OLS | New Jersey Blueberries

By Leslie Kedash

Around 50 million pounds of blueberries are produced by New Jersey farmers every year. On a recent road trip back from the shore, we stopped at two farm stands. Seems it’s blueberry time in New Jersey right now. We also learned that the blueberry is the State fruit of New Jersey and Hammonton the self proclaimed “Blueberry Capital of the World.”

It seems the sandy soil of the pine barrens of NJ is perfect for producing copious amounts of fat, juicy fruit, and is now doing so with a vengeance. We picked up 5 pints, 3 for a Father’s Day pie and two for general purposes. (And the fact that the price was right.)

Now, making a blueberry pie is a bit of an art. You’d better know your fruit- how sweet it is and especially, how much liquid you need to “jell.” This being my maiden voyage on the blue fruit pie sea, we’ll just say that the crust was great, the taste sublime and leave it at that (think blueberry soup). A perfect excuse to try another one! Here’s one recipe.