Summer just does n’t seem like summertime without blueberry bush overstep parfait andmojitos , or circularise out in an American flag - style cake on the Fourth of July . They ’re as American as loyal food and credit card debt . Except , you know , they ’re actually estimable for you .
But the petite Berry , which are chock - full ofantioxidants , are much , much young than Uncle Sam himself . In fact , the beloved yield isonly 100 twelvemonth old , which mean there are so many American hoarded wealth older than blueberry . Coca - Cola ! Hot dog ! Waffle cones ! Betty White ( well , almost ) !
True , blueberry bush have always been A affair – it ’s not like they were make in a science lab – but farmers and scientist did n’t know how to domesticate them , pass water them rare , wild - harvested treats . For the longest clip , blueberry bushes would be planted in the in force ground , treated with natural fertilizer like other crop , and still die . Major bummer , until a botanist name Frederick Coville figured out that blueberries actually necessitate acid crude oil to survive , and didbetter in insensate temps .
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A cranberry farmer from New Jersey , Elizabeth White , occur to read Colville’sExperiments in Blueberry Culture(this is what happens when people do n’t haveNetflix ) , and the duet set off experimenting and develop the bushes on her family ’s farmland . After five years , they had major achiever ! The first reclaim blueberry made it to market in 1916 , and summer produce has never been the same .
While White and Colville continued working together for almost 20 years , Colville pursued other sciencey things , like make theNational Arboretumand being chairperson of the National Geographic Society ’s Committee for Research . Again , no Netflix . He may not exactly be a household name – unless you exist in a house full of botany nerd – but his paper have lived on in the Smithsonian Institution and National Arboretum since his demise in 1937 . White went on to advocate for the growing of blueberry President Bush so intemperately that her home state adopted the berries as itsofficial yield . You ’re welcome , New Jersey .
It may have taken farmers a while to figure out how to grow and pick the scrumptious berries , but thank God they did . Otherwise , muffins andpancakeswould be trapped forever in banana tree - nut case netherworld .
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