Ode to the Blueberry

When we first bought our house I was so excited to find out that we had blueberry bushes in our backyard. Then came the Late Great Freeze of 2007 and it nearly killed our bushes. We only got a handful of blueberries, so I basically just let the kiddos pick them and eat them right there. This year, however, I have been fervently watching over the bushes ever since the first buds appeared. And I've threatened my family if they pick them without putting them directly in a bucket and bring them in to me. I've been dreaming of blueberry pies, blueberry waffles, blueberry muffins, blueberries in my salads....It's been such an interesting process to watch that I've been taking pictures of the different stages of these delightful little berries:


First the bushes have these tiny clusters of white blooms. We enjoyed watching the bees passionately pollinate like crazy for weeks:

Then the little blooms begin to get rounder and actually close up toward the tips:
They just close up completely and become the berry. They're pale green and pink at first:
It seems like it takes forever for them to ripen:

But finally they do!! Last week we all got busy picking them, because they were ripening so fast:

I was so proud of our first bowlful. Aren't they beautiful?!: