They aren't in season yet..Raspberries are just starting to come on..I'm askeered now Deanna...LOL

I just got a whole flat picked and payed $27 for it. I over fill my flats so that before we drive away the excess has to be put in another container. My favorite PYO place sells them by volume not weight. I just weighed my haul and it is around 2.50 a pound. However I figure why shouldn't the pice of their crops be going up to, they need to use gas and all the other things that cost more for me.
I need to go back a lot more to fill my freezer.
-Robin

We don't go to the pick-your-own anymore. This year's crop is just starting to come in & the price is $3.99/pint. Red raspberries are $2.99/half-pint. I'll put a few in the freezer either this weekend or next.

/tricia

Last year I picked my own for 90 cents a pound. It will be more this year, but blueberries aren't in season for a couple more weeks.

I also don't have a problem with paying a bit more. The price of fertilizer is up, the price of fuel for equipment is up and the price of electricity is up. those irrigation systems and devices to keep birds away don't run themselves.

Annie

We don't pay anything because we don't get blueberries here (sigh).
My DH loves them too. And the imported frozen ones we could buy are just mush, so I don't bother. Pity.

SharonCb

I go berry and apple picking every year. Prices have changed and I do understand.

I have two favorite places that I go to and blueberries PYO were $2.25 per lb. and the other was $2.00 per pint.

Red Rasberries PYO were $4.15 lb. and blackberries (which were HUGE and always are at my favorite place) were $2.20 lb. When I was in a small town near where I live last weekend I bought a pint in the small grocery store and they were $3.95.

My extra freezer in my basement if PACKED solid!:)

I can always find cultivated bluberries on sale somewhere for $2.50 a half pint or $3.99 a pint, most are imported from the States. The price for local cultivated should be dropping soon.

Now lets talk North Ontario wild blueberries which are the best in the world IMHO......at the farmers market this week they wanted $7.99 a pound! What's with that!!! Guess I'll be foregtting wild blueberry jam and making it from cultivated blueberries : (

Right now I am fighting the Scrub Jays for them but I have been eating them every day so I guess there are enough to go around. They are $4.50 a clamshell organic at the store.

I haven't been to a PYO in years, maybe I should hop to it!

I just picked up 2 pints for $4 at the grocery store, but that was a BOGO sale.

Linda

My mom just picked red raspberries for $1.35.
Blackberries are WEEDS here! Anybody want to come get some??

But, darn, the blueberries have just skyrocketed this year.
Since I posted, I talked to my daughter's MIL and I'll be getting some from here (she's got about 14 bushes). Whew!

I'll be planting more (I only have 3 bushes and they are about 4 years old so still drowing and I get a few more berries year year....provided I beat the jays to 'em).

I certainly understand the price increases, but 3X as much??? And for me to pick them myself???? In a small, organic field where they don't have to process, ship and only use natural fertilizers???? That's outrageous!

Maybe I could trade him some chicken poop....ya think??

:-)

Deanna

I paid $2.50 for a pint at my supermarket today. It was supposedly a sale price.

Jim

I'll be picking in eastern NC next week for $1.00/lb.

I just bought 2 pints for $3.00 (at Meijer). I must go back for more!

Blueberries are $3.50 to $4.00 a pint here. I picked some up from the farmers market on thursday.

The actual price for my blueberries was 5 dollars per quart and 3 dollars of for 6 quarts. Of course that depends on how you fill your quarts, we do the overflowing method. Plus the boys and I filled our bellies. While the consumer does the work for PYO the snacking that occurs is also part of the price.

This years crop is amazing, we picked some blueberries that were almost as big around as a quarter.

-Robin

When I was younger we used to go to Northern Ontario/Eastern Manitoba and pick coolers full of them in a matter of hours (hmmm, child labour anyone). I'm too chicken to venture out anywhere there may be bears now. At Costco, I pay $6 for a large container. I don't remember how fresh picked ones taste and am thankfully happy with the ones I buy. When we drive back home we pass a lot of people selling them on the highway for about $20 for a large bucket (maybe 2 litre size).

I picked strawberries today. And a few Rasp..but they really aren't ready...Hopefully next Friday I can get some more strawberries and raspberries and tayberries and logans...I hope the latter two will be available..
Strawberries are 1.09lb..I paid, well my brother paid for them..50cents a lb..Helps to be a former employee. LOL The few cups of raspberries she just gave me. :o)
There are no U pick blues there..but she said she was expecting a delivery today.

"I don't remember how fresh picked ones taste and am thankfully happy with the ones I buy."

I'm sorry you brought that up. The ones I bought today are soft and tasteless. I was trying to pretend I didn't notice. I'm probably spoiled, having grown up gathering and eating wild huckleberries.

Jim

This week's prices are as follows:
one "clamshell" package weighing in at 2.79 lbs at Costco $7.99
one 6 oz pkg at Albertson's market $2.99

Smiles,
Sooz

Wow! I can't believe you're complaining about those prices! Here blueberries come in a little clamshell that holds 200g for about $7! I guess it's all relative :-)

$6 for 125gm last week (in Abu Dhabi).

At the Superstore, they had U.S. blueberries for 2 pints for $5. Didn't like the way they tasted and they were all the same size, which tells me that they're not wild blueberries. I think that I'll stick with the wild blueberries here. People are selling 3 litre baskets for $35-$40. Fortunately, DH just goes on a mountain not far aways and picks them! I picked a lot of wild blueberries when I was a kid....I hated it!! LOL

I guess you'll all want to murderize me when I say this: I picked a 5-gallon bucket full at a friend's house. So, I didn't.....pay......a......dime.

Free, gratis, nada, zip, zilch.

They are now in freezer bags in my chest freezer - safely stowed away!

We've never paid for blueberries either!

I drive 40 minutes to a PYO that gives a "frequent picker" card and discounts the price the more you pick. Even with gas, it's the least expensive place I know about around here. I picked 27 pounds last week and got a 10# bonus for bringing back last year's card, so next time I go I should get to the >50# price!

pounds 2007 2008
0-10 ? $1.50
>10 $1.20 $1.35
>50 $1.10 $1.20
>100 $1.00 $1.10

Blueberries will not grow well here in Kansas but we have been buying them for $1.99 a pint at Aldi. During the winter we were getting them for as low as $1.39,from Chile, while our local Kroger wanted $3.99.

I don't know if any of you shop at an Aldi store but their fruit and vegetables,albeit a somewhat limited selection, are about 1/3 to 1/2 the price of our local supermarkets. A single bell pepper at Kroger$1.28- Aldi 3 for $1.99. Large Costa Rican pineapple $2.50-local Kroger $4.00 or $3.00 on sale and they are a smaller size. With the increasing cost of groceries they are certainly worth a look.

Disclaimer--Neither myself,any family member or anyone I know work for Aldi.

$2/pint for NJ blueberries.

Hrmm.... well, I don't pay a thing, except the gas it costs me to drive to a clearcut and pick them. (NW Ontario). BUT I do sell some of what I pick. Last year I sold to coworkers for $20/ 4L ice cream bucket, but I was considering upping that to $35/4L bucket, i was waaaay undercharging.
I can't ever imagine buying blueberries from a grocery store, so I just pick a ton and freeze them to use through the year. And I'm not too worried about the bears, I figure there's usually more than enough to go around.

I didn't buy any but they were $2 a pint at the farmers' market this morning. The season is just starting here in PA.

Ours are You-Pick for $2.50 a pound. I managed to get my DH to go with me on a perfect day at the first of the season and got our year's supply picked in an hour. That's my kind of deal!

It's such a popular thing to do now, they get picked out very quickly, so it's something we really have to plan. The best thing about picking them yourself is you know every berry is ripe and beautiful.

$2.50 a pint--I'm sure the ones that actually have flavor to them are more.

Paddy-Our first Aldi in FL is opening in September. I'm making it a day trip just to check it out.

Just purchased 36 oz of Oregon Blueberries at Henry's here in So. Cal. for $7. Last month at Raley's in No. Cal. I paid about the same. I have made a number of Blueberry pies. The Old Better Homes and Gardens, page 299, has a Blueberry Glaze Pie that is really good. I added more cream cheese to the recipe, but since I am trying to watch those calories, this is a good recipe with only 3/4 cup sugar in the recipe and I substituted 4 oz of low fat cream cheese. Other than the crust, that is the only high caloric items in the pie. No milk, eggs, butter or any other calorie adding additives. Just pure Blueberry heaven!

Another person who has blueberry bushes in the yard. We are close to the end of blueberry season. I've got blueberry freezer jam and lots of bags of blueberries in the freezer.

Kathy - where is the new Aldi's going to be?

Right now blueberries are $3 for two pints. Right across the river in New Jersey there are scads of blueberry fields, so maybe that's why ours are somewhat reasonably priced.

I do love them on my cereal.

I pay my neighbor in tomatoes for his blueberries. I didn't know blueberries were so high priced these days. But then again, so are tomatoes.

Pat, Sorry but it's way far from you in Tampa. If you want to venture down here, feel free to visit with me.

Henry's in So Cal - offering Blueberries (starting today) for $1.50/pint. Yesterday I was in the grocery store (Stater Bros) and they were $1.47 for 6 oz.

About 14 years ago, we were on a family vacation up in northern California when we happened upon a PYO place. We took the girls in there - we thought they should have that experience, picking berries in a field. It was HOT. Somehow we managed to find the space to bring those berries home, where I made a blueberry cobbler. (We were traveling with a tent trailer at the time, so we didn't have any sort of oven with us.)

DonnaR/CA

I bought a pint last week for $3.99. Raspberries were a lot cheaper, but I don't like them as well. I'm having blueberries with my granola each morning now.

Lars

I got a deal today at Kroger- 5 lbs of Michigan berries for $8.00, think I should go back tomorrow and stock up the freezer.
Di