Whidbey U-Pick Blueberries (July Sunset Magazine)

August 5, 2006 9:35 AM

U-Pick blueberries on Whidbey Island: I read the the July Sunset magazine (the one with the "Perfect Burgers" cover) in my dentist's office last week. Near the beginning of the issue was a mention of an excursion to Whidbey Island to visit two U-Pick blueberry farms (this may have only been in the Northwest version of Sunset). I don't have the magazine, and I can't find it on Sunset's web site, nor has my googling been successful in finding the farms.

If you have the issue handy (or just happen to know where the blueberry farms are on Whidbey), I'd much appreciate what Sunset said about the names of the farms and their locations.

posted by ShooBoo to Travel & Transportation (6 answers total)

Do you know which edition it was? I just checked the Northern California edition, and found nothing.

(Sunset puts out like 4 regional editions.)
posted by hammurderer at 10:37 AM on August 5, 2006

Best answer: I have this issue. Here are the details:

Crescent Harbor Blueberry Farm
2726 Laurel Lane, Oak Harbor
[phone]

Bonnie's Blues
1.5 miles off State 20, Oak Harbor
[phone]
posted by JasonSch at 11:16 AM on August 5, 2006

Response by poster: Thanks JasonSch!
posted by ShooBoo at 12:16 PM on August 5, 2006

I have pleasant memories of picking blueberries (one for me one for the bucket, two for me one for the bucket, fuck it, twenty for me one for the bucket) as a child. Blueberries make a fine meal all on their own. Lord knows how much pesticide I ingested by eating them without washing, but man they are so incredibly succulent right off the bush. It is a flavor orgasm.
posted by caddis at 5:47 PM on August 5, 2006

I am absolutely, horrifically addicted to blueberries. We have just brought 40lbs of fresh blueberries into the house, to be frozen for winter. I swear to god that this is no word of a lie: I will eat 10lbs of them before the week is out. I ate at least six cups of them this past thirty hours, and I shall continue to consume them at that vociferous rate. Especially as I've discovered that as the berries hit the near-frozen state they become even more delectable. Flavour orgasm? Hell, yes, for days on end.

Having spent many an hour whilst backpacking grazing on blueberries on-trail (part of my inspired bear abatement program, just doing my part to make the trail safer!), I think I can authoritatively make this claim:

Save yourself the bother of picking. The berries are absolutely delicious whether they're fresh-picked by hand, or harvested by machine. In the prime of berry season, at least in my neighbourhood, the Fraser Valley-grown commercial berries are refrigerated within minutes of harvesting, and remain refrigerated until I pick them up at the Farmer's Market. As a result, the wild blueberries and commercial berries are pretty much equally delicious.
posted by five fresh fish at 10:15 AM on August 6, 2006

If you go hike at the Tonga Ridge/Sawyer Pass, you can u-pick all the blueberries in the world, for absolutely free. The plant density is incredible, it is almost like a commercial operation. As a bonus, you might see some other berry pickers who are not human - like bears.
posted by blindcarboncopy at 10:53 PM on August 7, 2006