Yesterday afternoon I headed to LaGrange to babysit the mini-Marx's in the evening while Andie took a break with some of the other moms in her area. This morning Andie plotted a visit to Blueberry Hill, a farm where you can Pick-Ur-Own blueberries. We enjoyed the drive over train tracks and watching for all kinds of trucks on the highway. I really think Hayden enjoyed that ride to Campbellsburg a lot. When we got to Blueberry Hill the parking area was full of chickens. Now the chickens were not the least afraid of cars. They were truly 'free range chickens'. We got Bailey & Hayden out of the car and they had a good look at all of these neat chickens after putting on their sunglasses, of course.
The nice lady that owns this blueberry pickin' orchard walked us out to the blueberry bushes that were ripe and gave us instructions on how to pick them. They grow 3 kinds (I could not tell the difference by looking at the berries). You don't pick the berries that are white or in stages of pink in lighter blue. These you leave to continue ripening and others will pick them later. You also look for a reddening of the stem and that indicates the berries are ripe. The most important tip was that they grow in clumps like grapes. You can touch a blueberry with your pointer finger and your thumb and rub just a bit and if the berry is ready for picking it will literally fall off in your hand. If it doesn't, it is not quite ripe and you should leave it for others to pick. We got 4 buckets, one for each of us, and proceeded to pick. We were assured the kids could eat as they picked.
While Andie diligently picked and I picked as I watched my youngest grandmonsters, we managed to fill 2 buckets to the top. That is about a gallon in each bucket and they sell it for $12 a gallon. Andie and I will freeze and try drying these berries.
Of course it was fun to see what Hayden and Bailey would find to amuse themselves once they filled up on blueberries and were beginning to pink up with the really hot, sunny day we had. Hayden managed to find a caterpillar to play with. Bailey chased butterflies (sorry, no picture of that) and they both really, really enjoyed this little frame for a shed. They tromped down the tall grass in it and ran around through the openings.
They were such good kids that Ma (that's me and is short for BlamMa) treated them to lunch at Subway on the way home. One of the things I have always done with kids is wink and wrinkle my nose. These are quiet things and most kids respond with a grin or inquisitive look. Today while eating I winked at Ms. Bailey. I was totally surprised when she closed one eye to wink back at me. Hayden then follow suit.
It was a great outing. I'm so happy to have the blueberries and will now head up stairs to begin the freezing process. Thanks Andie for a fun outing that adds to our food storage.
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