(Photo of an ad from OC Metro Magazine May 2012 issue)
BLUEBERRY TIME
When I was a young child, I would often go to my Grandfather's farm. One time I was visiting, my Grandfather said that it was time to go pick blueberries. Well, I love blueberries, so I was more than willing to go.
Anytime my Grandfather would take me walking in the woods it was a time to learn. He would show me animal tracks and ask me: "who was walking here?" We would look at all the different tracks and he would explain what animal made the tracks. It was fun to imagine these animals walking along the paths we were on!
There were many places on my Grandfather's farm where blueberries grew wild. We would go where there were many bushes. Grandfather would have me pause and talk to the blueberry bushes. We would tell them that we were thankful that they were there, that we would like to share the berries they had and that we would not be greedy but would leave many berries for the birds and other animals. Then we would pick berries, never taking many from each bush and leaving some corn meal or water in thanks for their berries. Naturally I ended up eating as many as I put in my basket! YUMMM!
When we were done, we would again thank the blueberry bushes for their berries and on our trip back home, Grandfather would test me to see if I remembered the animals that made the tracks on our path. Later we would enjoy eating blueberries and cream or make a pie or little blueberry muffins. I looked forward to blueberry time each year!