You could grow blueberries in your backyard if you wanted to, but you have to throw a net over them when they get ripe -- otherwise the birds and squirrels will eat every single berry.
But I have another idea -- let somebody else grow the blueberries and you just go out there and pick 'em. So I went to Underwood Farms near Camarillo. They have 10 acres of berries under nets and ripe right now. I got this one-pound box of berries for $4, plus I ate a few handfuls, just stuffed 'em right into my mouth while I was picking -- one berry for the box, two to eat, another one for the box, two more to eat...... Okay, when you eat berries right off the bush, they are not washed -- but they're not dirty, if you ask me, just berries hanging on a bush in the air, maybe a bit of dust, that's all --- but untouched by human hands which is where all the bad germs come from.
In fact, that's a good reason to go U-pick -- only your hands ever touch the berries.
So plan your outing to Underwood Farms or a dozen other berry fields within an hour's drive of Los Angeles -- all you pay for is the gas to get there .... and you would have bought the berries anyway.
Pick four or five pounds and bring them home, wash them and put them straight into the freezer -- hardly any work at all.
