Its that time of year again, folks! Blueberry picking season in FL! We had such a fantastic time last year when a group of friends came with us to a local Blueberry farm & spent the day learning lots of fabulous truths about this interesting fruit. Have you had a hard time finding some new ideas for field trips with your homeschooling schedule? Try this idea out & work it into your grocery shopping, family togetherness time & penciling in a field trip on the homeschooling calendar.
When I was a girl we had tried going berry picking every year in the fall & spring. Some berries were sweet & some were more on the bitter side. Blueberries seem to rank in a flavor category all their own. We eventually bought a blueberry bush to grow right in our own yard for yearly helpings of the delicious goodies right within reach every morning to go with breakfast. Mom had this delicious recipe for making blueberry cobbler which I loved! Since I'm not able to share the family recipe, I can at least recommend a great substitute from Rachel Ray that I attached a link to. http://www.rachaelraymag.com/Recipes/rachael-ray-magazine-recipe-search/on-hand-ingredients-recipes/Blueberry-Cobbler There are so many scrumptious recipes to use blueberries in, from cake mixes to desserts to breakfast entrees & baby foods. Having a stash of fresh or frozen blueberries (for pennies on the dollar) would sure come in handy this summer with festive Mother's Day, Memorial Day, Graduation Parties, Father's Day, & Fourth of July celebrations. Taking the family on a fun & memorable blueberry picking excursion is just the thing to meet that need for blueberries for all those mouth-watering recipes you've been dying to try out at the next holiday gathering.
During our field trip we tried to help the kids learn the value of growing fruits or vegetables at home by seeing how amazing it was to view all the fruit hanging from the blueberry bush ripe & ready for picking. We pointed out how God feeds the birds & small animals with the ones that fall to the ground. It was a busy place with a lot of locals stopping by to get in on the inexpensive fruit deal. For this fun-filled experience, we were each given a canvas sack to hang around our waste that would hold the blueberries that we picked & allow us to know when we had filled an amount that would cost the low $10 per bag fee to bring them home. It was a team effort picking enough plump juicy blueberries to fill everyone's sacks including the younger kid's bags. They found just as much joy in seeing the colorful butterflies, dragonflies, caterpillars, & spiders we discovered hiding among the bushes occasionally. The older kids got to chat with each other within earshot & view of the parents, but had their freedom to explore the blueberry farm together collecting the sweet berries. Since my family has eye issues, we also stressed the importance of eating blueberries for its vision enhancing qualities. My daughter pointed out that they taste really good too! LOl! She didn't need any convincing to eat more! It really was a great deal getting all those blueberries during this trip. Let me just say with buying one $10 bag, I was able to fill 3 gallon-sized bags of blueberries to freeze after we had eaten our fill of the fresh ones that week! It helped that my four year old simply adores blueberries at any time, day or night. I thought we'd never eat them all! LOL! Hope you get the chance to go blueberry picking this season & make it a memory while meeting a field trip requirement too! Let me also encourage you to consider getting a few blueberry bushes to grow right at home. Makes a great science lesson too!
