# blueberries



## swampbuck (Dec 23, 2004)

blueberries are prime for picking right now. I picked 5 gal. yesterday in about half an hour with my hand rake. does anyone else here use a rake? I average about 1/2-1 hour per 5 gal. depending on the patch, I put up all my family can eat in just a few trips. its amazing that something that tastes so good is so good for you. if anyones interested in a rake I can pass along the mfg. adress in halifax.


----------



## WILDCATWICK (Mar 11, 2002)

No doubt. They were every where. WE were in the Pigeon River State park area and you couldn't help but stumble on these great tasting treats!


----------



## BarryPatch (Jul 21, 2004)

Rake? Are they low bush cultivars? I just pull these off by the hanfull .


----------



## Xstream Outfitters (May 4, 2003)

Please pass along the mfg. info and your technique as I have never heard of doing this before.

Thanks.



swampbuck said:


> blueberries are prime for picking right now. I picked 5 gal. yesterday in about half an hour with my hand rake. does anyone else here use a rake? I average about 1/2-1 hour per 5 gal. depending on the patch, I put up all my family can eat in just a few trips. its amazing that something that tastes so good is so good for you. if anyones interested in a rake I can pass along the mfg. adress in halifax.


----------



## Yukon_45 (Sep 21, 2004)

isnt using rakes or other picking devices illegal?


----------



## James Dymond (Feb 23, 2002)

I always thought that pickers were not allowed also, I am waiting for the answer from ask the DNRl

Jim


----------



## bogwalker (Aug 5, 2002)

Hey...when I was a kid(waaay back) hand rakes were in wide use but Im pretty sure they were determined to be too destructive to the plants and made illegal.Better check and make sure.


----------



## swampbuck (Dec 23, 2004)

as far as legal I posted that question to boer on the legal forum last fall and he said there was no law there for it is legal. I had asked about this several years ago at the regional office with the same responce.the only law is that you cant commercialy harvest them.

the berries I pick are wild blueberrys the ones in the photo are the domestic variety, much bigger plant . never tried it on those,I dont know how it would work, I wouldnt want that kind of blueberry anyways (yuk !!)

heres a link to what it looks like you just rake it through the plant, I find that depending on how good the patch is I get a 5 gal.bucket in 1/2 to 1 hour of course you get some leaves and green ones. what I do is pour them in front of a box fan to blow out the leaves and put them in a sink of cold water the green ones will float so you can skim them off, then drain the water, bag and freeze
out of a 5 gal bucket I probably loose 2 qts to cleaning
http://www.machiasblueberry.com/blueberries.html

as far as the claim that they damage the plants, if they did the farmers wouldnt use them, those plant are theyre livelyhood.

heres the adress for where I got mine its been several years I think it was about $35 then you might try to contact them first, I also have a homemade wooden one I bought on ebay it has a larger catch pan which is good but the teeth dont have as much spring still works good though, the commercial one is slightly better imo

I got mine out, the address sticker has faded all I can dread is liberty enterprises ltd., amherst,nova scotia,ca. phone#(902)607-5002

I am going out tommorow 1 more bucket for my family and 1 to share with my older freinds who cant get out there anymore then I am set until next year.


----------



## Dave49749 (Mar 31, 2005)

We live in the Indian River area and the Blue berries have been poor; a lack of rain has really made an impact. We are really bummed as last year they were never ending.

Also we have been searching fro a rake since I read about them in an issue of Michigan Out of doors 5-6 years ago.


----------



## Banditto (Jun 9, 2000)

I was with a guy last weekend who was amazed at how good the blueberries were. And how high the plants were, stretching above out heads... 

I looked at the plant and said, those aren't blue berries. Well sure they are, uh no they're not. For the longest time he has been calling these berries blueberries--but they were huckleberries. Still a nice crop of huckleberries but a little seedier than blueberries.


----------



## Xstream Outfitters (May 4, 2003)

No berries in Indian River? I am very surprised. You should head down to Vanderbilt ..... LOTS down there.

As for the blueberries/huckleberries .... I guess I should have stated that I have been finding both. I usually just generalize however.


----------



## James Dymond (Feb 23, 2002)

Got reply back yesterday from ask the DNR. My question are blueberry pickers/ rakes legal to use in Mich.
Response: (Jaqueline Waber) Not on state land.
Jim


----------



## Linda G. (Mar 28, 2002)

Some areas of the northern lower went as long as 6 weeks without a drop of rain in July, that was the case here in Antrim, the blueberries were very poor in most areas. In others, there was just enough rain to maintain the berries, I guess, but they were small for the most part. 

But in the last couple of weeks we've had some astounding rains-more than enough to produce a bumper blackberry crop, from what I'm hearing out there. The black caps are just getting going now.


----------



## Banditto (Jun 9, 2000)

Linda the patches I pick had ripe sun loving variety of black berries 2-3 weeks ago. They usually only have 10-20 large 1"+ fruit on each plant and the plants are low to the ground. The variety that likes the semi-sunny is loaded with berries that are due to be ripe maybe 1-2 more weeks and the fruit is slightly smaller than the other variety. 

The one plant that sticks out in my mind must have several gallons of fruit--so that is one plant out of acres and acres. It's basically pick until your tired of it.


----------



## Rat Fink (Feb 20, 2001)

Linda G. said:


> Some areas of the northern lower went as long as 6 weeks without a drop of rain in July, that was the case here in Antrim, the blueberries were very poor in most areas. In others, there was just enough rain to maintain the berries, I guess, but they were small for the most part.
> 
> But in the last couple of weeks we've had some astounding rains-more than enough to produce a bumper blackberry crop, from what I'm hearing out there. The black caps are just getting going now.



Since when did we get 6 weeks in July? :lol:


----------



## Linda G. (Mar 28, 2002)

guess, since you want me to be exact, Rat, that I should have said a little the last week of June, a little on the 4th of July, (enough to ruin some fireworks for people), none after that until the first week of August. That's 6 weeks. 

Because the ground takes longer to warm up here due to the snowcover in the winter, it takes a week to two weeks longer for fruits and vegetables to ripen up here than it does in most other areas except for some parts of the UP. It's pretty interesting to see just how much difference there can be between Grayling and Mancelona, or Elk Rapids and Central Lake, not very far apart, but the winters are much worse here, longer and snowier.

Found some nice big green acorns on the ground tonight, just a few, not a lot, which means Mother Nature didn't drop them during the drought, so we're in good shape now. We've had quite a bit of rain in the last couple of weeks and more forecast for this weekend.


----------

