Whiteley Creek Homestead

This morning I needed to get out the door early, so I chose to make quinoa for breakfast because it cooks in just 15 minutes without watching over it.

I sprinkled some wild raspberries on top that Dick and I had picked yesterday on our property. It was all the sweetness it needed. Those are my jean-clad legs underneath the bowl. I ate my cereal as I traveled down the road. (I am able to multi-task, but it was a stretch to eat, drive, and operate a camera, so I shot the photo when I came to a stop.) When I was driving 65 miles to earn my degree at St. Cloud State, after getting three little girls off to school, eating in the car was the only way I was able to squeeze breakfast in and get to my first class on time. I became skilled at eating breakfast… while I studied my test notes… driving down the highway. Not a great idea… just survival to keep my head above water.   

This is why I was in such a hurry to get out the door this morning. I was headed to a blueberry patch east of Brainerd on Highway 18 then south on Esden Road to Roger's Berry Farm. The patch was so very peaceful. It was surrounded on three sides by dense woods with only the sound of birds, an occasional car off in the distance crunching over the pepples on the dirt road, and the plop plop of blueberries hitting the bottom of empty ice cream pails. It was cool for a July morning… light jacket weather. Perfect.

Look at these beauties hanging from the bushes! The bushes were about waist height… not the low growing groundcover wild variety I picked as a kid that were especially plentiful in areas where forest fires had passed through.

A bird had found the patch peaceful, as well, and had built a nest in a blueberry bush in my row.

You might be wondering how I managed to fill any buckets with blueberries. It appears as if I have been shooting photos the entire morning. Well, I filled two buckets plus a quart to drop off at my friend Sandy's house.

After picking blueberries then stopping at my friend Sandy's to drop off a quart of berries and chat a bit, I headed home to clean three cabins for arriving guests. With one hour to spare, I needed to toss together a supper to bring to my 92 year-old mother where she lives in an apartment at a Brainerd retirement center. I made the fastest recipe I could come up with. It takes a total of 15 minutes to prepare. I grabbed a gluten-free jumbo cranberry orange muffin from the freezer, cut one into 4 chunks so it would thaw faster, and put a large handful of freshly-picked blueberries into a bowl. Supper was on its way…

If you want to pick blueberries at Roger's Berry Farm, you will need to call (888) 692-4522 and leave a message regarding your desire to pick. They will call you back and let you know when you can come.