This month we are celebrating Blueberry Season In NC! We will be featuring some great recipes that center around these little blue, tastey marvels!
But let’s talk a little about them here:
Blueberries grow all over the world but here in North Carolina we think ours are the best. Blueberries are a big summer time crop in North Carolina. Many North Carolinian growers belong to the NC Blueberry Council, Inc. This group works hard to look out for the special interests and needs of a blueberry grower.
There are two main families of blueberries, each having three different types of blueberries. The first family is Major Highbush. Its varieties are Croatan, Jersey and Murphy. This type is ready to be harvested early in the season and can withstand a heavier chill (colder weather) than the other variety. Major Highbush is used mostly when sold fresh and not frozen.
The other type of blueberry is Rabbiteye. These varieties include Premier, Tifblue and Powderblue. These blueberries are ready later in the season and can’t take as cold a chill as the Major Highbush variety. Rabbiteye blueberries are known as a southern type berry.
Blueberries have their own special months when the crop is recognized for its importance. Nationally in the United States, blueberries are celebrated in July. In North Carolina blueberries are celebrated in June.
North Carolina is home to plenty of farms that let you get the freshest ones available by picking your own. Blueberry picking season is usually sometime from June to late July and early August, so start checking towards the middle to end of May to find out when your favorite farm opens.