From community gardens to the back roads, Art Borups Corners summer programming connects food security with hands-on blueberry harvest.
August has arrived in Melgund Township, and that means one thing around here: it is time to head for the back roads. This week, we headed out to the northeast corner of the township, where the blueberry bushes were heavy with fruit and the picking was as good as it gets. For an organization that spends much of the year running programs on campuses and in urban downtown spaces, these land-based days are a welcome change of pace.
Our summer arts and living lab programming has always kept one foot in the soil. While we’ve been busy expanding the community garden, tending strawberry and raspberry patches, and checking in on the apple trees and other small-scale crops, blueberry season is the one we really wait for. There’s something about the timing of it—the height of summer, the quiet of the bush—that makes this particular harvest feel like a reward for the work that came before.
The berries were bursting this year. Buckets filled quickly, fingers turned purple, and the conversation moved easily between patches. We also gathered Labrador Tea and took a plant walk through the area, which is something we try to fold into every outing. It is not just about filling containers; it is about reading the land, knowing what grows where, and understanding how to work with what is in front of you. That knowledge is part of food security, and it’s part of the living lab philosophy we have been building.
Days like this matter.
They ground our programming in something real and seasonal, and they remind us why we do this work. The blueberries will be put to good use, the Labrador Tea is drying, and the memory of a good afternoon in the bush will carry us through the months ahead.
Our thanks to everyone who came out, bent down, and filled a pail. The land gave plenty this week, and we were glad to be there to receive it.
