Monday 20 July 2020

Blueberries and Wasps

Abbotsford is surrounded by raspberry and blueberry fields, in fact we're known as the Raspberry Capital of Canada.  Much as we love raspberries we, as a family, love blueberries even more. In past years we've always picked at U-pick farms but we're getting older and also U-pick is more complicated this year due to Covid-19. So we ordered 50 pounds and we had our work cut out for ourselves. Although really blueberries demand the least work in getting them ready for the freezer.
They come fairly 'clean' ( as in no leaves etc.) so we wash them let them drain for a while then bag them up. Couldn't be easier.  In winter I can easily take out exactly the amount I need since the berries hardly stick to each other at all.




I made a three little jars of jam.


Last week son2 noticed that we had a large infestation of wasps coming and going under the sunroom floor. DH thought he'd take a good look and got stung 5 times for his efforts.  Needless to say the exterminator was called.  He got his protective gear on and began to spray into the opening. Immediately he was attacked by hordes of angry wasps but his gear protected him. By the next day there was not a wasp in sight.

Thank you for your kind comments on my last post. I'm encouraged to continue to write about my very ordinary life.  Sometimes I've had my doubts when I've reread a post so it's good to know you're not bored to death.

Thanks for coming by today. I hope your week is off to a good start,


GRANNY MARIGOLD





25 comments:

  1. Blueberries! YUM! We have a friend that has blueberries every year and always gives me some for my freezer. What a blessing as my man loves him some blueberry cobbler and pancakes! Oh my mercy on those wasps! That is really frightening! So glad that has been taken care of. Hugs and blessings, Cindy

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  2. My grandfather farmed raspberries in Abbotsford in the 70s. I picked berries for a couple of summers in my early teens. Now I have a little patch of my own and enjoy them so much. We have blueberries, too, and love them all year round on our morning granola/yogurt. I freeze a lot of them, just as you do.
    Have a good week. Isn't the sunshine and warmth wonderful?

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  3. That's a lot of blueberries! It's so useful to have bags of fruit in the freezer.

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  4. Those blueberries are beautifully ripe! My brother and sis-in-law own a beautiful pick-your-own blueberry farm in rural, mountainous West Virginia. It's so nice to visit there. They're in the middle of picking season right now. Your jam jars look pretty!

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  5. Raspberries and blueberries - yum! I'm glad you got the wasps sorted out, horrid things.
    Please keep blogging. Like good friends, we (in Blogland) love hearing how other people live. It still amazes me how fascinated people are with what we consider to be our everyday ordinary lives, and how much love and care people you have never met can show you :)
    Take care, Mxx

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  6. I love your blog!!! How wonderful about the blueberries and that you have jam AND plenty for the rest of the year 🥰🥰🥰🥰

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  7. It sounds like you are situated in a great location with all of those wonderful berries surrounding you. Your blueberries look delicious. How nice to have all that goodness stashed away in your freezer.
    That's awful about your DH receiving all of those wasp stings. We noticed a nest forming yesterday. My husband wanted to spray it, but I wouldn't let him as it was right above my tomato and cucumber plants. He went after it with a broom handle and was soon running across the backyard with one chasing him. Luckily no stings. I guess that is a job best left for the experts with protective gear.

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  8. That's a lot of blueberries!! I love them too. Raspberries too but don't like all the seeds.
    Glad to hear those wasps are now gone. Not fun to get stung!!

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  9. What a great stash of blueberries! Glad you got rid of the wasps and called in the pros! :)

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  10. Its late in the evening now here, - and I get so hungry for blueberries! We have blueberries now herein the Forest, too, but I want to eat some NOW :)

    Have a good week without dangerous insects.

    Meanwhile we are friends of wasps, because they become more and more seldom here. Some kinds of them are even sheltered. I'm sorry, that your wasps really had a bad place, so you did right - - -

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  11. Your Blog is really not boring!!! :)

    Good idea to make posts in a certain order, for example like you, every second day.

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  12. You are never boring! I love reading your posts. Wasps are nasty buggers, good that your son noticed them and you were able to get rid of them. That's a lot of blueberries... I wouldn't have room in my freezer for that many bags!

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  13. Oh. My. Goodness. Look at all those blueberries! I cannot imagine having that many to freeze. I think that would last Jerry and me for a couple years or so lol. // GM, your blog is not boring... it is real life and that's what we all need right now. You are another connection for the rest of us to the outside world and we love you for letting us into your daily life. Blessings to you, my friend!

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  14. I really like your blog so please don't stop! There is always something interesting that you're talking about or showing us. I'm always interested in the things you're baking too! Keep up the good blog!

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  15. Now that the sun is off the garden, Tom is out picking our raspberries. We have had them to eat and some for the freezer. We love them. Blueberries are a staple in my diet too, but now we no longer u-pick. I buy them as needed in bulk bags from Costco or Safeway. 50 pounds is a bunch of blueberries!
    I'm glad you got help with those wicked wasps.

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  16. Wow, that's a lot of blueberries! So glad someone else picked them for you! Are those lovely jam jars the kind that seal? I have some from the Bon Maman jam that look just like them. I would be in berry heaven if I could have such easy access to raspberries - though I love blueberries, raspberries are still my #1. Too bad they don't grow well in our soil and there aren't any U-picks close by. Hope your DH has recovered from his wasp stings - I cringe at the thought of those wasps attacking!
    Ellabie

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  17. Wow - what a treasure box your freezer is. Three wasp stings sounds like way too many for your husband. Summertime brings wasps to my garden, too. This year I haven't seen as many as there sometimes are...

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  18. I love blueberries AND raspberries. We have lots of raspberries around here but I don't see many blueberry plants. How nice to have so many in the freezer ready to use whenever you want them.
    The wasps have been severe here too. There is a group that keeps building nests in Larry and Nita's trailer awning and then Dennis knocks it down and they start all over with a new one. They scare me, as do yellow jackets. I'm allergic to bee stings.
    Blessings,
    Betsy

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  19. No, never bored...seems like the blogs that write about their everyday life are my favorites. I feel the pain of your DH...hate getting stung!

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  20. You are not boring, I always enjoy my visits. We have to watch for wasp also, they love to nest in areas under the roof of our porch. I got stung twice last year, and it hurt!!!

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  21. What pretty blueberries! I found the best blueberry pie recipe online and have made four pies since early spring. Wasps scare me to death. I was mowing a while back and bumped a post that has a birdhouse on top. The bump brought a swarm of wasps out of the birdhouse. I had to run for the front door, and didn't get even one sting. After the wasp settled back into the birdhouse, Poppy sprayed and killed them all.

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  22. Wow, that’s a LOT of blueberries!

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  23. beautiful blueberries!! I wish we had a u pick close...you are lucky! :)

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  24. That's exactly how I freeze our blueberries too. I just picked the last one off my little bush. I ate so many of them right out of the garden without even washing them. After all, I don't use pesticides and really don't mind if a bee or butterfly sat right upon the berry itself.

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