Blueberry Picking at Foxbrier Farms!
June 21st, 2010
This Saturday, I drove about 30 minutes south of the Atlanta airport to farm country. Endless stretches of flat land and a 4-lane divided highway: I couldn’t believe that just south of the busiest airport in the world, one could find such quietude.
I spent the day with farm owner Nancy Boe, Elegant Attic co-owner Nora Macarro, and a few of their friends; picking blueberries. Unfortunately for those hoping for a simple, peaceful berry picking experience… my brain, which I cannot turn off, was racing 100 miles a minute-and I flooded Nancy with blueberry questions. Thus, I learned a lot about blueberries, and thought I’d pass the info along:
1. Bigger is better. No surprise there. I’ll spare you the conversations that followed that factoid.
2. You should not wash blueberries. The water makes them soggy. If they’re the store bought, non-organic kind (I’ve become quite the snob) you can wash them the second before you eat them, but not a second sooner!
3. Bees like blueberries, so if you are deathly allergic to them, (like me), it is rude to show up in shorts and a t-shirt, with no antihistamine and an expired epipen in your car. It makes people very nervous.
4. There are different species of blueberries, and they taste different! The Boes grow 3 different species, and each species is grown in its own row. When I announced my preferred species, Nancy mentioned that Aria-an Atlantan restaurant that tops the charts in food, service and ambiance-was currently serving that blueberry in the restaurant. Coincidentally, I had been to Aria 2 days before, and ordered a toasted lemon pound cake with blueberries for dessert! So, I was eating the same blueberries on Thursday night as I was on Saturday. Such a small world.
Some other things I learned about Foxbrier: it houses rescue horses (some who have gained 300 pounds since living at FoxBrier).
And, one more thing… as for running the blueberry business… the Boes daughter, Kirstin, is in charge! She’s in college, and works on the blueberry farm during the summer, running the entire operation. Oh! Remember Sweetwater’s most recent, seasonal winter ale? Well, the blueberries they used for that beer came from Foxbrier!
Ashley