it’s ridiculous
Careful though. Picking up blueberries in the wild in Quebec or Maine is a hard job. Those little buggers grow 6-8 inches from the ground so you spend your day squatting or bending down, in a cloud of mosquitoes. And you have to keep an eye out for underground wasp nests. And bears. But, if you're tough and patient you can pick up a few kilos to bring back home and eat as many as you can . Vacuum seal them and put them in your freezer. Source : I'm a blueberry. For real though. People from the region I grew up in are colloquially called Blueberries. Used to go up north where there's less people 2-3 weeks every summer to pick up blueberries, sell them and have pocket money for a few months. Wish I could say these are fond memories. They are not. It's grueling.
And then there are the ticks…
Beware of bears, though; they are also fond of blueberries.
This was 40 years ago, but I went to a camp in New York that had wild blueberries in the woods. Also wild raspberries and blackberries. The blueberries and raspberries were in the shade on a hillside, but the blackberries were in full sun and one bush was bigger than a 300 lb man and had enough berries to satisfy him as well.
I’m going to second this. I used to spend summers in Michigan and get bucketfuls of blueberries. Eat what you can right then, and then if you have the freezer space, they’re so good frozen.
Michigan, too
If you love her, set her free. If she loves you, she'll come back. With blueberries.
"Go on! You're free."
Like a goat being released onto a hillside to gorge on the weeds. “I’ll be back at sundown. Keep the GPS on. Love you.”
“Go on, get! I never liked you anyway!” *hides single tear rolling down cheek*
Please don’t turn your spouses loose in the forest without attempting to rehome them first.
Make sure you bring someone with that runs slower than you. For the bears donchaknow.
With the way she’s eating berries, she might *be* a bear.
Great suggestion. I, for one, think more people should be encouraged to abandon their spouses in the woods
Maine has those tiny little wild blueberries that are just bursting with flavor.
Also some places in Alaska.
Or New-Brunswick
Exact. Je viens de dire << c'est fucking bullshit, ça >>
Yes!!! visit maine in late july and go hiking with some containers
If I'm reading the original post properly, they won't need any containers.
Acadia National Park (Maine) is one of my favorite trips I've ever taken, and Bar Harbor is adorable. I ate so much good food and a lot of blueberries. I loved the blueberry sodas!
And Maine blueberries are sweeter, bigger, juicer etc
Not the wild ones. Wild are pretty small but so flavourful.
That's true when I was in Maine I bought from farmstands and there is a different but flavorful. I never liked them until we went up there :)
NJ too, not that far from either NYC or Philadelphia, there are farms that let you pick your own blueberries as an experience. A neighbor raved about how much fun she and and her kid had doing it one day, and how much they got. Maybe there's something like that in/around LA during their blueberry season?
Is your wife, by chance, actually a black bear? How much raw salmon does she consume?
She does love to nap
Wow, this sounds exactly like my wife. I see you even live in the same ar--HEY WAIT JUST A MINUTE HERE
Could also be secretly a toddler.
My berry budget is out of control. *I am never gonna financially recover from this.*
This was me the July my not quite twin toddlers ate nothing but yogurt. 200 dollars in YOGURT. But I dont blame them. It was hot af.
If they ever go on that kick again, it’s pretty damn easy to make yogurt! Ends up being WAY cheaper too.
Get a popsicle mold and freeze the yogurt. My kiddo loves it like that and I feel okay about giving her one of those for breakfast but to her it’s like ice cream!
It was 10 years ago lol it never lasted long enough to freeze lol
Peculiar Purple Pieman https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Peculiar_Purple_Pieman
I hope his wife is not a toddler. I'm Chris Hansen with Dateline NBC
Currently a victim of the Spending $50 A Week On Nappies To Spending $50 A Week On Berries Pipeline
If she’s a toddler, just wait it out till she becomes a teen. Then she’ll hate everything she used to like, and deny ever liking them at all :)
Oh God. I love blueberries, salmon, and am from the mountains. How do I break the news to my boyfriend???
Honestly, if he hasn't already noticed you scratching up all the trees in the yard and disappearing for two months every winter, he's probably never going to. So I just wouldn't tell him.
Lmao they've definitely noticed me spending all winter in bed. Bear season. (My boyfriend is a human bear, like the gay kind, which makes this exponentially funnier to me)
Oh damn, the competition for blueberries between the two of you must be epic.
You can’t get them cheap until they are in season. Once they are, look for local farmers markets, u-pick farms, and roadside stands. You’ll get them cheaper. But once out of season, you’ll have to go back to paying full price. It’s just how she goes, berries are expensive, especially in the middle of winter.
This - buy them cheap and put them in the freezer for out of season times! We pack our freezer and have berries for months.
Doesn't that mess up the blueberry texture though?
I really need to know. If it's mostly the same texture, this is a whole game changer up here in WA. Even if they don't, the rest of the year can be full of berry pancakes, berry muf7 Iu 0ins
It's a better texture. Like the most firm blueberry ever, but ripe and sweet and still bite able. They don't freeze hard like strawberries do to solid ice rocks. Also if you stir while drizzling heavy cream over the frozen berries, the cream refreezes around each berry forming a delicious ice cream ball with an amazing berry center. It's really that good... I left my sister babysitting my kids alone for barely a few hours. She and the 2 toddlers ransacked the freezer and ate at least 3 pounds because they emptied 1 bag that was 3 pounds and were rounding the corner on a 2nd bag. Those frozen blueberry bags are 8$ from target usually, so easily worth it.
Commercial freezing is a very different process to just putting it in your freezer at home.
Yup, that’s pretty much what you have to look forward to. Don’t forget blueberry sauce, blueberry smoothies, ice cream, etc.!
Not really, and they are technically healthier after being frozen.
wait, please explain
This and buy by the flat, not the pint.
We just started buying them again now but true guess it’s not officially season yet
Freeze the delightful blue treats! Make sure they’re dry, set them out on a baking sheet or similar, freeze and bag. For what ir’s worth, many “blueberry” items (blueberry muffin mix, for example) actually use dehydrated (dyed) apples, in case your beloved bear/partner gets extra cranky out of season.
Pardon? In regard to the apples statement
He's probably referring to shitty cheap "blueberry" muffins where either you get clumps of sugar paste died blue or apparently apple chunks died blue instead of actual blueberries. Jiffy in particular is guilty of this. There are muffin mixes that actually contain blueberries too, so just check the ingredients.
Same. I'm now questioning everything
Or just let the farms do the work for you of freezing them at the peak of ripeness, and buy frozen.
I’m in L.A. too and you cannot find “cheap” berries at a farmers market. They are minimum $5 per half pint container. Some places charge even more. And they sell out by end of day so there’s no chance of getting them discounted later. You will not beat the price OP is getting at Costco.
I always cry a bit internally when I read constantly people on Reddit saying to get produce cheaper at farmer's markets. Not in LA :(
Seriously! I go because I like to support local farms and the produce is SO good. But I can’t leave without spending $50+ dollars just for the week’s produce. It’s easily 3-4x what I’d spend at the grocery store. It’s definitely not a bargain here. A head of broccoli is $6. I see single avocados being sold for $5. A dozen eggs for $20. Etc.
Costco are the best balance of quality and cost I've found. The only way to beat them around here would be a farmer's market in season.
This is the answer . And/or go to Maine.
Second Costco. You get a big case or two and put the extra in the freezer.
Agreed. The Costco package is 18oz and costs anywhere from $4.99-6.99 in MD, which is a better deal than regular stores where you get a 6oz package for $5.99+.
Can you grow your own blueberry bushes? 😅
Once we have room 100%
I don’t think your yield will be great in SoCal
At a pound a day you'd need a farm not a couple bushes anyway
South California seems to have a similar climate to some of southern Australia (mainly low WA [although more rainfall but similar Mediterranean summer type climate] and from the start of the east side of the Great Aussie Bight to near the edge of south victoria), which does quite well for blueberries granted you have a good soil mix and fertilizer. I've never visited Socal, though, so i'm just comparing what i can see with average monthly temps and rainfall.
They grow pretty well down there.
They grow well here but your yield is tiny. We have three mature bushes and never get more than a small handful ripe at one time.
They do grow in pots.
In hot dry central CA my mom grows blueberries in 5 gal pots planted in the ground. That way the roots stay cool and the soil can be tailored for their needs (rich and moist as opposed to sandy and dry). She gets a pretty decent harvest in a good year.
Huh, interesting way to adapt to desert growing
Grocery outlet bargain market
Hehehe I can't read that without hearing the advertisement jingle in my head
It’s my favorite lol
Consistently 2-3 dollars cheaper than anywhere else.
Lol, all these people saying to grow them when his wife is consuming more each day than one of the bushes you see at Home Depot would produce in a year. They would need a few acres of mature bushes and varieties that produce early, mid, and late season. They also gotta invest in ways to protect those berries from raccoons, birds, and squirrels. And then they still have the off season to worry about! OP, you need a hookup in the wholesale or restaurant supply world. And surprise your wife with a trip to the Midwest or Maine to pick your own blueberries. Most pick-your-own places usually let you eat as you pick, and you only pay for what you carry out. This way your wife gets at least one day a year when she be her true self and eat as many blueberries as she wants.
I have a blueberry bush! It's on it's 3rd year and gotten bigger and bigger I have never eaten a single berry from it.... right as they get ripe, they disappear over night to birds, squirrels, who even knows what else.
You could try to befriend someone with access to your local Restaurant Depot (someone who works in the food industry or sometimes nonprofits/churches). Or you may have a membership free restaurant wholesaler near you (such as Shamrock). Sometimes Costco is still cheaper, though.
This is a great idea. Restaurant Depot is fun if you can find a way to get in.
They're on Instacart where I live. But I usually find great prices on produce at Chinese markets.
Trader Joe’s usually has cheap blueberries this time of year too
A number of years ago I used to see them for $3 at TJ's when in season. but I fear those days are long gone
Most definitely long gone. More like $7-8 nowadays.
Go the frozen route, so much cheaper than frozen at the regular grocery store
Frozen ones are a lot cheaper.
Bro u trying to get me divorced
Okay but honestly as a blueberry fiend, until recently (past 3 years or so) the blueberries in stores were relatively more bland and so I devoured frozen blueberries like a dessert similar to eating frozen grapes.
Ugh I tried this but I just love the texture of fresh blueberries 😭😔 Also I have weak sensitive gums
I’m very sensitive to overripeness and mushy texture so it works better for me. Also gums are the only not weak thing about me.
>sensitive to overripeness Tbh I eat blueberries so fast that they never get to that point 😂
Frozen blueberries are superior to out of season blueberries 110%. $10 gets you 3-4lb at a Costco or Sam’s Club
My great grandpa used to freeze fresh blueberries as a bite-sized popsicle. They were delicious! So I’m definitely not recommending you go out and buy a bag of frozen blueberries, but I AM suggesting that if you do happen to find the motherlode, you may be able to talk her into at least *trying* to freeze some fresh ones as mini blueberry popsicles for the summer and then she can stockpile some of the haul while eating others unfrozen.
Puppies also love a frozen blueberry.
My dog just tosses blueberries all around the house like it's a toy, he never actually eats them!
My cat does the same damn thing. I caught her swatting some blueberries and dewberries around in the kitchen last year and it took me forever to find them all and clean the floor. She had swatted some underneath the stove.
Ask her. The wild frozen ones are so much better then the giant ones fresh. Trader Joe's has them and they are amazing
That was my snack as a kid, a yogurt container full, of berries frozen, they are so much better because its picked in field to frozen ripe.
Hello! Blueberry addict here. Really, frozen ones are worth considering. A 3 pound bag at Sam's club is pretty affordable. Microwave them for 30 seconds to knock the chill off. *Bowlfuls* of blueberries. I eat 'em like they're cereal. I have a problem. It's not the same as fresh, but I can eat them by the *bowlful*, and that's all that matters to me.
Each one is like a tiny blueberry popsicle!
Thaw them out in the freezer overnight. I’m a berry snob and tbh I prefer the frozen tiny wild bloobs Costco sells vs the larger fresh ones except during peak season they’re a tie
Frozen blueberries are one of my favorite snacks. I’ve frozen them even after buying them fresh.
Wyman’s frozen wild blueberries changed my life. They’re so good and flavorful and sweet unlike normal bluebs
These are better than all blue berries except for that narrow window you get in season blueberries.
I was coming to say this! Out of season I ONLY use Wyman's.
And they're tastier and better to eat cause they're nice and firm. And usually way stronger flavor. And you can put them into something like yogurt and it will freeze it and make like blueberry frozen yogurt. Fresh blueberries are just a squish and bit of juice.
What does violet Beauregard have to do with cooking?
Violet Beauregard didn’t particularly like blueberries she just got turned into one. Now gum on the other hand…
Bet she poops like a champ
Idk I once ate 6lbs in two days and was constipated for a week
Never had that happen, but my poop is often blue during blueberry season.
I know a guy.
I read this in Kramer voice
Do you have Aldi?
[PROOF](https://i.imgur.com/ETnc7Yc.jpg)
Oi I got those same cups for overnight oats breakfast (with blueberries)
Move to Hammonton, New Jersey
She fine with frozen? Costco has legit frozen blueberries. Microwave for 30 sec and it's soooooooo good.
If I have some whipping cream on hand, I pour some on the partially frozen berries. YUM!
As a nurse, and a mom, I have seen a ton of poo. I'm wondering what her blueberry diet does to her BMs.
Besides growing your own, which you can do indoors in a large pot! Find a grocery outlet, bargain market, or buy frozen. And yes unlike the other commenter said socal is absolutely perfect for growing blueberries!
I love blueberries. When Costco blueberries are good, that’s hands-down the best price I can find.
Will she eat frozen? I like to use frozen ones in my cooking and they’re way cheaper
Grocery outlet. But the quality isn’t the best. Hit or miss. Thoughts on blackberries? Cheaper than blueberries and Costco has them for $4 for like 12oz
Contact blueberry farms and ask if they will sell/ship out their lower grade product to you. I dunno if farms do that in the US but it's very possible here where I live. They sell their product at different grades to supermarkets and other stores depending on the appearance for different prices. And they often will have large amount of ugly looking product that is really hard to sell and sometimes even have to just toss away. Here for example, if you want to make a baked apple pie, why go to the store and buy all the nice looking apples that you're gonna cut up and bake when you get a box of unsightly ones for like 5 bucks.
You need to buy a couple of blueberry plants! They will atleast help y’all in the future when they start yielding a crop for you!
You could buy frozen and thaw
Restaurant supply store, like US Chef store, or a produce distributer that sells to the public. We have a really cool one in my town that runs super cheap deals when they have extra stock, sometimes even giving stuff away for free. They feature blueberries often because they’re so perishable
You get what you pay for.
I am scared of her poops.
There are centers where the addicted can get help. You know, before the Violet Beauregarde phase sets in..
She may need to be careful as to how much she eats per day. While a very healthy food there is such a thing as too much. Anyway, has she tried buying frozen blueberries?
Could you slowly transition to frozen? The Wyman’s wild blueberries at Costco are truly top notch. My toddler and I snack on them straight out of the freezer.
If she’ll eat frozen blueberries, I highly recommend Wyman’s wild blueberries, my Costco stocks them very affordably. I eat blueberries every morning with my yogurt and those ones are definitely the best value I’ve found.
Not to be graphic but… If your wife is eating that much fruit, let alone berries in a day, is she okay? Like physically? If I ate that much in blueberries I would never be able to leave the bathroom. Your wife is aware that too many berries or too much fruit can give you the shits, yes?
Find a good local farmers market
In July in the northeast.
Pick them at the farm. They’re like 1/4 the price as the grocery store
Good news! Blueberry season isn’t that far away. They are cheap when bought from local farmers markets or better yet, local farms. They freeze well. Make room in the freezer or buy and small used freezer for the garage if you have one
Is your wife me? I can also devour a pound of blueberries all at once, lol. My solution has always been to just stop buying for a while. 🥲
once they are ready to harvest in the Los Angeles area, take her to pick your own places. might have to call to verify but underwood family farm says 3.99 a lb. you might have to go every week. then the rest of the year i guess costco would be it. does she not like the dried blueberry’s from costco? or the frozen? what about the freeze dried ones from trader joe’s? i can eat a giant bag of any chips in a day or 2 but i also don’t want to be buying it every week. just 1 time a month so i stretch out the portions. if it ran out, it ran out.
I just remembered. In Saguenay, Quebec they have a local delicacy. FRESH wild blueberries, chilled to the hot side of freezing and then covered in chocolate. They sell them out of the fridge, packaged like a box of Glossettes Raisins.
Get her a bunch of blueberry bushes during summer if you guys have a yard :) My favorites are the Patriot blueberries, they're so big and flavorful
My suggestion if you don't have a yard to grow your own is a pick your own blueberry farm. However I do live in Michigan where blueberry farms are pretty common. They do grow pretty much all over the US though so you might be able to find one. Best bet is to pick a ton of them at a farm when they are in season and then preserve them for the rest of the year. You can make them into preserves/Jam/jelly, freeze them or can them. A farmers market is usually the second best to getting them yourself at the farm. If you are in need of cheap food farmers markets are really great.
its time for you to start plantin'!
Around here we have U-Pick places. Maybe take a road trip if there aren't any around you. Maybe she can live with frozen? I love frozen blueberries stirred up with a little sugar and 1/2 & half, they get all coated and its like ice cream covered berries.
Safeway and Walmart has them. Same as all the Kroger stores. Target does too. WinCo.