Picking/selling blueberries works for us

I mentioned in this post last week that one thing that works for us is to have our kids earn some money toward their summer camps and activities. Specifically right now, that is our daughter who is the only one really old enough to participate in camp. This week, I wanted to share with you one of the things that we did this year that really worked well for us.

We went to a pick your own blueberry farm to pick blueberries.  We then packaged them and sold them for $3/pint.

What I liked about it was that Sarah had to really get out there and do some physical work to have the blueberries to sell.  I also liked that it was an opportunity for her to earn her money from people other than her mom & dad.  And blueberries are so easy to pick that if you get out there early in the morning, it’s actually quite pleasant.

The downside was the cost.  It’s a two hour drive for us to get out to the area of East Texas where the blueberries are good.  We were already planning to go out to visit family in that area, so we really didn’t count the additional cost of gas, but that would be a factor otherwise.  And there is the time investment of four hours in the car plus at least two hours picking berries. 

                          

But the conclusion I came to was that it was worth the cost.  It was worth my investment of time to help my daughter learn that we have to work for the things we want to do.

We ended up picking two big gallon buckets worth between the kids, my mom and I on the first trip.  Sarah and I went back the following weekend and picked another big gallon bucket.  We got about 9 pints out of each bucket.  I sent out an email or two and posted a message on Facebook.  Between all my friends online and at church that saw my messages, we sold every bit of them quickly.  At $3/pint, we had her money very quickly.

Again, I admit that I cannot take credit for this idea. Credit is totally due to my sister.  She has done this for years with her boys but this is the first year for us.

I do believe we’ll be doing it again.

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This post is linked up to Works for me Wednesday over at We Are THAT Family.  For more tips, visit Kristen at We Are THAT Family and click on some of the links.