Washington Creek

Looks like the motherload of them!

There were plenty. I think I found myself a good spot to pick every year. No one really out there.

Yummy blueberries...just watch out for bears....they like 'em too, GT! I have never tasted blueberries that are as nice as the ones we would get in B.C. I don't know what they do to them over here in the UK but they just somehow taste bland and sometimes woody.

That was a good find....and the river/scenery is beautiful.

Thanks for the advice and comment Wlass. :-) We have more than our share of bears. I always sing or something when I'm out there. If they know someone is coming, they often just go a different way, well unless your invading their berry patch.

We probably have a very similar variety of blueberry here to those found in BC. Some places there get very cold like we do. That is probably the reason for the poor blueberries there in UK. Most varieties require a good winter freeze to really get a nice bunch of berries, so probably improves the flavor to get a good freeze as well. I've been hearing that the UK crop this year has been heavy due to last winter, wonder if they are sweeter too.

I have seen blackberries as I wander here in N. Wales...no blueberries...

Blueberries are an all-american fruit. There would be only imported and cultivated varieties found there Cat. I wouldn't mind wandering into a blackberry bramble though. Thats not something you would see here.

GT..you should come and visit my back 40.....I'm still trying to rid my space of blackberry vines! They are very resistant to extinction!!! I didn't get any fruit from them this year as we had zapped them with weed killer and/or chopped the branches to get ready for developing our weed patch to a nice garden...it's a job in progress!

I bought some frozen blueberries in our Tesco a few weeks back to treat the family to blueberry crumble and they were so woody and tasteless....so disappointing. They are expensive to buy fresh here....especially if I want them for a pie....maybe I'm just spoiled from my B.C. blueberries. lol

Blackberry is one tough bugger. I do hope you can get it out of there, especially if they aren't bearing. I looked through your photos, you've really got some work ahead, but it will be so worth it once the new garden starts going in. And I'm positive you were spoiled with BC blueberries. We have expensive Oregon blueberries fresh at the market here too, and they just don't have the flavor of these little wonders.

There is nothing that compares to the wild huckleberries or blueberries ..they grow in the Olympic Mts. on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State and in the south in the Mt.s as well..wonderful..There is a very large domesticated field in southern Washington State where my children and I used to go to pick blueberries either for money for school clothes or for use...lol...they were really nice..but the wilds have it over them for flavor by far...

Catfinch...you've sparked summer memories for me :) We had a huckleberry bush at our front gate on Bowen Island and used to go out picking them (and salmonberries, blackberries too) and it's been such a long time I had forgotten how nice it was to ramble amongst the lanes and undergrowth collecting....and eating YUM, YUM.

I revisited the Island 4 yrs. ago and although we no longer own the property the stump with it's huckleberry bush was still there! I have since seen it on google maps too! lol Thanks for the memories.

Whistonlass...I have a very dear friend whose family has had property on Bowen Island for years! It is very lovely there! :o)

My grandfather was one of the pioneer settlers on Bowen Island and I still have cousins living on the Island. I was so upset when my dad sold up our property and none of us kids could afford to purchase it. It's such a changed place now. I have some lovely recent photos taken there just over 3 yrs. ago when I went back to attend my sister's memorial service and spread her ashes.

I loved my childhood on Bowen...so idyllic. Lovely to "meet" someone who knows Bowen....maybe I'd know your friends too, Catfinch?

Have sent you a pm with the name of the friend.. :o)

Ta....received.

Wonderful view Greenthumb!

Thank you. 20 miles from town and 60 miles to the next town, Livingood. Really out there. This is about where the sight of homes here and there ends and the real wilderness begins.