>hated the taste of blueberries
>end up working and living in a Maine park for half the year
>pick and eat some blueberries because why not
>fucking amazing
>even when they are in season store bought ones taste like ass
>even the 'organic' ones or ones from the roadside stalls that sell vegetables taste like ass
Why? And is there any foods you like better to pick yourself?
>Why?
Welcome to the importance of freshness, and wild-grown rather than "farmed".
>>And is there any foods you like better to pick yourself?
In an ideal world, all of them. But the only things I have ready access to get wild are mushrooms, raspberries, and various herbs that I planted out back.
I grew up in Maine, if you're getting the small berries found in higher elevations (you're in a Maine park so I assume there were mountains), they are pretty much a different breed. Farmers often select for traits other than just taste (durability, size, etc.), so you get different flavors in wild fruit.
> Wild mushrooms
seem fun to pick yourself but i really wouldn't know where to start safely picking them.
iktf. i went mushroom picking with my father when i was a little kid and could sometimes not tell the difference between good and bad ones. i thought to get myself a book about mushrooms and just head out to the woods to try and find the differences now that i'm older
Youve been eating trash High bush blueberrys. Maine can grow tasty native low bush variety.
Closet actual mountain is a few miles a way if that counts, but its more southern touristy-Maine.
Are high bushes not native? I was told by someone some were different 'breeds'. There are some low bushes and then there's some that are basically trees. Most bushes had dull and dark colored berries rather than my OP pic but they weren't black berries. Some were more vibrant but I don't remember which bush had which since it's been too many months.
When I go back this year I'm going to have to remember to take photos to see if I can get a solid ID because I want to see if I can grow that specific variety. I missed out on this for far too long.
Blueberries taste like soap, even from my mom's organic garden
The white stuff on the outside bothers me.
No matter what you do, they seem "unclean".
However, they are a top tier addition to pancakes and muffins.
Wild blueberries have a much higher sugar content than domesticated blueberries. They tend to be smaller and obviously have seeds.
i drove from Amherst MA to Cutler Maine to hike and God damn I loved pulling over on the empty interstate and just grabbing handfuls of berries
Top tier state too bad the women are garbage
fat
Forgot to reply im a third year PhD in mycology and go mushroom hunting way too often.
desu it helps if you're just interested in identifying mushrooms in general and not just the edible ones. The same ones pop up every year in the same spot so once you know it you know it.
Chicken of the woods is v common on the east coast and is tasty (don't pick if it's on hemlock). that's a good one to start with
It's a great way to be kill if you get something wrong, like Chris McCandless, the World's Wrongest Idiot™
But user is totally right about freshness. I'm hella new at gardening and only had a few things going this summer and fall, but they were tasty as hell.
This is very true. Before I moved near a pick your own farm, I thought I hated blueberries. Fresh picked are a completely different fruit - bursting with flavor and juicy as hell. We pick around 25 gallons every year and I make blueberry wine and we freeze the rest to have with morning granola.
Another nice thing is that down here in the south they don't have any insect pests that attack them so no one uses insecticides. Really a phenomenal fruit.
>Chris McCandless, the World's Wrongest Idiot™
had me laffin, didn't even know about him before
Mainah here.
Aside from factors of freshness and growing conditions the big thing that affects quality is the type of plant. There are two main categories of blueberries; lowbush, or "wild", blueberries which have smaller but much more flavorful berries, and highbush blueberries which are easier to harvest and produce bigger but blander berries. There are different varieties and hybrids but that's basically the scale you're working with.
Yeah, the very best ones are from our rocky mountain tops and sun-warmed.
I'm pretty sure they don't actually possess saponins which are what cause a soapy taste in some plants.
>The white stuff on the outside
wut
Is there a farming/homesteading board on here?
/an/ has lots of gardening threads
/out/ has /homegrowmen/ still if I'm not mistaken. Haven't been there in ages
That fucking weird white powdery substance on the skins. Don't tell me you haven't seen this before?
Any resources you can recommend ? Maine, northeasts etc
You have to try making some jelly, blackberry jelly is the SHIT if you can find some blackberry bushes.
Its yeast.
please don't tell people to flood that beautiful board with their stupidity
>Chris McCandless
Holy shit what a faggot I forgot he died alone
Fucking good
Anyway Mainefag here - I grew up near a big area in which wild blueberries grew. Personally I think our potatoes make better products, Cold River vodka is GOAT, but I don't really like berries.
Another user said yeast and I'm inclined to agree with him but I must agree with the other Mainah heah and ask you "wut"
It was zucchini for me, whenever I buy it from the grocery it's soft and rubbery as shit, I thought that's what they were supposed to be like and I hated them for a long time.
Turns out when you get them fresh or grow them yourself they're fucking amazing, who knew