History Of PEI
Wild Blueberries.

Prior to the last ice age, Prince Edward Island’s was connected to the province of New Brunswick by a large valley plain. When the ice began to melt, the sea level rose and flooded the valley; forming the Island. The Island was scoured by the retreating glaciers which removed the much of the soil. In this barren landscape only the hardiest of the plants grew.

One of the hardiest was the Wild Blueberry which has been present on the Island for 10,000 years. To survive in this wilderness the wild blueberry needed to develop protection. It evolved a higher concentration of a flavonoid named Anthocyanin. This is the phytochemical found in blue pigments of certain fruits. The harsher the conditions the more powerful the concentration of antioxidant which occurs in the blueberry. The winter and spring in an Island berry field means that Island berries may contain more Anthocyanin than berries grown in a warmer climate. When you eat the Island wild blueberry you are gaining all these extra antioxidant benefits.

Featured Post

Call Him Blue-Berries

Call Him Blue-Berries is an article which appeared in the Guardian back in 1956 and discussed the future of wild blueberries and Old Home Week.

Blueberries Are A True Berry

From a botany point of view, a berry is a soft fleshy fruit formed from the ovary of one flower and has its seeds embedded inside the flesh. By this classification, a blueberry is a true berry.

Province Looks To Increase Pollination

The province of Prince Edward Island is looking to increase the bee population and pollination through a new program called the Pollination Expansion Program. It is being put into place to assist existing beekeepers and those looking to get into the industry.

Blueberry Pie Wins Berry Battle

The winner in our recent battle of wild blueberry desserts was Blueberry Pie and it easily beat the other finalist Blueberry Cake.

Why Fresh Wild Blueberries Can Be Hard To Find

While we had no problems finding the wild blueberry, it turned out that we were the exception and that the wild blueberry was a rare gem. Here are the three main reasons that wild blueberries are hard to locate.

Top Five Wild Blueberry Recipes

While looking at the data we saw what the top five recipes of the years were. So today we thought we would share these recipes with you in reverse order.

Wild Blueberries And Frost.

Frost is a common problem with wild blueberries and is the primary cause of a poor harvest. Not all blueberry farms have the same climate. The fields in Quebec and Maine blossom before the fields on Prince Edward Island and are therefore more susceptible to frost. The later blossoming of Island berries usually occurs after the last frost of the spring.