Blueberry Giant or Giant Blueberry?
While the town of Oxford, Nova Scotia bills itself as the “Wild Blueberry Capital of Canada” I wanted to search around to find out how true this was. Because of its central location Oxford is a hub for the distribution and processing of fresh wild blueberries that are grown all over Cumberland County. In fact you can purchase fresh blueberries in season at various locations around Oxford from August to early September. But then you can all over Nova Scotia. So what’s the real story here?
As the website claims, the name of the town of Oxford can be taken quite literally. In 1791oxen did ford the river. It’s just that the teamster never looked up and saw the blueberry fields or else the town might have another name. But another siet states that the people wanted a “good old English name” and so the fact that it was shallow enough for wagons to cross so Oxford stuck. But I wanted to find out about the blueberries not names.
Oxford began its existence as a farming community but then the Black River was dammed for use to power a woolen mill and later a sawmill. In fact in the late 1800′s it became a major sawmill town. But as far back as 1900 there was still no mention of blueberries.
However, when you enter Oxford’s quaint town you are welcomed by the Wild Blueberry & Maple Centre (Now we’re getting somewhere!). In the exhibits area you see the harvesting and exporting history of wild blueberries and there are exhibits and displays that explain the lifecycle of wild blueberries. This includes how modern producers prune, pollinate and take care of the berries as well as how they are harvested. In addition, a live bee colony under glass demonstrates how the bees are used to pollinate the fields.And in season the bees pay you no mind while they go about their business.
So went to the WBPANS (Wild Blueberry Producers Association of Nova Scotia) website and got these facts:
- Nova Scotia’s provincial production is over 40 million pounds.
- The wild blueberry is the number 1 fruit crop in acreage export sales, and value.
- Oxford is the wild blueberry capital of Canada.
- Wild blueberries are high in antioxidants which have many health benefits including anti-aging effects, cancer inhibiting properties, heart health, urinary tract health, vision health.
- Nova Scotia wild blueberries are exported to the United States, Japan, Germany, United Kingdom and other countries.
- Harvesting of wild blueberries begins in August and continues until late September.
- Oxford Frozen Foods is the largest employer in the town and is owned by John Bragg who also owns Bragg Communications, a telecommunications company in Halifax.
And I got a picture of the giant Blueberry Man.
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