We love going to berry patches and picking our own when they are in season. Learn how to wash & freeze Summer Berries once you bring them home!
Our Love for Fruits
Our family’s love for fruit runs seriously deep – you name it and we love it. In the summertime, when fruits in full bloom you can find us frequently bringing home bags and bags both from the grocery stores, farmers markets, patches and fruit farms. While we mainly get our fruit from stores (since we don’t own or live on a farm), having the opportunity to pick our own when picking seasons opens is always a welcome blessing. We also love it when the Farmer’s Markets start their annual sales.
Berry Picking & Why I Freeze Them
Since berry picking (mainly strawberry and blueberry) is always on the top of our summer list, I thought I’d share how we wash & freeze them. Did you catch our Strawberry Picking Post? Find it here. For whatever reason, it got more engagement on Facebook than my other post (in quite a while).
There’s something about picking your own fruit and freezing them for when berries are out of season. It adds that feeling of accomplishment than just buying the berries. We use them for things such as smoothies, pies, bread, toppings, etc. If you don’t have patches you can get to in your area, then just stick to the grocery store option. We always buy a ton of various kind of already frozen berries for making smoothies when they’re not ready for picking.
How to Wash and Freeze Blueberries
We also recently went blueberry picking a couple weeks ago. It was rainy and windy but the patch was full of berries ready for picking. They were a little smaller than the ones we picked from the same place last year but I think it has to do with the fact that we went much earlier this year (maybe a week earlier than before). So they might have not been as big yet. But we were so happy to pick blueberries – came home with 8 pounds!
Washing the Berries
You’ll need
- White Distilled Vinegar and Water
- A drop of Non-Toxic dish soap is optional
I typically use vinegar and water to wash fruit, but recently I’ve been adding just a small drop of non-toxic dish soap.
How to:
- Just fill a large bowl with water then add about 1/4 cup vinegar.
- You don’t want to add too much to make the berries sour from the vinegar – just enough to help get the dirt off.
- You can also add a dash of non-toxic dish soap to the mix.
Add the berries to the water, then rub them gently. Leave them in the water for a minute or two to get extra dirt off.
Dump out the dirty water over a colander then or use your hand to scoop them into the colander. Rinse them with clean water.
Freezing the Berries
You’ll need:
- Baking Sheets
- Parchment Paper
How to:
- Layer baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Spread the berries on pans.
- Put them in the freezer for a few hours until they’re partially frozen
To Freeze – Transfer berries to Ziploc bags (I made two large bags of 4 cups each). Squeeze out the air and close tightly. Keep frozen until ready for use. Both blueberries and strawberries will freeze like that. I have not tried it with raspberry, blackberry or any other berries but I’m imagining I’d use the same strategy if I were to do so.
Note: Partially freezing berries laid out on a flat pan like baking pans will keep them from clumping up. It will be easier to get out and use what you need without having to defrost a big bag.
Partially frozen blueberries into the Ziploc bags
Bags Tightly Sealed – 4 cups each bag
Hopefully, this post gave you some ideas of how to wash and freeze extra berries you may have. Watch the video here if you’d like to see it in action.
How to Wash & Freeze Berries Video
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Have you tried freezing any kind of berries before? What method did you use? I’d love to know your strategy.
