Picking and freezing blueberries
Please pick only fully ripe berries. Berries still showing traces of pink or red colour are not ripe and may taste sour. Blueberries do not ripen further after picking. Unripe berries should be left on the bush because then they will turn into ripe berries for you to pick when you bring your friends back in a couple of weeks time.
Your fresh berries should be cooled as soon as possible in the refrigerator where they will last in excellent condition for up to two weeks, if firm, plump and ripe to begin with. We have occasionally had fresh berries last up to four weeks in the refrigerator, but not with children in the house. Unless you are planning to use them fresh within two weeks it is best to freeze them immediately. Fresh frozen berries will maintain much of their freshness and flavour, but if you freeze tired old berries that’s what you get when you thaw them out again.
When putting BLUEBERRY PATCH blueberries in your freezer for the winter, make sure that you use them all up again within twelve months. While they will keep successfully for up to two years provided that your freezer is cold enough, it is far better to make room in your freezer to put away new stocks each season.