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E14 The History of Cultivated Blueberries · Two Tools, No Clue

• Jeidan and Anna: Hey everyone. Welcome to the Two Tools No Clue Podcast. I'm Anna. And I'm Jeidan And today we have no clue about blueberry farms. Yum. How did they start? And how can you grow blueberries too? But first, what's going on around the homestead? Well, blueberry season has officially come to a close. Yep. Wah wah I think we did a pretty good job. We did a hundred more pounds than we did last year. Yeah, it was our best season yet. And we sold a bunch in wholesale. That was pretty cool. And unexpected. Yeah. if you guys haven't if this is the first podcast you decided to listen to, my parents retired to New Hampshire and when they did, they had they decided to buy a property that has like I don't know like how many, like eight hundred bushes, like it's too many bushes. Yeah. a lot. Like a full like pick your own situation. Yeah, we can't even access half of them right now because they they we still haven't made our way down. They were told when they bought the house that someone from like a co op or something would come by and pick the berries for them with like the local Boy Scouts. Yeah, something crazy like that. Never showed up. That didn't happen. The guy doesn't exist. Yeah, so It's been a good time. But yeah, I'm excited. We're guy now. I'm excited for this episode 'cause we we love blueberries. I literally was just talking about making some blueberry ice cream. Yeah. I'm excited for it. So also we harvested our carrots today. Yeah. Our best harvest, I think, of the season so far. I mean the tomatoes are doing pretty well, but out of everything that we just we've never grown carrots before and we didn't do any thinning so that was really cool we got a lot yeah I mean none of them are like bigger than a finger yeah but next year they'll be twice the soil in that bed though so I think they'll do well and we will thin them out. Yeah I think that'll help be helpful. But every year is an experiment. Yeah I already blanched them. And lastly we took the TV out of the bedroom. Finally. I've been begging. Yeah. It's been actually really good so far. I was really nervous at first. I had like a lot of anxiety the first night that the lights went out 'cause I w was just was not prepared for bed yet. but it actually has been really helping. And we also got grounding mats and we used those for the first time today and it was pretty cool. The grounding mats gave me the same feeling that I felt when I took mushrooms. What? Like little tinglies on the inside. When I take mushrooms it feels like someone's tickling me on the inside. Like under my skin. That's how it felt. Okay. Well I guess, yeah. So if you guys wanna, you know, try that out, I guess it makes you feel like you're on mushrooms sometimes. No, just the internal feelings, not the psychological feelings. I'm not trying to oversell them. So let's get into blueberry farms. Yummy. So wild blueberries are obviously how we're gonna start this off because they're the OG blueberries. They are native to North America and have been managed by indigenous peoples for over 13,000 years. Hold on, stop. Are you gonna break my heart about blueberries this episode? Because I broke my own heart with my last episode. And I thought this was gonna be a good time. This is a very lighthearted episode. All right, I'm sorry. There's probably some deep dark shit about blueberries, but I didn't get into it. Okay. This is very surface level history of blueberry farms. We're safe this episode, you guys. We can all take a breather. Just got really My heart just dropped for a second. I was like, please don't do this to me, my blueberry. We're safe. Okay. Wild blueberries, like well drained, highly acidic soil, and only grow to be about a foot high. Their berries are small, about the size of a pea, and are very sweet. Much sweeter than commercially cultivated berries and a lot more nutritious too. Interesting. Why is that? Do you know? Well, we kind of discussed it. in one of the episodes, but it's because that they have all of their native plants helping them. Like it's the ecosystem that's adding to the nutrition of the soil, which then adds to the nutrition of the berry. That no farmer could ever recreate exactly unless you're just farming in in the forest, which is which is foraging. Not farming. But if you purposely plant something, maybe we should just do that. Anyway, sorry, go ahead. Have you ever heard of the blueberry barrens? Blueberry burns? Barrens. No. Barrens? No. When I first heard of them, I thought it was just like a generic term for large patches of wild blueberries. But no, it's actually a vast treeless area near the coastlines in Maine and the Canadian Maritimes. Which is Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island. It has very sandy, acidic soil and blueberries absolutely dominate the area. That is so cool. That's why Maine is a blueberry obsessed, I bet. Yeah. yeah. Very interesting. That's why there's so many up there. Yeah. I mean that's where Wyman's is from. that makes sense. And they've been a thing since America, it feels like These are the places where natives first started managing blueberry bushes. So kind of like you were saying. Because obviously the natives aren't gonna be cultivating them. They're just in like enhancing what they've got. Yeah. So part of that management included cool burning. Have you heard of that? Yes. What is it? Actually I don't know what it is. Okay. I didn't mean to put you on the spot. I just wanted to know if you your definition. I think I actually know what it is. It's like during the winter time to stop like infection, right? Maybe. Maybe I'm wrong. So my definition is it it involves low intensity fires and small patches under the bushes to eliminate the old woody undergrowth. Kill pests and fertilize the soil. It's like any time of year. Okay. I feel like. Probably a specific time of year just for the bushes' sake. Doesn't burn the bushes. No, because they're so low to the ground. That's why they cr they're called cool burning, 'cause it's like ashes, I feel like. Not ashes, the coals. You know what I mean? Like it's a very, very small fire. That's not what they do to apple trees. Okay, that's something different. I feel like they like prune off trees in a weird way up in New England to do stuff. Like my I knew this guy in college and he worked at Allison's orchard and the shit that he would tell me they would have to do the trees or I've seen videos where like it was wicked intense. I've seen videos where it's like Norway and they're lighting fires in their peach tree orchards or whatever because of a frost that they don't want to kill. their trees are literally created around with small fires. That's different. Okay. Not the same thing. No. Kinda similar though. Yeah. Just for a different purpose. Yeah. This is like I said, to eliminate the old woody undergrowth, kill pests and fertilize the soil. Well I don't think we should be doing that down here 'cause like we dry. Right. This is in Maine Yeah, but I'm just saying like you wouldn't do that. You wouldn't do something like that down here. We're not even that far from Maine I just feel like it's like wicked hot down. I disagree. I feel like it would be fine. Okay. Okay. By doing this they also stimulated the bushes to produce more berries. Whoa okay. Yeah, I guess that makes s sense because like when forest fires happen after that, it definitely grows. They also use selective harvesting techniques, leaving portions of bushes untouched for insects and wildlife. Natives would eat the berries fresh or dry them for storage, trade, and use in the winter. The berries, leaves, flowers, and roots were also used for medicines and spiritual practices. No shit. That's very cool. Wildberry bushes are very different than what we have. Like we have full on ass trees. Yeah. True. That is true. Okay. The Passamaquoddy Wild Blueberry Company, headquartered in Columbia Falls, Maine, continues to steward 2,000 acres of native blueberry bushes. Wow. The Passamasquoddy Wild Blueberry Company is owned, managed, and staffed by Passamasquoddy Tribe Members Very cool. If you're interested in checking them out, I'll put a link in the show notes. I'm definitely gonna check that out. That's pretty sweet. And obviously, a huge thank you goes to Indigenous peoples for the cultivated berries we have today because they were generous with their knowledge of berries and taught Europeans about their edible uses, growth habits, and more. thank you, Indigenous peoples, for basically everything we have today. Yeah, and sorry that we betrayed your trust also. Yeah. Bunch of bullshit. Yeah. Sorry about it. So I'm just gonna throw out the definition of cultivated so we know the difference going forward here. Okay. No longer in the natural state developed by human care and for human use, marked by refinement in taste and manners, Prepared for raising crops by ploughing or fertilizing. Do you want to guess when the first successfully cultivated blueberries were grown? god. Like right after America was born. Like two hundred years ago. 1912 The story starts with two very different characters, a USDA botanist and a cranberry farmer's daughter. Interesting. So Frederick V. Coville was born on March 23rd, so he's an Aries. Ooh. 1867 in Preston, New York, to bank director Joseph Addison Coville and his wife Lydia. That's literally what all of the sources said. And his wife, Lydia. his early life is so straightforward, I'm just going to quote Wikipedia here. Okay, I'm excited. Quote He went to Cornell University where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1887 He briefly taught botany before joining the USDA. End quote. Fin this is that is not all he did. Because this man did so much not even remotely related to blueberries. So I'm gonna just go I'm just gonna like rapid fire some of his shenanigans. Okay, I'm excited. In 1888 he participated in the geological survey of Arkansas as assistant botanist. 1891 he participated in an expedition through Death Valley where he studied and created an important work on desert plants. In 1896 he wrote "Notes on the Plants Used by Klamath Indians of Oregon." In 1899 he participated in an expedition in Alaska, and quoting Wikipedia again, quote, he was involved with the establishment of the Carnegie Institution's Desert Botanical Laboratory in 1903 the USDA seed laboratory, and spearheaded efforts that led to the foundation of the United States National Arboretum. In 1927 End quote. So he did all that. Well, I spoke too soon apparently. But it's in 1910 that he began to turn his attention to blueberries. That's that Aries fire. It doesn't burn out. Seriously. Yeah. Now I'm gonna do blueberries. Yeah. Can't stick to one thing. Yeah. So he was the first to Report, keyword here. He's the first one to report that blueberry plants thrive in highly acidic soil, that they do not self-pollinate, and how cold weather affects them. I'm sure indigenous people knew all these things well before this man, but he's the first one to put it in like a textbook. Yeah. The report was published in USDA Bulletin number 193 and was titled Experiments in Blueberry Culture. What a life. Right. So jealous. I found the original article and I'll put a link to it in the show notes if anyone's interested. It's like really old timey. Yeah, I was just gonna ask like could you understand what No I didn't even try to read it. I'm sorry. the sixth of November. Exactly. I feel like it's not that bad, but it's very scientific. In the 1900 year My Lord Jesus. Jesus Christ. So Elizabeth Coleman White was born on October 5th, which is also your dad and our sister-in-law's birthday. By the way, they're all Libras. I feel like There's like I so many people were b were born on October fifth. It's just a popular birthday day. How that's so weird. so she was born October fifth in 1871 in New Lisbon, New Jersey, to well to do Quaker parents Joseph Josiah White and Mary Ann 'Minnie' White. Her father is a frickin' character. So he ran a business. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. He ran a business called JJ White that managed a three thousand acre cranberry farm called Whitesbog. Because of the bog? Cranberry bogs, yeah. Yeah, yeah. I think they're so weird. Although it was the White's home, it was also a fucking company town. A company town? And it I understand. Okay. It included an entire village of workers called Whitesbog Village. Which aside from housing included a post office, general store, and schoolhouse. that's so cool. That's like Watson Town. Yeah. what episode was that? Waltz. The when I was doing the immigrants. Well that's like early on. Yeah. It was minisode Yeah. Five was Spices. Yeah, Maggie Waltz. I can't remember which one that that was like That was a while ago. That was like minisode one. Yeah. Damn. Go listen to it. I think those towns are so cool. They just existed. They now just exist. And some of them still do exist. Obviously they just look a lot different. All because of things needed to be done. Yeah. Right. It's usually just one thing. Like for them it was logs. For these guys it's cranberries. So her father was considered the cranberry king. King of the bog. King of the bog. And quote, was a man of many talents, a skilled machinist, an inventor who held numerous patents. In 1869 he published Cranberry Culture, a guide for growers. That same year, he married Mary Fenwick, whose father, James Fenwick, was himself. A notable cranberry grower, thus uniting two South Jersey cranberry dynasties. End quote. Cranberry Dynasties. Isn't that weird? Let that just sink in. Yeah, you have to like think about it too. Like there's so many companies out there and just land in general that these that families own, like we've yelled about it already. I don't remember what episode, but we were yelling about it. Probably episode one. Yeah, yeah, well I think so probably. that they just have it because it was their family's at one point, they never let it go. Yeah. Seriously. They just I they just keep acquiring more. It's the only reason they're rich. That's so true. Anyway, back to Elizabeth. In 1887 she graduated from Friends Central School in Philadelphia, which fun fact Is a Quaker College prep school that is still open and running to this day. Interesting. You know, it's so weird how our episodes always connect with so like your this one episode has connected to so many of the episodes that I've already done weird. 'Cause what what was her name? I can't remember. gosh. Her name was Mahala Ashley Dickinson. Okay. Dickerson. Dickerson. Sorry, thank you. And she was a badass, ended up in Alaska. And she was also a Quaker. Quaker. Yeah. And her establishment was coined off of one that was in I think Pennsylvania, not New Jersey. But it's cool that there was a lot of colleges that were like that, I guess. Yeah. They spare They're everywhere. Yeah. So Elizabeth reportedly got high marks in sciences like botany and geometry while she was there. Although she also took Courses at Drexel University in first aid and dressmaking, she ultimately decided to return home to work at her family's farm. In a quote regarding her father, she said. He taught me to stand with my back to the sun and look in my own shadow to get the best light in which to see and admire the developing buds or berries, how to distinguish the many injurious insects and their work, and recognize when the bogs were too wet or too dry. He to explain to me his plans for extensions and improvements and in general made me a comrade in the business. End quote. That's really cool. As early as the late 1890s she had been interested in learning how to tame the wild blueberries that grew in the pine barrens of New Jersey. okay. As well as between the fields of her family's cranberry bogs, but common knowledge at the time told her that they just weren't profitable. So she never tried to do anything about it. She just always wondered. People are obsessed. Yeah. Now like really obsessed. with blueberries, especially in New England. we go we go crazy for blueberries. Like we know. Well over a hundred years ago they were like meh weird. There's so many berries around us too right now, currently that might taste fantastic but they're just not on our radar. Yeah, and we've always just been told like don't eat the red berries exactly in the woods you're gonna die. And I live by that notion because I'm not that smart. I would die. And now as I get more and more into foraging, it's like no, you as long as it looks like this, you can eat those red berries. Yeah. in 1911 Elizabeth read the 1910 report by the USDA on Dr. Frederick V. Colville's work regarding the possibility of blueberry cultivation. She wanted it in on the research, so she convinced her father to loan Colville and the USDA the space between some of the fields on their cranberry farm for a testing program. cool, because they were already there. Exactly. That's so cool. And it's not like they're taking up any cranberry space. Yeah. So quote. The Whites signed a contract with the USDA that gave them the right to half of the propagating material during its four years of testing. At the end of that period, it became the property of JJ White, Incorporated. So Coville end quote. Coville was the plant expert, but Elizabeth was the expert of the pine barrens, the soil, and the business. Okay. She took charge in hiring wild blueberry pickers to find the best tasting plants with large berries. She's like not fucking around. She paid the local Pineys one to three dollars for bushes with large juicy berries that measured at least five eighths. Whoa. That is over a half an inch. Wow. So pineys. Yeah, so fun fact, that's thirty-five to a hundred and five dollars today. But she would pay them per bush. And not so fun fact, Pineys is apparently a derogatory term for the people who live in the New Jersey pine barrens. Sorry. But they've also reclaimed it as a badge of pride and cultural identity. So I kept it in there. I hope that's okay. Sorry if it's not. Sorry I laughed, but it was funny. I didn't know. I thought it was cute. I liked it. So each picker received a kit that included jars, plant markers, and a gauge to measure the berries. That's how serious she was. That's so funny. They like gotta put it up to it. It's like, At the end of the berry season, the pickers would lead Elizabeth back to their marked bushes where she would gather clippings or even uproot the whole freaking bush and just bring it back to the farm. To grow and cultivate and cross pollinate. Yeah. The very first scouts were sent out in late July, early August. So the first efforts of plant development were actually late season plants. cool. Fun fact, they named bushes after the pickers who found them. So for example, if anyone's heard of a ruble blueberry, apparently that's like a really popular type of blueberry. It was named after picker Rube Leek. So he probably was Rube L. Yeah. And now it's the Rubel blueberry. Very cool. It took four years and around a hundred original bushes cut and propagated into hundreds of others. But by 1916 the unlikely duo were able to produce around six hundred quarts of blueberries that were double. The size of wild blueberries. Whoa. They did it. That's what we're all used to today. Yeah. That's what we get. Elizabeth shipped the berries to local markets as well as ran a nursery where she sold and cultivated the blueberry bushes. That's really cool. So maybe some of our bushes are from her blueberries. You never know. This shit is crazy because All the history that we were taught in school was so stupid. tell us these things. Yeah. This is what are you so afraid of? Okay, I know what it is. All of these women did incredible things despite the years it was, or the you can't do that. Like this woman did so many accomplishments even prior to this, just her going to secondary schools and all these things. Yeah. that is so cool. Just I mean, mainly because her dad was like, Yeah, you're doing that. you're gonna know this. information for the business, you know what I mean? Exactly. But it's still even cool that he did that instead of just being like I never had a son. Yeah. Giving it to some jackass. Like because I feel like that happened a lot too. Like well I just just just hold on a second. You might be disappointed. shoot. Not to spoil anything. I'm speaking too soon in this episode. You are. I still think it's cool though. Yeah, it is. Back to the blueberries. Their first commercial crop of blueberries was sold under the name True Blueberries. And at peak production, Whitesbog grew ninety acres of blueberries, pumping out nearly twenty thousand barrels of blueberries per year. Holy crap. She said, quote, blueberry culture has a great future. in a few years it will yield large revenues from thousands of acres that today are wasteland. And she was right. Today, more than half a million acres of land across the US is dedicated to growing cultivated blueberries. Woop whoop. So here we go. Do you want to hear some family tea? Yeah. There's always family tea. Yeah, always. So side note. she was the oldest of four daughters. Okay. And apparently, even though she was the only kid who decided to stay in the family cranberry business and had even been called the son her father had never had out of your lips almost. Her dad did not leave the family business to her after he died because she was a woman. What dad? Dun dun dun. You idiot. Who did he leave it to? He ended up leaving it to one of her sister's husbands. Because she never married or had kids. Because she was taking care of business. Yeah. Ew. I would have killed that, man. Yeah. Ridiculous. But you know what? That history cannot like it it it not that can't be taken from. Or at least like exactly. Because like that was still pretty cool, the things that she did. Exactly. Which is why I'm not gonna end on that. I'm gonna end on her accomplishments. So quote, as a founder of the Blueberry Growers Cooperative Association and the first female member and president of the American Cranberry Growers Association, White worked tirelessly to improve the lives of South Jersey migrant workers. on whom its seasonal crops depended in the areas of housing, sanitation, and their children's education. In 1931 President Herbert Hoover appointed Elizabeth Coleman White to his migrant farm worker housing committee. And shit quote get it, get it. Badass woman. Wow. That's incredible. When she unfortunately died of cancer in November 1954 at the age of eighty three. Her ashes were spread across the fields and bogs of her beloved New Jersey pine barrens. Wow. so thanks to her, blueberries today hit another major milestone in 1996 and 1997 when they began to be marketed as a superfood. They are. Scientists discover that they have more antioxidants than other common fruits. Quote, blueberries are touted with a wide range of health benefits, from protection against heart disease and cancer to maintaining bone strength, blood pressure, and good skin, to controlling diabetes. They have become a trendy fruit in a variety of products, full of antioxidants. they contain flavonoids believed to improve memory and slow age-related decline in mental function, end quote. This led to a surge in blueberry production in the late nineties and early two thousands and continuing on today. production in the late 1990s was around a hundred million pounds. Do you want to guess what blueberry production was in 2024 Well, plus our no skin. Yeah, right. Our a hundred and seventy-five pounds of berries. like wait, how much was it? In nineteen in the late nineteen nineties it was around a hundred million. I'm gonna go with like three hundred million. Around seven hundred and eighty-nine million pounds in 2024 Whoa. Okay. Top producing states were Washington, Oregon, and Georgia supplying around two thirds of the national crop. Not Maine. No, I guess Maine's too small. What the fuck? And those are wild blueberries. That's what makes them so so famous. I'm sorry. Okay. I understand. Got it, got it. Okay. So they're that's why they're not on the list. They're their whole own list. Exactly. Nobody else is on their list, I bet. Yeah. Yeah. Right? They're probably king of what maybe New Jersey. Yeah. I don't know. True. Maybe I spoke too soon. Maybe they're mortal enemies. Yeah. We don't even know about it. But I'm like truly gonna end this o episode on how to grow your own blueberries. Cool. In a pot, according to organic.com. So there's two varieties apparently that do best because they stay small, so they're better for pot growing. Okay. northern low bush top hat is best for colder climates. Like real cold because southern high bush sunshine blue is better for zones five to ten. And we're zone five. Yeah. So we're pretty cold. Okay, you're talking about like northern New Hampshire and Canada. Yeah, pretty much. Blueberry bushes have shallow roots so they need a container that is at least eighteen inches wide and twelve inches deep. Plastic wood and ceramic containers are fine as long as they have good drainage. Don't forget the drainage. That's too cool. you'll need a soil mix with equal parts, peat moss, pine bark, and regular potting soil. Pine bark, interesting thing. They need the acidity. Yeah, that's good to know when we When we transplant. Yeah. blueberry bushes require full sun, the more the better. However, if you live in a hot climate, placing them in a spot where they won't get burned by the afternoon sun is important. And the best time to plant blueberries is in the early spring after the threat of frost has passed to line up with the root's natural growing schedule. Keep the water moist but not waterlogged. And use pine needles as mulch. Yeah, we need we're we have plenty of those. That's gonna be great. And that is all I got for you on Blueberry Farms. That was a great episode. Thank you. And I I learned more about blueberries. Yeah, the history. Yeah, very cool. The history of what we're doing, basically. And I'm like even more excited to make blueberry ice cream tonight. yeah. Are we doing that tonight? yeah. Now we definitely are. I'm craving it. Okay. So today is August 27th man, the summer is flying. No, I can't believe it's the end of August already. Holy moly. The moon is in its ascending node. Mercury reaches superior conjunction. That doesn't sound good. It just means it's on the opposite side of the sun from the Okay, we're we're safe, I think. Yeah, because it's over it's way over there. It's as far as it can be, I feel like. And Hurricane Irene made landfall near Cape Lookout, North Carolina today in 2011. Yikes. And my favorite day, you you guys, it's back. What is it? Today is the best day to perm your hair and castrate animals. That just get on out there. Which one do you do first? I feel like perming your hair so it's up out of the way a little bit more. Okay. That's a good point. Yeah, you don't want you don't need testicles in your hair. man. I don't think that's how that works, Well, that was a really fun episode, Anna. thanks for tuning in as always, guys. If you wanna follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or TikTok, you can see us @TwoToolsNoCluepodcast. If you wanna subscribe to our Patreon, please do it. It's really cool. You can Check it out at patreon.com/twotoolsnoclue and email us all your cool blueberry recipes at twotoolsnocluepodcast@gmail.com. I have so many frozen blueberries in our freezer because we we were just trying to pick as many as we could this year. We just didn't want to waste them and there's so much in the freezer, and I can't wait to just experiment. Heck yeah. You know, less pressure because we didn't do the farmers market this year. It's been pretty cool. to kind of just pivot and realize that there's there's more out there with the blueberries. Yes. So send us your recipes. Tell us what to do with them. Yeah. Way too many. don't don't yell at us. We're still sad from last week. and bonus fun fact. I didn't fact check this, but I saw a post that said that blueberries are like they're antioxidants or their or their like the goodness in blueberries is better absorbed by your body when they're frozen because being frozen cracks open whatever's holding the nutrients so that our body can actually absorb it. That's pretty cool. That was said horribly, but you get the gist. Yeah, I understood. Go look that up if you're interested. That sounds like an even better idea to try stuff with these Frozen blueberries. Yeah. All right, guys. Well, stay safe out there. We love you. Go enjoy some blueberries before they are like from Peru again. Yeah, seriously. And if you don't live in New England, I'm sorry. They're probably always from Peru and Peru. I'm sorry. I'm probably your blueberries are great. Thanks for sending them to us. Yeah. We'll see you next week. Bye guys. Bye.