Red White and Blueberry
07/04/2024
Team Blue,
Another 4.14” fell the other day. Almost getting preposterous, isn’t it? I haven’t gotten on the river once since early spring, the basement is demonstrating its porousness with enthusiasm, and the soil is so far beyond recharged with moisture as to plead mercy and allow overland flow - erosion, caught in the act.
Blueberries are loving it, though.
As the 85 of you who have come out to the patch since Opening Day on June 24th well know, there’s a bumper crop out there. We’ve already picked over 200 pounds, including a single-day-record-setting (and stunningly pleasant) June 30th pick of 55 pounds. The average picking slip has weighed in at 3.5 pounds, ranging from 0.25 pounds (I appreciate the honesty of weighing out at all) to 11.5 pounds (current World Record Holder Liv Charlton!). Current leader in the horserace for Most Pounds Picked is Malahn & Brian at 12.25.
Statistics duly tabulated, let’s move on to less prosaic concerns.
At the risk of sounding political, happy 4th of July. The blueberry is, in my opinion, the most uncomplicatedly patriotic of fruits. Red in the fall, in leaf and in stem, holding on through the winter and slowly blanketing the row floor through successive layers of snow. White in the spring, showy and jeweled, giving succor to bees and future-oriented optimism to humans. Blue in the summer, tasty and bounteous, begging for your assistance in lightening a branch’s load. And I suppose the green stands for a sustainable future or something.
And they’re ripe on the 4th of July. Get out there and pick! All rows have ripe berries, and several varieties are absolutely peaking right now. A record-shattering day is in the offing. I may put up a sign to snag some highway tourists today, I’ll report back with my findings.
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I was out in the patch the other day, taking a mid-music grazing break with fellow barn participants, when I ran into Eric and Mary of Convivio. As some of you may know, I do not like wine - it all tastes identically terrible to me - but I gather that other people like it. We were picking in the patch when a vision descended from the air, or perhaps ascended out of the very earth, of tables arranged throughout the patch, different wines featured on each, and a bunch of classy humans sipping and grazing in the afternoon light. Lovely!
I’m sure it’s illegal to charge money for alcoholic beverages in the blueberry patch without first getting the sign-off of the township, the county, the National Parks Service and the United Nations (sometimes it’s a pain having Taliesin as a neighbor) so this will be a free event with donations accepted. I’ll leave it up to Convivio to pick the wines, and leave it up to you to pick the blueberries. All six varieties have something to offer at this point in the season, and tasting notes will be gladly accepted. What wine pairs best with Bluecrop? What exactly happens when you drop a blueberry into a glass of sparkling white? If you stuff one of each blueberry into your mouth simultaneously, and chase it with a blend of all available wines, do you become a teenager again?
This Sunday, 4:30-6:30pm, semi-formal attire. Rain date TBD.
Mixing up a red white and blueberry jam,
Twin Crix
