I start every morning off with blueberries.  Unfortunately, although they are nutritious and delicious, blueberries are expensive.  Thankfully, summer offers a small window of opportunity to pick fresh blueberries which are tastier than storebought and much cheaper.  Ron and I grab the chance each year to collect as many pints as we can and then freeze them to last through the winter and on into the next picking season.  My blueberry dependence does mean not much else fits into our freezer for a good part of the year but it’s all worth it for my daily blueberry fix.

Several years ago when Ron and I came upon a “closed” sign at the place where we’d hoped to pick, we ended up on a roundabout trip, following directions to first one farm and then another, before finally arriving at Powell’s Farm in Chatham County.  To get there, we went past a small restored railroad station, down a dirt road, and over a railroad track through the woods before a picturesque farm opened up before us.  There we saw a farmhouse, a pond, and, to complete the picture, a friendly dog snoozing in front of an old barn.  When a handsome young man strode out of the barn, I felt like I’d stumbled into the opening scene of a romance novel (except for the fact that the only person around to play the role of heroine was fifty-something and very-married me).

The young man, more interested at that moment in potential customers than romance, directed us to row upon row of bushes, bursting with sweet blueberries.  We filled our buckets, weighed them, and left a payment on a wooden table under the shade of several large old trees.  The blueberries were as tasty as the setting was ideal.  Since that idyllic day, I’ve been back to Powell’s on many summer days and I’ve never been disappointed.  Today, I made the trek with my daughter, Katherine, and longtime friend, Kris Palmer.  We left with several pints of ripe berries but found that the best picking is probably a week or two away.  I’ll be back.  With its combination of bucolic beauty and healthy fruit, there’s no better spot than Powell’s Farm to represent Chatham County in my 100 county quest.

June 17, 2012 – Chatham – County #8