Strawberry Picking

We had a great time strawberry picking last Friday.  We found a local farm nearby and decided to give it a try.  We were lucky enough to have a nice cool morning and the company of Sarah, a dear friend of Sarah's from Centerville.  To get started we were given some instructions from the owner about how to tell a ripe strawberry.  A kiss, and a hollow belly button were a couple of new indicators to me.  At first, the kids kind of just wandered around, lacking interest and motivation.  Then as they began to realize that the berries were hidden beneath the greenery, and to find the satisfaction that comes from picking a truly ripe strawberry that is a bold rich red and nearly pops off as you grasp it, they began to get more excited.  There baskets began to fill, they began to wander down their own chosen "promising" paths.  I loved hearing them holler, "Mom, you've got to see this one!"  I couldn't see every ripe gorgeous berry, but I found myself sharing in the delight of the hunt.  When we decided we had enough berries, we started making our trek back to the shed where they would weigh the berries.  All of us found ourselves, eyes sharply scanning the strawberry mounds looking for that lask perfect berry.  It almost became addicting!  We loved the recordings of birds of prey calls that would periodically sound in attempt to frighten the robins.  On returning to the shed we saw some Burnese Mountain Dog puppies, which were absolutely gigantic.  We paid and loaded our baskets of berries, with plenty rolling around the car and getting eaten during the ride home.  I noticed that my hands held a lingering warm smell of strawberries.  

 

 

Brecklyn and Sarah with their homemade bandanas (made just prior to their picking session) and french braids in effort to match the romantic nature of a strawberry picking outing in the country.


 Here is Prilly with the end result of many of those delicious berries.  She worked hard to hull, chop, and mix the jam.  Peanut butter sandwiches are more popular now!  Gotta love that morning hair!