BANGOR DAILY NEWS • July 18, 2022
Maine’s wild blueberries proliferate in Maine, only because they are tenacious survivors. About 10,000 years or so the state was covered by a mile of ice. Glaciers carried much of Maine’s topsoil out to sea, and pulverized the remaining rock into sand and gravel. The remnant soil was low in nutrients and strongly acidic. And the blueberries liked it. Eventually, the forests returned, but the berries remained. Barely clinging to existence, they bided their time in the shade, waiting for a fire or other cataclysmic event to open the canopy and set them free. Today, some of Maine’s blueberry barrens go on for miles. But before you take them for granted, here are a few things that might surprise you.