WILD BLUEBERRY—

​

Wild blueberry was gathered from low ground and open heath, where the plants grew close to the soil. The fruit was small and gathered slowly, often by hand or rake, and sorted before keeping.

​

Berries were eaten fresh, dried whole on cloth or board, or simmered and strained. Preparations were then made into jams, jellies, or baked into pies. Juice darkened quickly. Iron dulled the color. Wood, crock, and glass were preferred for keeping.

​

Wild blueberry keeps when dried but spoils easily when damp. Once crushed, it ferments or molds. Fermented blueberries were made into country wine or steeped in spirits.

​

Harvest returned year after year when the ground was worked. Fire and sheep grazing kept brush and young trees from closing over the heath.

​Wild blueberry spread across northern barrens and open heath—rocky uplands of thin acidic soil, scrub brush, and wind-worn ground left by old glacial retreat. These were not empty places, but hard land. In some barrens, controlled burns were used to keep brush low and the heath from closing over. The low-rooted plants returned after fire while taller growth and brush were burned back.

Fire cleared brush and young trees that would otherwise shade out the low berry heath. Burns were set in colder seasons or damp weather and watched closely along stone and soil to keep the fire from spreading. That was how barrens remained for generations.

​

​

​

​