When it comes to blueberry farms, Ms. Cheap can pick 'em

You know it's blueberry eating time when the Fourth of July comes around.

And picking the berries yourself can be sort of a rite of summer for you and your family and friends — as well as a delicious and productive way to spend a morning.

In Middle Tennessee there are at least 80 farms that grow blueberries, including more than a dozen that offer us a chance to shed our city ways (at least for an hour or two) and head to a farm to pick our own berries.

And I have to say that if you want to try "picking," blueberries are the easiest of all the berries to pick — no thorns, many of the berries are high on the vine and they pick quick. You could easily snag a nice basket full in a half-hour.

"It's easy picking," especially during the first week or two of the season, says Angie Kleinau, whose Blueberry Patch in Rutherford County has been offering blueberry picking for 30 years. She has about 4,000 plants on seven acres and just opened this week for public picking. She says it would be pretty easy to pick 10 pounds of the berries in an hour. "We have serious pickers who come out and pick to freeze enough to last them all winter for healthy eating," she said.

"And then we have the families," said Kleinau, who says the pick-your-own experience is just part of the attraction to her farm and other berry farms in our area. "People love the berries, but part of it is the atmosphere, just getting out in the country. We have lots of families who come and just enjoy being out," she said.

Blueberries, from the grocery case, as well as fresh from the farm, have become more and more popular in recent years, partly because of their much-touted health benefits and perhaps simply because they are more generally available.

The other nice thing is that blueberries hold up so well, so much better than strawberries or blackberries or raspberries. And they freeze well, too.

"They will keep as long as two weeks in the refrigerator (and a year in the freezer)," said John Kelley of Kelley's Berry Farm in Castalian Springs just north of Lebanon, whose farm boasts over 8,000 blueberry plants, and plenty of pickers through the monthlong season.

There are all kinds of berry perks, but the real draw for me is the taste of a plump, just-off-the-vine dark blueberry — especially when you can pop one (or two) in your mouth while you are picking.

And don't think Ms. Cheap is being sneaky by snagging a few ripe berries as she picks down the row, because all of the farms encourage this kind of "sampling."

Here are four Midstate farms that have beaucoup blueberries ready for you to pick right now.

Kelley's Berries: Owned by the Kelley family in Trousdale County. The farm has 8,000 plants and plenty of berries. Highway 231 North in Castalian Springs. Price is $3 a pound if you pick, or $20 a gallon if you buy them already picked. Kelley's sells its berries at lots of farmers' markets, including Hip Donelson, Franklin, Murfreesboro, Vanderbilt, East Nashville and the Richland Park market. Open for picking: 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. 615-633-7447 or www.kelleysberryfarm.com

Bottom View Farms: Owned by Ralph Cook. The farm, in Portland, has an acre of blueberry bushes, plus some blackberries and peaches for picking. The farm's Bottom View Farm Fish 'n More restaurant serves breakfast and lunch and ice cream. Blueberries are $4 a quart if you pick and $5 a quart if you get them already picked. Blackberries are $3 a quart if you pick and $4 already picked. Peaches are $15 a half bushel. The farm is open for picking 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Bottom View is at 185 Wilkerson Lane in Portland. 615-325-7017 or www.bottomviewfarm.com

Golden Bell Blueberry Farm in Williamson County: Owner is Tina DeBoer. This farm, formerly known as Cedar Brae, is now open for picking from 7 a.m. to noon Wednesdays and Saturdays (including Fourth of July) through July and maybe longer if the berries hold out. The farm, with 2,000 blueberry bushes, is at 4080 Clovercroft Road in Franklin, about five minutes from CoolSprings Galleria. Price is $3 a pound for pick-your-own berries, and there are no prepicked berries. For more information call 615-794-3758 or see www.goldenbellfarm.com.

The Blueberry Patch: Owner Angie Kleinau has 4,000 plants and is open for picking 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday (but will not be open on the Fourth of July). She has a small playground and a picnic table and an "outhouse" if needed for pickers. If you pick, the berries are $5 a pound. If you buy them already picked, they are $6.25 a pound. The Patch address is 5942 West Gum Road in Rutherford County, just about three miles off Interstate 24, exit 89. 615-893-7940. No website.

For more pickin' places, see picktnproducts.org for a full listing of farms. Always call before you go to be sure they are open and still have blueberries.

Reach Ms. Cheap at 615-259-8282. Follow her at Tennessean.com/mscheap, at www.facebook.com/mscheap?_rdr. and on Twitter @Ms_Cheap, and catch her every Thursday at 11 a.m. on WTVF-Channel 5's "Talk of the Town."

Double Good Blueberry Pie

This blueberry pie recipe, which I first saw from Patti Blandon at Franklin's Cedar Brae Berry Farm, which is now Golden Bell Blueberry Farm, has received the Ms. Cheap Seal of Approval!

Baked 9-inch pie shell

cup sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1/8 teaspoon salt

cup water

4 cups of blueberries (1 pound) divided into two cups each

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Whipped cream

Combine sugar, cornstarch and salt in saucepan. Add water and two cups of blueberries. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture comes to a boil and is thickened. (Mixture will be quite thick.) Remove from heat and stir in butter and lemon juice. Cool. Place remaining blueberries in pie shell. Top with cooked berry mixture. Chill. Serve garnished with whipped cream.

How to freeze blueberries

"Just place the unwashed fruit in a single layer on a jellyroll pan and put the pan in the freezer. When frozen, transfer them to a freezer container, label and freeze. Wash them with a gentle spray of cold water just before using. There is no need to thaw them first." — Tammy Algood, marketing specialist for Pick Tennessee Products

Need to know

• Best time to pick is early morning before it gets so hot.

• Take some bug spray for your ankles.

• Take water and sunscreen.

• Call before you go to be sure you know that the farm is open and that there are still berries. Most of the farms have voice mails that they update daily.

• Take a cooler to put your berries in if you have far to travel or other stops to make.

• It is fine to sample as you pick.