If you like blueberries in the winter, for muffins, pancakes, cobblers, pies or just in a bowl; just imagine how good it would taste if you had picked a couple of quarts fresh or bought a them from a farm stand and then quickly froze them at home! It is also one of the simplest ways to put up a fruit for the winter. Here's how to do it, complete instructions in easy steps. Your own frozen berries will taste MUCH better than anything you've ever had from a store. I'm using blueberries as an example, but this same process works exactly the same for any other berries.

            fresh berries - any quantity

• Vacuum food sealer or "ziploc" type freezer bags (the freezer bag version is heavier and protects better against freezer burn.
• a pan or tray that will fit in your freezer
• a strainer or colander

            Start with the freshest berries you can get. Look for plump, full berries with a good color.

            Rinse them gently in cold water. Put a colander or strainer in a large bowl, fill it with cold water and swirl the berries in it with my fingers. That avoids breaking them and dirt either floats, which I pick out, or sinks and is removed when I lift the strainer out of the bowl.

            Use a large sieve or colander to remove as much water as possible. I usually let them sit for about 10 minutes in the colander                       

            Spread the berries in a pan

            There are two ways of doing this. If you have space in your freezer, spread the berries out in a large oven pan with a lip or ridge. Put enough on to make 1 layer. this way they will freeze quickly and not be frozen together in a lump, so later you can remove only what you need without thawing the rest.

            If your freezer isn't that big, just drain as much of the water as you can, then put them into whatever container will fit in your freezer. After they are frozen, they may stick together a little bit, but should break apart fairly easily.

Pop them into the coldest part of the freezer, or the quick freeze shelf, if your freezer has one!

Bag the berries in vacuum sealed bags or high quality zip lock freezer bags to avoid freezer burn.

Thaw in cold water or on the counter when ready to use.

Many people who have fresh fruit plants or bushes find themselves having an abundance of fresh fruit and who wants to throw it away? When you have fresh fruit and you have already spent money at online garden centers and tree farms who wants to waste any? By being able to freeze them or dry them you can savor your fresh fruit and save yourself lots of time and money.