From Peter Aldridge
It is entirely possible that I can claim to be your only subscriber who is also an organic wild blueberry farmer, so I thought I would respond to Colin Norman questioning the use of the word “wild” in the wording “wild blueberry yoghurt” (Feedback, 7 April).
Here in Maine we regard our state as the true home of the wild blueberry, Vaccinium angustifolium, also known as lowbush blueberry, though to be fair its range extends through much of maritime Canada. We call it “wild” because it grows naturally: while we blueberry farmers do manage our crops, we don’t ever actually plant them. To become a wild blueberry farmer requires buying some suitable gravelly acidic land that happens to have wild blueberries growing on it. After that it’s a matter of care and feeding.
They are, of course, vastly superior in every respect to their distant cousins, cultivated highbush blueberries.
Jonesboro, Maine, US
