How to Harvest & Store Blueberries

Hi this is Yolanda Vanveen and in this segment we're going to talk about how to harvest and store blueberries. Blueberries are such a treat when they're in season, it's always towards the end of the summer, early fall and I just can't get enough of them, I just love blueberries. But they never last forever so I want to keep them and so that I can use them through the winters. So here's a few tricks. So first of all when the blueberries are maturing on the vines, they're like a little bush and then they'll make blueberries all over. Then they'll turn a blue color but at that point don't pick them quite yet. Give them some time to sweeten up and to plump up. So wait at least a week to two weeks after they turn blue to actually pick them because that way they'll sweeten up. Now especially if there's nice sunny days they'll sweeten up quicker then if it's shady and cold out. So the warmer it is, the quicker that they will ripen. And as soon as they got to the point where if you barely tap them they'll fall right off the vine, that's the time that they're ready to pick. So if they're really clinging onto the vines still, then they're not ready to harvest quite yet. So if you find a clump of blueberries you barely tap them and some fall off, then you know it's ready and you can just barely touch them and they should fall right off. At that point I like to bring them in the house and put them in water and wash them real well so that they actually hydrate because sometimes they get a little dried out in the heat of the summer. And then they'll get really clean and you're washing off any dust that might be on them. And once you've washed them, you can put them, as long as you put them in a single layer, they do better than if you pack them on top of each other. And you can store them in the refrigerator for three weeks, even a month and they'll stay really well. And if it's longer than that, I like to freeze them and the best way to freeze them is at one layer. So if you just keep them in small little layers in a bag and freeze them that way, then they will store for months, even years and taste really delightful through the winter.