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More answers to frequently asked questions:
Q: Is there a way to get your berries other than having to spend $100 to $150 per shipment? A: Yes, but you’d have to come to the Blue Hill peninsula on the coast of Maine to pick them up. If you can’t do that, then I would suggest thinking about what we typically spend $100 to $150 per month on, and perhaps changing buying patterns or prioritizing some purchases. Ask ourselves: should we get the berries instead of some other things at similar cost to us? For example, here are some typical modern conveniences/items/habits on which we can readily be spending $100 to $150 per month: daily coffee & donut/muffin at a bakery or store; after-work drinks or weekend bar tab; dinner and a movie; cigarettes (1/2 pack per day); cable tv or HD tv fees; EZ Pass or toll booth fees or taxi fares or subway tokens. Instead of any of those, you could have our frozen organic wild blueberries, or membership at a local gym or YMCA, or several good magazine subscriptions and library fees (I’m guilty of regularly having overdue library books, which is ok if you pay them off regularly!), or carpooling/walking/riding a bike….the gist of it is, let’s all vote with our dollars. Q: Did you always want to be a wild blueberry farmer? A: No, all I really remember as a kid, growing up in a small town in Vermont, was that I wanted to be a volunteer fireman. But it was hard to figure out how to make a career, let alone pay the mortgage and make car payments, as a volunteer fireman. So, I had to go to college and get a BA in Anthropology and Religion, and then realize I wanted to be a farmer. After apprenticing and working on many different farms over almost 10 years, I was trained and ready to be an organic vegetable farmer. That’s when my wife and I purchased our land in Penobscot, Maine, which had a few acres of open land for vegetables as well as about 20 acres of wild blueberries. And that’s how I became a wild blueberry farmer. Q: Who invented the wild blueberry? Was it Willie Wonka? A: Not exactly, though you may recall that he invented a chewing gum that tastes like a three-course dinner, which featured a blueberry dessert. One of the kids in the famous Chocolate Factory tour, Violet Beauregarde, greedily and foolishly takes the untested gum from Mr. Wonka and chomps on it; a mishap ensues where she somehow inadvertently turns into a giant blueberry. But the wild blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium) is a native plant to the northeastern seaboard of North America —having originated, developed and evolved over the past 10,000 years or so since the last glacial period, an amazing feat that even the Oompa-Loompas would have found challenging. Q: What’s your favorite book? A: Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey Q: What’s your favorite song? A: Everyday I Have the Blues by B.B.King Q: Is there any reference or specific quote from Shakespeare about wild blueberries? A: No, but I’ve gotten pretty good at making up fake ones, like this: “She doth induce in me both the passion and the colour of the wild berries” Spring Runs Eternal, Act I, Scene iv. Or, with general reference to all things wild, there is this one, which I made up and printed on the back label of our retail bags of frozen berries: “Whereas the furrow’d seed knows the sweetest complacency, ’tis the wind-borne seed that knows the greater urge to grow” The Tragedy of King George, Act II, Scene iii.
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Here are more answers to a few more random questions:
Q: Does the Blue Hill Berry Co. offer any other types of frozen organic Maine berries besides wild blueberries? How about raspberries? Or strawberries? Or cranberries? Have you thought about offering cranberries?! And what about blackberries??!!!! A: OK, easy now….we do not currently have other types of berries, but we would like to, and we could in the future, if you ask nicely. Feel free to make a suggestion! Q: How would you describe the flavor of wild blueberries? A: Most professional tasters agree with the following descriptors: "Rich wild blueberry notes open up into a broad wild blueberry aroma with a distinct wild blueberry character that resonates on the palate into a long, complex wild blueberry finish." Q: Is it true that the Blue Hill peninsula is one of the most beautiful places to live and raise a family and grow food, other than the fact that the winters are cold and snowy, the springs are cold and rainy, and the summers are too short? A: Yes, but thanks for asking. Q: Was Elvis referring to your wild blueberries when he sang about having a “Blue, Blue Christmas”? A: We like to think he was. Here are our answers to a few random FAQ’s:
Q: What sorts of things go well with wild blueberries? A: Our wild blueberries are best paired with one or more of the following: +lemon, cinnamon, and nutmeg +lime and basil, or lime and mint +home-made yogurt and home-made granola +a stick of butter and a half cup of real maple syrup, on pancakes +bacon, thick-sliced raisin-bread french toast, strong coffee, and more bacon +a spot on the couch with a good book +a deep-belly laugh, or occasionally a good tear-laden cry +a sincere sense of gratitude, attention, and curiosity toward all things Q: How many berries are there in a quart? A: There are approximately at least 562 wild blueberries in a quart, probably, I’d guess. I've actually never counted. There’s lots of them, and they’re small. Q: Is it true that smoothies made with cultivated (high-bush) blueberries can turn an unappealing shade of grey, while smoothies made with wild (low-bush) blueberries are a bright, delicious purple color? A: That’s what we’ve heard, though we wouldn’t know, ‘cause we make ours with wild blueberries only. Q: Have they built a monument in Washington, D.C., in honor of the wild blueberry? A: Not yet. |
AuthorNicolas Lindholm, farmer Archives
February 2017
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