MAINE’S WILD BLUEBERRY HISTORY

 

• BLUEBERRIES DEVELOPED THEIR ROOTS IN MAINE’S HIGH ACIDIC SOILS ABOUT 14,000 YEARS AGO. THEY ARE NOT CULTIVATED OR PLANTED. THEY ARE PART OF THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT.

 

• NATIVE AMERICANS DISCOVERED HOW TO USE BLUEBERRIES IN THEIR DIETS AND BELIEVED THEY HAD HEALING POWERS. TODAY WE KNOW THEY HAVE THE HIGHEST AMOUNT OF BENEFICIAL
ANTIOXIDANTS OF ANY OF THE FRUITS AND VEGETABLES TESTED.

 

• EARLY EUROPEAN SETTLERS LEARNED FROM NATIVE AMERICANS HOW TO PRUNE BLUEBERRY PLANTS TO PRODUCE HIGHER YIELDS OF BLUEBERRY FRUIT. THEY ALSO LEARNED HOW TO DEHYDRATE, OR DRY, BLUEBERRIES FOR USE ALL YEAR LONG.

 

• DURING THE CIVIL WAR, MAINE’S SARDINE CANNING FACILITIES TURNED INTO BLUEBERRY CANNING FACTORIES. THERE WAS A NEED TO PROVIDE FRUIT FOR THE UNION TROOPS TO PREVENT SCURVY

(A DISEASE THAT IS CAUSED FROM A LACK OF CERTAIN VITAMINS).

 

• AFTER THE CIVIL WAR ENDED, IN 1865, TROOPS FROM OTHER STATES HAD DEVELOPED A TASTE FOR BLUEBERRIES AND THE BLUEBERRY PROCESSING BUSINESS WAS HERE TO STAY. BLUEBERRIES ARE NOW A MAINE INDUSTRY WITH ANNUAL CROPS THAT AVERAGE MORE THAN $75 MILLION.

 

• MORE THAN 60,000 ACRES OF WILD BLUEBERRIES GROW IN MAINE. BLUEBERRY FARMERS, OR GROWERS, DO A LOT OF RESEARCH ON HOW BERRIES DEVELOP, WHAT INSECTS HARM THEM, AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT FUNGUS AND DISEASES THE PLANTS MAY ENCOUNTER. THROUGH CAREFUL FIELD MANAGEMENT, USING TECHNIQUES KNOWN AS INTEGRATED CROP MANAGEMENT (ICM) AND INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT (IPM), TODAY’S BLUEBERRY GROWERS CAN PROVIDE HEALTHY CROPS WITHOUT OVERUSE OF CHEMICALS. THIS IS GOOD FOR OUR ENVIRONMENT AND GOOD FOR THE CONSUMER.

 

• WILD BLUEBERRIES ARE MAINE’S OFFICIAL STATE BERRY!