Posts From the Farm: Freezing Blueberries

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens, brown paper packages tied up with strings....these are a few of my favorite things.

The Sound of Music is one of my favorite musicals, I've been singing this song for as long as I can remember. Over the years, I've made up my own list of simple pleasures...

Berries in fresh cream is on that list. Black raspberries are my favorite, but blueberries, smothered in cream with a light sprinkle of sugar, are a close second.



As my dessert on this hot August night...it was perfection!



In a stroke of good luck, I ended up with 5 lbs of blueberries last week, so I decided to freeze them. In my opinion, berries are one of the easiest foods to preserve. You just stem, clean, and freeze! Here's how it went. I lined rimmed baking sheets with waxed paper, then I dumped the washed and dried blueberries onto the sheets. "Dumped" isn't really a gentle word, but dump the berries gently or transfer them with your hands to avoid bruising the tiny fruits.



Spread the berries into a single layer on the sheet, preferrably so that none of them are touching. Cover with plastic wrap and pop the sheets into the freezer for a few hours or until the berries are solid.



Transfer to the freezer container of your choice. I used quart freezer bags this time. If you have a favorite blueberry recipe, you can freeze the blueberries in pre-portioned amounts for your recipe. For example, my One Egg Blueberry Cake calls for 1 cup of berries, so I might fill a bag with just one cup. The bag pictured below happens to have 3 cups.



Once the containers are filled, put them back into the freezer and use within 6 months.


Tomorrow: Canning Green Beans!