Blueberries for Sal

It's that time of year! July cannot pass without some blueberry fun. I was determined to hit the blueberry fields yesterday and I needed to set the mood. I grabbed Blueberries for Sal out of the Before Five in a Row box and I gathered a few around...of course when this book comes out the kids drop what they are doing and listen. Even E10, who was listening to music, took off his headphones and enjoyed the story. With the mood properly set, we set off to find the blueberries!

I started the morning with a reading of this book- Blueberries for Sal.
Once I finished reading Blueberries for Sal, J4 asked for the "one that goes with it". Of course he was talking about One Morning in Maine. We love both of these stories dearly and it is joy to read them over and over and over. In fact, there are several more Robert McCloskey books that are FIAR books. He is one of our favorite authors.
The blueberries are amazing this year! Every bush was teaming with them with more to ripen on each one. I am seriously considering some blueberry bushes for our yard. Reportedly, they make a great bush for the yard and you get blueberries as a bonus.

Miles and miles of blueberry bushes...in every direction.

R9 was teamed up with J4 as they scoured the bushes for berries. Turns out that J4 is a serious picker. He really loved using his own tin pail. I had gotten it from the Target dollar aisle earlier this spring when all the gardening stuff was there.

This was J4's first time really picking. All the kids enjoyed it this year (it helped that the picking was so easy!) and we talked about the book while we picked. They decided we were playing out the story right down to a baby boy walking up and grabbing berries out of J4's pail!

Kerplink! Kerplank! Kerplunk!

We picked 14 lbs of blueberries and there was not one complaint the whole time!

We ended the day with a blueberry crumble. Traditions are fun. Each July we spend time on Blueberry Hill with little Sal and her mother. We do blueberry and bear crafts, we pick blueberries, freeze them, and make a fresh blueberry treat.

Blueberry Crumble (from Fruit: Fresh, Fun Fabulous a MOPS cookbook compiled by Marybeth Lagerborg):

• 3 c berries (blackberries, raspberries, or blueberries)
• 2/3 c packed brown sugar
• 1/2 c flour
• 2/3 c quick-cooking oats
• 1/3 c butter or margarine, melted (I used Smart Balance)
• 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt

Directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spread berries in a lightly greased square 8x8x2 inch baking dish. (I used my square PC stone baker) Mix remaining ingredients and sprinkle over berries. Bake for 20 minutes or until topping is light brown and berries are hot. Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream if desired. We surely did have the vanilla ice cream!

For next week I have more ideas for blueberry fun. I will share them in another post.