Chicago is known as a blues town. This summer, I’m experiencing a different twist on local blues. I’ve mentioned numerous times that one of my favorite parts of summer is the fresh produce – whether it’s attempting to grow a few things on my deck or my weekly treks the farmer’s market on Saturday morning. This summer, I’ve added another fresh produce option into the Artisan Kitchen. Earlier this summer, I came across a new take on a CSA share – the opportunity to “own” a blueberry bush for the summer & then go pick the berries.

Joe’s Blues is a “new” farm of 50 year old Jersey blueberry bushes in Bangor , MI. In addition to being able to order cases of blueberries, you can own a blueberry bush for the summer and then come pick at least 12 pounds from your bush during berry season.

I knew that I didn’t have the freezer space for all the berries so I invited my friend Elaine to join me in owning the blueberry bush. We looked forward to a day trip later this summer to load up on berries. A couple of weeks ago, the farm emailed me with a picture of the blueberry bush that had been tagged as mine.

This past Saturday, it was time to go harvest our blueberries. It was a beautiful day for a road trip! A little over 2 hours after leaving Chicago, we were meeting Joe and Frank and walked towards my blueberry bush.

In no time at all, Elaine & I had filled our buckets with the sweetest blueberries we’ve ever tasted. We boxed them into 17 pint clamshells to bring home with us. We could have gone back out for some more from the bush but as it is, we have quite a lot to process. Many blueberries will be frozen to enjoy when summer days are a distant memory during winter. And in the coming weeks I’m sure I’ll be trying all sorts of blueberry creations. In the interim, a bowl of “my own” blueberries is about the sweetest snack around!