Content
Blueberries are swamp berries containing a large amount of useful substances. It has a slightly astringent sweetish taste, delicate texture and thin skin. You need to quickly sort through the blueberries so that they do not lose moisture and nutrients before processing or storage.
The berries can be kept at room temperature for no more than a day, in the refrigerator – for a week. In any case, even with short-term storage, ripe, already tender blueberries will become even softer and may leak. It must be sorted immediately after collection. Even after a day, it is unlikely that it will be possible to clean the fruits well without damaging them from twigs and leaves.
Rules for picking blueberries
There are currently no garden varieties of blueberries. It has not yet been introduced into cultivation and no breeding work has been carried out with the plant.
Blueberries are harvested at full ripeness from July to August. Once picked from the bush, it cannot ripen during storage. Only the blue-black fruits, which are easily removed from the bush, are suitable for food and treatment.
The collection is carried out in dry weather, waiting until the dew subsides. A berry picked wet does not store well and can quickly leak and become deformed.
Often, during mass collection, special combs, buckets with teeth, or other devices are used.This greatly harms the plant; next year there will be almost no berries in this place. In addition, fruits that have not yet had time to ripen, which will have to be rejected and thrown away, as well as a mass of leaves, twigs and other debris, also fall under the comb.
It is better to pick blueberries by hand. This will not only preserve the plant and next year’s harvest, but also make the process of clearing debris easier. It will be easier to sort the blueberries.
A few tips that may come in handy when picking blueberries:
- High-quality berries are blue-black, with smooth, intact skin. The larger they are, the sweeter they are. Small, hard fruits may taste sour.
- Delicate berries should be damaged as little as possible. When collecting them, it is better to use the container in which they will be transported, rather than pouring them from small containers to large ones. It is better to avoid cellophane bags altogether.
- Ripe blueberries are easy to pick.
- If you come across a twig with a lot of berries, both ready for harvest and those that have not had time to ripen, you can carefully hold it between your palms and gently pull. In this case, ripe fruits will remain in the hands, and green ones will remain on the plant.
- You should not wear sunglasses when picking blueberries - they will interfere with determining their degree of ripeness.
How to sort blueberries from leaves
Of course, you can pick blueberries one berry at a time, then there will be very little waste. But how long will it take to tear up a bucket or basket?
If you sort the fruits by hand, they will not only be cleared of leaves and branches, but will also remain intact.But during the period of mass blueberry ripening, this is an unacceptable waste of time. Therefore, berry pickers came up with other methods. They are not ideal, but they allow you to clear a large volume of fruit from debris without spending much effort. Some of the berries will be bruised, but they can be eaten fresh or processed.
Method 1
This method can be used to sort blueberries that are completely intended for immediate processing, freezing or fresh consumption. It is impossible to sell or hand over such berries to harvesters - they simply will not reach their destination intact - they will leak and become deformed.
Blueberries are placed in a wide bowl, significantly larger than the volume of the berries. Fill with cold water. In this case, all the debris floats up. You can remove it with your hands, or if the bathroom serves as a container, use a large slotted spoon, a sieve, or a colander. The berries are carefully transferred to a clean bowl. The procedure must be repeated several times if the contamination is severe.
The berries need to be processed immediately. If they must be stored for at least a day, this cleaning method should not be used.
Method 2
This is the fastest way. It is often used by pickers if blueberries immediately need to be taken to the market or to a procurement organization. In windy weather there is no need to even carry the berries home.
The container with blueberries is raised high and slowly poured into a clean bucket. The wind will help remove most of the debris. If the weather is calm, you can use a fan or even a hairdryer, but this is not possible at the collection site.
Method 3
This way you can sort through a small amount or a bucket of berries. If there are really a lot of blueberries, you should use another method.
Take a wide saucepan or a large dish with high sides and pour a handful of berries into it. Rocking the container, roll the blueberries along the bottom, and then pour them into a clean bowl. Most of the debris will remain on the dish. It is removed with a damp sponge and wiped with a dry towel. They continue to sort through the berries.
Method 4
This is one of the most common ways to quickly sort through a large amount of blueberries, leaving them dry. You will need:
- table;
- an old bag or other rough fabric that you don’t mind getting dirty;
- slats, sticks or old towels for forming sides;
- stool;
- clean dishes for berries.
Of course, professional assemblers have special tools at hand.
But you can sort blueberries for the first time like this:
- One side of the table is raised by placing something under the legs so that the slope is 20-30%.
- The surface is covered with burlap.
- Longitudinal sides are formed from sticks or old towels, tapering at the low edge of the table, so that the berries do not roll out to the sides.
- A stool and a clean bowl are placed under the improvised bell.
- Place a few handfuls of blueberries on the top of the table. Rolling down the rough fabric, the berries will leave all the debris on it and fall into the placed dish.
- From time to time, the burlap needs to be removed from the table and the plant debris should be shaken off.
This way you can quickly sort through a large number of marsh berries - blueberries, blueberries, lingonberries, cranberries.
Conclusion
You can quickly sort through blueberries only by damaging some of the berries.The amount of waste depends on how carefully the procedure is carried out. Final cleaning occurs during washing of the berries; this should be done immediately before processing or consuming blueberries.
