Blueberries grow almost everywhere the world. Relatives of our native North American blueberries grow in Europe, Asia, and South America, from the tropics to the North and South Poles.

North American blueberries were here when the first settlers set foot in America. Wild blueberries were noted during the expeditions of the earliest explorers of our wonderful lands. In 1615, Samuel de Champlain saw Indians along Lake Huron harvesting wild blueberries. They dried them, beat them into a pulp, and then combined them with cornmeal, honey, and water to make a dish called "Sautauthig." Famous explorers, Lewis and Clark, found that Indians had learned to preserve blueberries by using smoke, thus making them available for use in the winter months. A meal served by the Indians directly to the explorers had wild blueberries pounded into meat.

Wild blueberries were considered holy by the Native Americans because the blossom of each blueberry forms a five-points star. It was believed that the "Great Spirit" sent these star berries to relieve the hunger of children during early famine. Blueberries were used for medicinal purposes and a strong aromatic tea was made from the root. It was used as a kind of tranquilizer during childbirth; blueberry juice was used for coughs; and tea made from wild blueberry leaves was considered a good tonic, believed to purify the blood.

The healing power of wild blueberry was not foreign to the original settlers, some having known a similar berry in Scotland, the blaeberry. Blaeberry jam, was said to have been invented in the court of James V, who became King of Scots in 1513. His French wife brought her own cooks with her when she arrived at the castle in Scotland, who harvesting the local wild blaeberries, creating a delicacy which still holds a fancy with the Scottish.

New World blueberries are called whortleberries by our English friends, the Danish think of them as bilberries, the Swedes call them blåbär, Germany recognize them as bickberren, and those from southern Germany, blauberren.

Finally, the evolution of the wild blueberry made it to the commercial kitchens when the military canned them for our service personnel to get a bit of home in a can, far away from the local vines.

Today there appears to be a glut of the vine, offering a wild (pardon the pun) opportunity for a blueberry feast! Try some of these popular favorites (recipes attached).