Growing & Freezing Blueberries
I have grown two blueberry bushes for about 25 years. My bushes are as tall as I am now. I have never pruned them except for the dead branches. We do not have acidic soil so I do add an acidic fertilizer to them every few weeks.
For those of you wondering how to keep the birds from eating all of your blueberries without the use of a net, read on. This method has worked for me the entire 25 years of growing them. I pound steel fencing posts around my bushes. I have a total of 5 posts but my bushes are pretty big. I started out with only 3 posts. Next I buy the large rectangle aluminum pans, I cut them in half then poke a hole just below one of the crimped corners. I tie string, wire or whatever is handy to the aluminum pan and then to the steel post.
Why does this work? Two reasons: One is because the aluminum pan bangs against the steel post with the wind and the noise scares the birds. Two is because the aluminum pan reflects the light making it bright which also scares the birds. That is all I do and every year I have picked about 5 gallon bags full of berries.
Place your blueberries in a colander.
Using cold water, rinse the berries gently.
Place a few layers of paper towel on a cookie sheet and pour the drained blueberries on top. At this point look through the blueberries discarding any bad ones or stems.
Carefully remove the paper towel once the water is absorbed.
Place the tray into the freezer until the Blueberries are frozen for a few hours.
Once frozen place the blueberries into a large size bag. I use bread bags with twist ties.
Then place the bag of blueberries into a gallon size freezer bag. Don’t forget to put the date on the bag.
Once frozen, you can scoop out the amount you need for a recipe because the blueberries won’t stick to each other.
Frozen blueberries should last 12 months in the freezer. They will last longer than that but the quality of the blueberry will start to deteriorate.
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Categories: Fruit, Uncategorized
I wish I could grow them here. I’m too far south. 😢
They are one of the easiest fruits to grow! I keep expecting them to die after all these years but they keep giving me bags of berries!
I tried in Texas but Summer just burnt them out.
Too bad! They charge a fortune for them in the stores here!
Same here. What’s funny here though is I live in New Orleans, and if you just travel north of Lake Pontchartrain you CAN grow them! About 35 miles makes that much of a difference.
NO WAY! That is so strange. BTW love New Orleans!!! We have traveled to many places and that is the only one we talk about going back to!
How wonderful! Looks delicious
Thanks Pam!
I’ve frozen many things (fresh herbs, meat, etc…) but not blueberries. Great idea. I used to just bake up the remaining amount, over portioning the berries at times, just so that they wouldn’t rot. Thank-you!
They are the easiest fruit you can freeze! They keep for so long too! You’re welcome!
Can strawberries freeze too?
Yes! Pull off the green leafy part if there is one. Quickly wash them and pat dry with paper towel. Put waxed paper on a cookie sheet and place the strawberries on without touching each other. Place into the freezer and once frozen put them into a freezer bag. That way you can take out just what you want without them sticking together. I even froze them one year smashed up with sugar like you do for strawberry shortcake. I put the mixture into small bags and I thawed them all winter long for strawberry shortcake desserts!
Thank-you for letting me know. I really do appreciate it! 🙂
Delicious, precious, round, pretty deep blue berries 😛
I do adore <3
Ciao
Sid
Thank you they are a super food!
Its yum
Wow.. Awesome post, great tips!❤
Thank you so much!
This is fascinating! They look wonderful:-)
Thank you I always look forward to stocking my freezer….for free!
Gorgeous berries, Diane! <3
Thanks Jo! I am picking them 1/2 hour every day with just two bushes….they are huge!
I’m going to try that with my strawberries,would it work on snails too?,what you think?
To freeze strawberries, remove the green leafy part and rinse quickly in cold water. Pat them dry immediately as you don’t want water on them for very long. Once dry you can proceed as I did with the blueberries. I have also made up the strawberry shortcake strawberries (squished with sugar) and froze it that way. It was such a treat in the winter having Strawberry Shortcake!
Wow! Please share some with me. <3
Hahaha I definitely have enough to!
Once again this brought back fond memories of my mom freezing her blueberries (purchased from a farm market or roadside stand) on a cookie try then bagging them up … she’d pull them out in the middle of Winter to make blueberry muffins. Yum!
That is the best part….eating them all year long! I don’t think I have ever seen them at a roadside stand here. That would be much quicker as I spend 1/2 hour picking them every day but well worth it!
We have them at our farmer’s market as well Diane. It is just a small farmer’s market but they have about a half-dozen farmers who truck in their fruits/veggies, some even have fresh eggs, lots of honey as well. Blueberries are so good for you as well.
Reblogged this on Garden Dreams! and commented:
Just wish mine survived the Texas summer heat…
Thank you for sharing this! They definitely need the cold to survive….lol
These look so delicious, Diane. Blueberries are among my favorite fruits. I don’t grow them myself, but often by them when they go on sale, and then freeze them like you do. It’s great to have some ready whenever the mood hits!
I look forward to your recipes.
Thank you so much! I want to try some different recipes with them this year. Did you know if you roll them in flour before putting them into the batter it keeps them from sinking?
If I knew this, I had forgotten. I am so grateful that you are pointing this out, because at times I have trouble with my muffins sticking in the pan because of the blueberries sinking to the bottom! Thank you, Diane!
You are very welcome!
Now you can make blueberry muffin anytime. 🙂
Trying to figure out what to make today….lol
I do like blueberries, I will have to see if I can buy some plants. I have a huge garden so I have a lot of room. They seem to be easy to grow from your post.
Yes the are very easy! Mine are bushes and they really produce!
Sounds wonderful.
Perfect!!!Great idea! This is so satisfying!!!
Thank you PS! Such a great snack!
Looking forward to you recipes. I had a blueberry smoothie today actually.
Aren’t they great! Love smoothies. Thank you so much!
Great tip. Thanks.
You’re welcome!
Would love to grow my own as well….organic and also you get the joy of picking 👌
Yes it is so wonderful when I pick being out in nature. When I pick later in the day I listen to the birds getting ready for bed and it is so nice!
Thats so lovely 🙂 thanks for sharing !!
You’re welcome!
You are soooo fortunate. I think the summer heat here in NM would be too much. I have taken advantage of the blueberries on sale lately because now I know how to freeze them. Thank you!
Thank you! I don’t know how many more years I will get from my two bushes because they are so old!
We live in Southern California not too far from the coast and have been very successful with our blueberries. Funny, our neighbor just down the street (same sun exposure) hasn’t had any luck at all. We currently have a fairly unattractive “cage” around them to keep out the birds but I much prefer your set-up. Perhaps next year we will try that as our three bushes are slowly outgrowing their cage.
I keep 4 bee hives at a small blueberry and blackberry farm. I trade out some honey for berries. I bag the blueberries up in quart bags and pull one out of the big freezer to keep my wife supplied. I also make blueberry jam with a vanilla bean in the cooking process. Very yummy. I do pretty much the same with the blackberries. Thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome! Blueberry jam is on my list in the next day or two. What a wonderful trade with your honey! We would love to learn how to keep bees! Maybe once we retire. Thank you for sharing your story!!!
Blueberry picking is a family summer tradition for us in Michigan. I’m glad to see that I’ve been doing it right. 😉
What a wonderful tradition! I’m in Ohio!
We have planted three blueberries into tubs this year, and I’m excited to see lots of flowers. I wonder if they’ll ever produce enough to freeze in years to come. I hope so, and if so, this hint on how to freeze them will be very useful. Our soil is to alkaline to put them in the ground, so the tubs may limit their size. We eat a lot of blueberries, but mostly frozen as they’re very expensive when fresh.
Chris I only have 2 bushes! If you get as many blueberries as I do you will have bags of blueberries! Good luck!
Wow – you have some very productive blueberry bushes! That’s impressive.
Also: I like your method of keeping the birds away. It’s very clever – and thanks for the tip!
I have picked this many blueberries from these same two bushes for over 20 years now. Every year I swear they will die but they don’t. They have been very good to me…lol
I’m curious to know what is already frozen in the bags under the blueberries. We have always done blueberries this way, but I was intrigued with the way you keep away the birds! Thank you for the info!
You’re welcome! Peaches are under the blueberries and here is the link. http://indianeskitchen.com/2019/07/11/how-to-freeze-peaches
Diane, I know this is an old post, but it came up on the bottom of your post today. Can the frozen blueberries be eaten – or just used in baking? Just wondering because we pick blueberries in Michigan – and they are so good!
I have eaten my frozen blueberries but they have to be frozen. They get mushy and are so unappealing to me thawed. It is almost like an ice cream treat for me when they are frozen. All I can say is give it a try, it’s more of a personal preference.