Wild Blueberries

Several years ago, my wife Maureen and I spent a few days in Maine. We rented a little house in the woods. It was wild blueberry season, and the area was dotted with farm stands. It was at one of them that I got my first look at wild blueberries. I was not impressed. They were small and irregular, not like the large plump ones in clamshell plastic containers that we often bought. We took some anyway, and I am glad we did. Boy oh boy were they ever delicious! We ate them early and often in the next few days.

I have since learned that those wild blueberries were more nutritious and higher in antioxidants than those attractive but more bland-tasting ones from the store.

A lot of food is marketed for appearance and availability at the expense of what nature provides. We expect foods to be uniform and available all year long.

In central Nebraska, we looked forward to Saint Libory melons about this time of year. I have still not tasted melons that were better—especially the ones with seeds—and eaten outside accompanied by seed-spitting.

Perhaps we would be healthier, happier, and less prone to outbreaks of foodborne parasites if we ate more locally, seasonally, and with our neighbors.

Nurturing soil—nurturing community,
Jay