By Elna Joseph-Bijhouwer
It’s a good year for blueberries! Here are a couple of slides from 1959 when I was four years old, and our hill was a blueberry barren, the forest having been clear cut in previous years. We would head to the hill to pick as many as we could before they fell off the bushes, as they ripen all at once.
We resorted to raking the berries, and my father figured out how to winnow them to blow the leaves away so we could make jam or freeze them for winter.
My parents would praise my sister and me for being such good pickers, though I imagine it was more like a Blueberries for Sal situation! The forest has taken over again, so no more raking blueberries. It was good while it lasted.
The forest has taken over again, so no more raking blueberries, just hand picking.
I, my sister Carol and my mother take a picnic break, 1959
Buckets of blueberries ready to be winnowed
Antique blueberry rake and coffee can home made rake