They look awesome Ed. Congratulations.

10-4 Ed, it feels good doesnt it??? Keep it up man!!!!

Congratulations!

It's like one of your kids getting there 1st job.

All of those years of supporting them and now they are starting to produce on their own.

Definitely a GOOD feeling.

Hmm, wonder how long til my Bluecrop produce like that (got 2 berries off 1 bush and 1 off the other, planted from 2 gal pots last year so I don't know how old they are)?

Look great, loaded like my great-uncle's that have been there for decades!

(PS My Patriots are producing a lot for such small plants, covered them with sheer curtains to keep the birds out and let them ripen to black and they are almost as good as my Uncle Walt's, and some of his are almost as good as my wild ones.)

Thanks. Yeah, it's one of those, "Be careful what you wish for" things. Now we already have enough blueberry jam for 2 years. Trying to figure out what to do with the rest.

Have them covered with tulle to discourage the birds and haven't lost a berry "yet."

Freeze them. I've got gallons frozen, haven't made the jam/syrup/butter yet but soon. Uncle Walt's freezer is full too - how many berries can a 100-yr old widower eat ;-)?

(I had to convince him tonight that he really needed to throw out a pint of moldy raspberries, he has more in the freezer, he wanted to "just pick out the bad ones"! He still had a 5-quart bucket of blueberries I picked for him last week in the fridge so I threw those in quart bags in the freezer for him too.)

Make blueberry buckle, muffins, ice cream...?

Actually, the jars take up less space than the frozen berries, and don't require electricity to store, so if you can make syrup or something that's a better long-term solution.

You can always donate them to a food pantry or nursing home. Or a church for a "blueberry supper" (lots of those going on around here right now).

How many blueberry bushes do you have?

Here is a link that might be useful: Blueberry buckle recipe on my blog

I like to take the berries and cook them down and strain in to a concentrated syrup.

Thanks for the suggestions.

ajsmama, we only have 7 bushes. I think I've created a monster. Two of them are really putting out now, but next year a couple of the others should join the club.

Ive been using frozen blues in ceral every moring for breakfast. Also mashing them up with ice cream is really tasty. The wife is going to attempt a batch of blueberry wine soon. Already have enough jam for several years aswell. The best way to enjoy them, so my wife says, is blueberry martini. Take half a cup to a cup of blueberries and mash them up. Put into a shaker with ice and add one shot simple syrup, one shot sweet and sour, one shot blue curacao and 2-3 shots smirnoff blueberry vodka. Shake and pour in martini glass with sugar lining and throw a couple berries in the glass. It really is a special drink, one of a kind and the wife gets fiesty after a few of those!!!:-)