At first glance, it seems that blueberries and blueberries are similar. An experienced gardener will immediately recognize the difference even in seedlings, not just berries. But newcomers sometimes make mistakes and in the market they may well be sold not at all what they were looking for. So how do you distinguish blueberries from blueberries, what do you need to know for this?
Blueberry features
Blueberries are a berry bush and are much taller than blueberries. Stems are dense, stiff, light in color, sometimes some spread along the ground. But mostly blueberries grow upward, that is, vertically. Its stems have the characteristic that they turn wood to the very end, while blueberries remain green.
The leaves of blueberries are elongated, ovoid, reaching a size of 3 cm, of a dark green color, the lower part of the leaves even casts blue. The shrub blooms with pink or white small flowers that have a five-pronged shape. The flowers give off a pleasant scent that attracts insects. Although this is a self-pollinating plant and berries may well set up without additional pollination by insects. True, the yield is much lower.
For cultivation in the garden, fruitful varieties of blueberries with large berries and good taste have been bred.
Blueberries reach 1.2 cm in diameter, slightly oblong, blue-blue in color. When they are crushed, light juice is released, while blueberry juice is dark and leaves characteristic spots. Blueberry flesh is greenish with an unexpressed sweet taste.
Features of blueberries
Blueberries are also a shrub, but with a more creeping shape. Its stems are not completely stiff, but remain flexible and green. The woody part is darker in color than that of blueberries. The leaves are more delicate than those of blueberries and are light green in color.
Blueberries bloom in small whitish-green flowers with five teeth. Pollinated mainly by insects. The berries are dark, blue-black, with a bluish bloom. The shape of the berries is round, the size is smaller than that of blueberries, but under good conditions, as well as when grown in the garden, blueberries can be large-fruited.
The most important difference between these two shrubs is the taste and color of the juice and pulp of the berries. Blueberries give off dark juice, their flesh is also dark, and the taste is bright and pronounced. Blueberries, on the other hand, are sugary, sweetish, with greenish flesh and light juice.
But both are very useful, they make excellent jam.
Blueberry or blueberry jam
You will need:
- 1 kg of berries;
- 500 g of sugar.
The berries should be carefully sorted out and then washed. After all the remaining debris has floated up, drain the water with it and repeat the rinsing a couple more times.
Now pour into a saucepan and add sugar. Let it stand a little to make the juice stand out. Then put the saucepan with berries on the stove and cook for half an hour, remembering to remove the foam. If you want a thick jam, you can add pectin.
Use stainless or enamel cookware to cook the jam.
While the jam is cooking, pour boiling water over the jars for 10-15 minutes. This will sterilize them. Boil the lids too. Put the finished jam in jars and roll up.
