Personal gardening this year is booming. More and more people
are realizing that they can control what additives or chemicals
are put into their food supply. Besides the nutritional and health
benefits, gardening is just plain fun. The work can be tedious and
tiring, but the rewards are in the harvest - you experience a thrill
during the "growing" season as your menu plans include "just picked"
and couldn't be any fresher fruits, vegetables, and herbs. Home grown
flowers adorn your table and even children can pick and enjoy tossing
a sun warmed cherry tomato into their mouths, instead of candy or
other sugar-laden treats.

There is one fruit that can be grown with a lot of success wherever you
might live. In fact, certain varieties can even be grown in containers on
a patio, porch, or deck. Blueberries have come into their own because
of the beneficial properties they contain. You can find "wild" blueberries
in forests and along waysides when you go camping, hiking, or fishing.
These are tasty morsels that will get your inspiration headed to pies, tarts,
cereal toppers, french toast, etc.

In the local stores, they can run up to $5.00 a pint when the season is early.
However, if you freeze your bounty from one year to the next - and they do
freeze beautifully - you can feature "blueberries" at your Easter celebrations.
If you choose the early or mid-blooming varieties, you will have edible blue-
berries quicker, to add to breakfast, dinner, and even picnics.

Blueberries thrive in acidic soil, much like azaleas, and rhododendrons. A quick
trick if your soil may not be just perfect, add your used morning coffee grounds
to the base of your blueberry plants and you will see them thrive and blossom
beautifully. Low bush blueberry plants make excellent and very edible land-
scaping plants. They are one of nature's "gorgeous" members - you will be very
impressed.

You can purchase your blueberry plants from reliable nurseries or through garden
catalogs, but now is the best time to order them. Read the planting instructions
carefully, and remember, if you care for your plant, it will last many, many years.
They are definitely a "keeper" and will reward your choice with luscious, juicy, deep
blue berries that enliven many recipes.

Blueberries are one of the top sources of antioxidants, which are translated into cancer
prevention and a reduction in cell damage in your body. It has also been studied as to
blueberries being rich sources of anthocyanins that help ward off heart attacks and can
even slow macular degeneration. Blueberries contain vitamin C and are about 40 calories
for an entire cup of these berries. They taste great, are nature sweetened, and they add
lunch bucket enjoyment to carry lunches or even snack choices for car trips and extra
energy when you are hiking or walking in your favorite park or forest area.

Blueberries are fun, healthy, and even kids won't turn them down. Fresh off the bush or
in a bowl of cereal, you have a berry that delivers what today's families can't find in
processed or packaged foods - freshness, easy to grow, and a delight to serve to family
and friends.

It's almost blueberry time - what are you waiting for?
Something to think about
©Arleen M. Kaptur
March, 2009