Only semi-tamed by man, they grow on the well drained sandy soils left by the toils and travails of eons of creaking, groaning, grating glaciers. Hugging the ground, the lowbush blueberry plants Vaccinium angustifolium and Vaccinium myrtylloides creep over any spaces on the rolling ridges not occupied by taller bushes or trees- aided at times by lightning and at times by man in their quest to dominate.
Wild blueberries take two years to bear fruit.
The bees and bears have a dance of their own in the spring of each year. Thousands of hives of bees from Southern climes are trucked Downeast to take up temporary residence on the wild open lands that are the barrens, contributing the tireless workers needed to pollinate the small wild flowers of the blueberry p lants- easy pickings it would seem for each passing bear. And the people generally win out, to the tune of tens of millions of pounds of berries every year. Wild blueberries get their unique flavors from their very variability and wildness- like grapes, the berries' juices respond to the soils, conditions and the imprint of their varied genetic makeup. Wyman's puts its expertise in fruit handling and processing to work on other berry fruits.