Blueberry Picking // Storytelling

"Little Sal picked three berries and dropped them in her little tin pail... kuplink, kuplank, kuplunk!

She picked three more berries and ate them. Then she picked more berries and dropped one in the pail, kuplunk! And the rest she ate. Then Little Sal ate all four blue-berries out of her pail!"

     - Blueberries for Sal

Ever since being little I have loved going blueberry picking. My mom used to take us with her as her helpers, although I think our tendencies were to be more like Sal than mother. We would always leave with blue lips and slightly upset tummies. It has been several years since we have been able to go blueberry picking and this year I had a strong desire to make that a priority. With my family being frequently busy and Xavier being gone at camp I didn’t think it would be an option since I know how short the season is.

When I heard that Xavier’s week off was going to fall right during blueberry season I had to ask him if he would take me. He laughed and said he would look into it when he got home. I waited not-so-patiently and then pestered him again when he finally got back to Grand Blanc for his week off. He said that he found a place near his house but didn’t know if it would work. I Googled the farm and emailed them to see what their times and prices were. Upon receiving a reply I decided that it was doable and Xav agreed.  

After work on Friday, I went straight to Grand Blanc and we left shortly after for the blueberry farm. I was so excited!! We got our little pails (just like Sal’s) and headed into the field. I had never seen blueberry bushes this big before! They were more like trees! And the blueberries were huge, growing in clusters that looked like grapes. It was warm but slightly breezy and it was such a beautiful farm. The kuplinks turned into kuplunks as the buckets started to fill and I snuck less from the pails than I did as a child.

It was so wonderful to chat about our summers as we picked and to revel in the fact that we were doing something together! After about 2 ½ buckets, Xav mentioned that it wasn’t quite as novel as it was at first, but he stuck with it like a champ and we finished off 4 full pails. When we were done they weighed our results and we had picked about 18 pounds in the hour and a half. Back at his house we became blueberry chefs and made muffins, crisp, syrup, and pancakes with the bounty. It was a wonderful way to fulfill my blueberry wish and it provided a lot of tasty summer delights.