First, it was strawberries. Soon, blueberries were ripe for picking. Blackberries and raspberries are next as part of a seasonal rollout of fresh, delicious, and healthy berries grown in Oregon. Statistics support the notion that Oregon is a very berry state. With the fourth annual LifeWise Oregon Berry Festival taking place next week, it’s a great time to celebrate Oregon’s bounty of berries. Now is a great time to enjoy fresh berries, but they can be a tasteful treat year around in frozen form, canned, or as an ingredient in other food products. This year’s berry season in Oregon got off to a quick start with a relatively warm spring. Strawberries, which are winding down, have been in harvest for several weeks and are the traditional pacesetter for the rest of the berries. Blueberries are now bountiful with blackberries and raspberries rapidly ripening. Later this year on the southern Oregon Coast, cranberries will be harvested to complete the annual production cycle of the Oregon berry.
