Cookbook author Linda Dannenberg produced a whole batch of recipes that use blueberries in ways you might not have considered: butter, borscht and barbecue sauce among them. She even offers a recipe for a blueberry martini in her book, True Blueberry : Delicious Recipes for Every Meal," written after she began to see blueberries used in savory recipes during her travels in France and in the Caribbean.
"I love blueberries myself and I never found enough recipes to use all the blueberries I bought in the summer," said Dannenberg from her home in Westchester County, N.Y.
Of all the recipes in the book, the one for blueberry steak sauce was the biggest hit. "I had a barbecue and invited my neighbors. They were blown away by it. They wanted me to bottle it," Dannenberg said.
It surprised Dannenberg how well the acid-sweetness of blueberries worked in savory recipes. "Their character changes when you add a little spice and a little heat."
Their versatility makes blueberries popular with gardeners.
Lauren Kitch of Valley View Farms in Cockeysville said the lawn and garden center sold out of blueberry bushes quickly this spring, and had to order more of the Jersey Blue, Blue Jay, Blue Crop and Blue Ray varieties, which are about 1 1/2 feet tall and sell for about $25 each.
These cultivars, which differ from wild blueberries in height and berry size, will produce berries in about three years. (The flowers should be pinched back the first two years to encourage root strength and growth.)
Although cross-pollination isn't required, it can produce bigger and more abundant berries, so casual growers, like Kitch, who has eight bushes in her yard, should plant more than one.
"They are very easy to grow," said Kitch. "They like our acid soil."
Freed said the soil pH needs to be tested before planting and should be low, about 4.5. Add sulfur or aluminum sulfate if needed, he said.
"And you should plant them in well-drained soil," he said. "The plant doesn't like to sit in water, but it never wants to dry out, either."
Freed also suggests adding organic matter to the soil when planting blueberry bushes - peat moss or compost.
It is important to cover the bushes with netting, or the birds will beat you to your harvest. But consider that the birds also can get caught in that netting, as can some other unwelcome visitors. Kressen's husband, Parker, untangled a pair of very large rat snakes last year.
