Berry Blast Smoothie: Recipes from BigYellowBag
Summer is here, and that means it’s time to enjoy the tastes of the season. Why not cool off with a Berry Blast Smoothie? Of course, it’s best with fruit you grew in your own garden!
Planning for Your Berry Blast Smoothie
When planning your garden, keep in mind that strawberries’ peak growing season is in June and July. They don’t like to be too cold, so make sure you don’t plant them too early. However, this can change based on the weather in early spring. For example, if there is a high amount of rain and low temperatures, the time to harvest your strawberries will be bumped back a couple of weeks. Blueberries start growing in early July and go into late August; raspberries also start in July, but will grow until September.It’s important to give these berry bushes lots of space to grow, because they will get quite big. You also might need to drape some netting over them to prevent birds from eating your crop.
Growing Your Berries
Strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries do their best growing in soil that retains moisture well, which is why we recommend that you use BigYellowBag Black Garden Soil for planting. The light and fluffy properties of the soil make it a fantastic growing medium. BigYellowBag Black Garden Soil is a mixture of black loam, peat loam, compost and manure. Loam is comprised of sand, silt and clay. This creates the perfect balance of drainage and moisture retention to ensure you will have success in growing berries. The soil is also packed with essential nutrients and organic matter to give your plants the ‘food’ they need to grow healthy and strong.
Harvesting
When you’re harvesting your berries, keep in mind that they need a light touch. Don’t yank the fruit off the vine; it should be very easy to remove when it’s ready to be harvested.
You can enjoy your berries right away, or you can easily freeze them for a Berry Blast Smoothie later in the season. Just spread them out on one layer on a cookie sheet and freeze them. Then, transfer them into freezer bags or containers. They need to be dry before you freeze them.A great recipe to highlight these delicious berries is our Berry Blast Smoothie!
Berry Blast Smoothie Recipe
Get out your blender and mix together:
4 cups of berries (these can be fresh or frozen)
1 cup of vanilla yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1½ cups orange juice
1 cup chopped greens, like kale or spinach (optional)
Pour into cups and enjoy!!
This amazing, fresh Berry Blast Smoothie recipe yields 5 servings. Although, it may not stretch that far in my house! Enjoy and get planting those berries!