Secrets from the Blueberry Patch

Great rewards come with a little patience.

Recipe for Blueberry Crumble Bars - Tides of Tradition Cookbook recipe for members (see below)

C’mon into my corner of the South, the land of gracious plenty where friendly folk say “hello,” everyone is darlin, and someone’s heart is always bein’ blessed.

That’s the way it is when you visit Dempsey Farms, St. Helena Island. I was blessed beyond my wildest dreams on my visit this week. The tomatoes were perfectly ripe, and the cucumbers, eggplant, corn, squash, and melons had just come in from the fields that morning. I left with two baskets overflowing and dreams of making a tomato sandwich slathered with Duke’s mayonnaise as soon as I arrived back home.

In the past few days, I’ve made several great cucumber and tomato salads, the squash casserole from my 80s recipe collection ( a favorite at every potluck dinner), a cheesy eggplant casserole, and had fresh melon every day for breakfast. Ah, life is pretty darn good.

But I haven’t told you about the blueberries. As I was checking out, basket after basket of fresh berries were right there on the counter. I didn’t have to hike up the side of a mountain to pick them, slide down the hill on a muddy slope, get bitten by a copperhead - or swat a single misquito or no-see-um. No more walking through a blueberry patch while the South Carolina sun was hot enough to melt the tar on the sidewalk out front. All I had to do was place them in a basket and head to my air-conditioned car.

Picking blueberries with my granddaughter goes back to my time living in North Carolina. There was a patch on the way out of Cooleemee and just off the road heading to Hickory. We’d go out together with our plastic ice cream buckets to find the ripe ones. Blueberries don’t ripen once they are picked from the bush, so it takes patience to find the dark blue ones. Some blueberries in a cluster might be ripe and some not so ripe, so it took patience to separate the ripe berries from the stem and leave the rest for later.

At the far end of the patch were several bushes they called the “big blues.” They were the easiest to pick for some reason, and the ripe berries gently separated themselves from the stems almost effortlessly. I wondered why they didn’t plant all “big blues.” It was years later that I learned that a patch needs multiple varieties so the plants can cross-pollinate. Without diversity, a blueberry patch becomes stagnant.

The lessons learned in the patch resonate far beyond the berries themselves; they can be applied to our lives, particularly when it comes to cultivating patience.

In South Carolina, the blueberry season runs from mid-June until late July, making it a fleeting window of opportunity. Any berries that linger into August will dry up under the oppressive heat. Now is the time to indulge in the sweet rewards of summer. So grab a straw hat to shield yourself from the sun, and prepare to experience the joy of picking. Imagine the delight of crafting cobblers, pies, jams, crumbles, and crisps—the very essence of summer traditions that you will cherish for years to come.

One prized recipe I can’t wait to share comes from my friend, the late Nathalie Dupree, a celebrated Southern chef. In Charleston, she was known as the Queen of Southern cooking.

I arrived early at her charming home on Queen Street in Charleston, eager to witness her culinary magic as she prepared a delightful dish for a gathering that evening in honor of the illustrious cookbook author Anne Byrne. Nathalie, known for her aversion to sweltering kitchens during the peak of a Charleston summer, cleverly dubbed this creation her “Lazy Girl Cobbler.” On that particular afternoon, she utilized a medley of blueberries and raspberries, although I can assure you it’s just as wonderful when made with juicy peaches.

This recipe has become a beloved staple that perfectly captures the spirit of summer and is a testament to the simplicity and beauty of seasonal ingredients.

Recipes for Blueberry Crumble Bars and Lazy Girl Cobbler are part of the Tides of Tradition cookbook club for members and paid subscribers. Everyone is welcome. Just hit Subscribe and join the fun.