Blueberry picking in July with 4 kids--sounds, hot, buggy, sticky, dirty, and a whole lot of work and you would be right on all accounts but for me it is one of my favorite summer activities and is choc full of nostalgia for a few reasons.  

One of our favorite picture books is called Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey (who is a great children's author by the way) which is where the "kuplink, kuplank, kuplunk" originates . I remember reading it with my mom as a child and enjoy reading it to my kids on a regular basis. As we are dropping the first few blueberries of the season into the bucket -kuplink, kuplank, kuplunk--we are reminded of little Sal tromping along behind his mom as she picks berries to store for the winter. My mom gave us our own copy last year for Christmas and the kids love it. 

I also remember blueberry picking with my mom as a child. I'm sure we were no help whatsoever but my mom still faithfully took us for that summertime ritual.   Our berry picking skills improved with age as most things do and I would go picking with  my mom even on summers home from college. As our berries kuplinked, kuplanked and kuplunked we talked about college, roommates, this new friend of mine (he is ONLY a friend) named Ryan Battles, and then of course wedding talk. 

Ryan has tried his hand at blueberry picking although I don't think he is nearly as fond of it as I am. When we were first dating my mom was heading out to the blueberry patch on a day I had to work (she picks an impressive amount of berries each year) and asked Ryan he wanted to go. I don't think the prospect of picking berries in the peak humidity of summer in the hot sun was his idea of a good time but he answered with a resounding "of course" and kuplinked, kuplanked and kuplunked in the name of love. 

This year our littlest guy was old enough to join in the action--sort of. He got his own little bucket and even dropped a couple of berries in--and in the true spirit of little Sal, ate them right up. It is getting easier every time to schlep the kids to the 'ol blueberry patch and the girls were quite helpful in adding to our winter supply this year. Hopefully in years to come we can have some good talks over the nostalgic sounds of berries kuplinking, kuplanking and kuplunking--and maybe I can even coerce a boyfriend or two to sweat it out in keeping with the tradition. 

So, now if you ever try your hand at blueberry picking, make sure you savor one of the true sounds of summer--

Kuplink, Kuplank, Kuplunk






















































It's tradition to whip up some blueberry buckle (coffee cake) with all of the fresh berry bounty







My mom's Blueberry Buckle Recipe