Did Someone Say Blueberries?

Sketched, outlined in ink and colored
with colored pencils on paper

I wanted to do something this weekend that we have never done, U-pick it Blueberries. I have never been a huge fan of blueberries but my husband and son liked them, so I figured what the heck, lets go. We went to a place in Clermont, Fl called Southern Hill Farms, it was about 20 minutes away from my in-laws house so it wasn't too far.

So armed with my GPS we set out on our little trip, after realizing I just passed the road we did a U-turn (almost got hit because someone was riding my ass) and found our way to the 5 mile dirt road we had to go down before we made it to the farm, but it was a gorgeous view. 

Since this was something we had never done before I wanted to know the best place to pick and the best blueberries and of course I wanted them sweet. The workers at the farm were great and they actually took us on a tractor to a good location further away (more berries).

The Family

 Once we got to our destination the picking began, I had a blast but the kids, not so much. There were swarms of love bugs, and they would get into the bucket so after about 30 - 40 minutes my in-laws and daughter made their way back before the rest of us. There were a few wasps hanging out in a couple of bushes but nothing that stopped the picking. The farm lets you eat them while you are picking too, which was nice since there were so many types of blueberries (I will have a list below of the different varieties). We ended up with almost 4 pounds of blueberries so it is great that they freeze well because apparently the best times for picking is April and May. I will absolutely go back and would recommend this to anyone. Not only do you get the freshest blueberries but it was some good family time also.

Here is a list of what they have listed on their website.

Emerald – Taste is semi-sweet and excellent firmness but the most amazing thing about this variety is the size of the berries, near that of a quarter!

Flicker – Large, firm and excellent flavor.

Primadonna – Super sweet, with almost a bright blue appearance, excellent firmness.

Jewel – Large, softer skinned berry with a bit of a tart flavor.

Springhigh – Medium sized, soft skinned berry with a unique sweet flavor.

Scintilla – Hands down best tasting berry, most of what we picked.

Meadowlark – “Meadowlark” is actually a cross off of the native North American sparkleberry.

Farthing- Very firm, large, deep blue berry.

Kestrel –  Smaller berry with a tart flavor similar to jewel.

Chickadee – Medium sized, semi-sweet flavor.

Sweetcrisp – Just like the name, Very sweet and crisp!