The Maine Course: Wild Blueberry Pie

Wild blueberries are harvested commercially in exactly one state. Maine.

Nobody planted them. The barrens of Downeast Maine have carried this crop for 10,000 years, since the glaciers receded and left behind thin, acidic soil most plants can’t use. Wild blueberries can. Families have tended the same fields for generations. The land does the work.

That arrangement depends on a stable climate, and the strain is showing. Maine’s actively managed wild blueberry acreage has fallen from a high of 60,000 acres to roughly 40,000 today. The 2025 season was hard enough that growers described walking their fields and not finding the crop they expected.

This is what environmental stakes look like in Maine, and this pie is worth protecting.

The filling below is the one from my latest episode of The Maine Course. Frozen Wyman’s berries mean you can make it anywhere, in any month. The grated apple is the trick: natural pectin that sets the filling without turning it gluey.

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Maine Wild Blueberry Pie

Ingredients

• Double Pie crust (I make it from scratch using America’s Test Kitchen’s recipe for Foolproof Pie Crust — it’s amazing)

• 6 cups Wyman’s frozen wild blueberries (850 grams)

• 1 Granny Smith apple – peeled, grated with a box grater, and as much liquid wrung out as possible with a clean dish towel.

• Zest from 1 lemon and 2 teaspoons fresh juice

• ¾ cup sugar (149 grams)

• 2 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca, ground into a powder using a spice/coffee grinder (or substitute this with 1 tablespoon cornstarch)

• Pinch of table salt

Directions

1. Cook 2 cups of the frozen blueberries over medium-high heat in a saucepan, stirring occasionally, for 12-15 minutes, or until reduced to a thick liquid mixture (blueberries will burst, but the skins will remain). Remove from heat and allow to cool for 15 minutes.

2. In a large mixing bowl, add the 4 cups of frozen blueberries, the cooked blueberries, shredded apple, lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar, tapioca powder, and salt. Mix with a spatula until fully combined.

3. Pour into a pie plate lined with a bottom pie crust, and even out the mixture with the spatula. Cover with the top pie crust, cut or decorated as desired.

4. Baking times can vary, but I bake at 400ºF for 30 min, then reduce the temperature to 350ºF and bake for another 30-40 min until the crust is golden brown.

5. Remove from the oven and let cool for at least 2 hours (I prefer overnight or 24 hours) to minimize any runniness. Enjoy!

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   Slade Wentworth | The Dad Briefs covers the civic, political, and quietly human stories shaping family life in America — with recipes along the way.