Grower Story | Raking wild blueberries on the Maine coast

Wild blueberries grow on low bushes that spread across coastal barrens, and they cannot be machine-harvested without bruising.

The crews we buy from still rake by hand, working in short passes so the fruit spends as little time as possible in the sun. Everything is chilled within the hour, which is what keeps the pale bloom on the skin intact.

Each berry is about a quarter the size of a cultivated one and carries several times the flavour.