Strawberry picking

The children and I spent a delightful 2 1/2 hours picking berries Saturday morning.
I remember the sweet, delightful aroma of fresh-picked berries from my childhood-either the large, domestic berries I would help my mom pick and clean and eat, or the itsy, bitsy little ones I would pick in the ditches with my Grandpa and Grandma. I could always smell them along the dusty country dirt road when it was time to pick them in June, and Grandpa and I would head out with our ice cream bucket, and see who could find them without stepping on them. The best part was the eating them in Grandma's red kitchen, with fresh cream poured over them and dunking fresh bread into the strawberry and cream mixture-ummm!
Sweet memories of picking with mom at all the u-pick patches also flooded my memory today, and I wanted to provide the same fun and memories for my children. Even though we have berries in our garden, we don't get enough at one time to do them up and freeze a bunch, but I do get enough for all the fresh eating we want, along with pies, shortcakes, and fresh with yogurt. I will also use my own berries for making jams this week.
But for the big job of freezing mashed berries for winter shortcakes and Angel Food cakes, I opted for the u-pick patch run by our friends with the greenhouse.
Tyler entertained himself for a long time with his trike, and then once the owner's girls came out to join us, of course he wanted to be right in the middle of things too-and he and the 4 yr old friend then entertained themselves with wayyyy too many strawberries for a mid-morning snack-despite mom's attempts from 5 rows away to remind him he was probably full, he decided to keep eating, and wasn't long and he had a tummy ache.
We had to laugh at him though-the tell-tale signs of strawberry over-indulgence were everywhere-face, shirt, hands-he was literally covered in strawberry juice!
Kendell, Nick and I managed to pick 40 pounds-about 6 full 1 1/2 gallon icecream buckets-and after paying for them, and returning home with our stash of berries, promptly put Tyler in bed-actually he put himself in bed-where he slept for an hour, and woke up telling me "Mama, owwie all gone" after patting his little tummy, and heading to the bowl of berries I was in the process of cleaning.

I LOVE berries, but after hulling and washing berries for FOUR hours, I was a bit tired of looking at them, and was very glad to get the last container finished before the frozen pizzas were done in the oven. The angel food cake from the Amish at my morning's visit to the Farmer's Market was cut and ready for fresh mashed berries and Schwans ice cream, and I had 5 1/2 gallon containers froze, as well as a 5 pound cottage cheese container-and I was thinking-No, I don't need to pick more berries-we will make jams with whatever we get off our own patch.

They will taste really good though this winter!!

Blessings

Chris

The Joys of Gardening

I so love to garden. I love growing our food, I love decorating the yard with beautiful flowers in pots and flowerbeds. I love spring when it is finally time to get seeds into the ground, and wait patiently for the first little signs of life to sprout up out of the ground. I have been especially blessed this year as my 2 oldest children, both 9, have been able to really help this year. Nick learned to run the tiller, which of course, meant Kendell had to learn as well. They did a very good job of it, and as it can be quite a tedious job for Mom to do, it was a wonderful new game for the 2 children this year.

Yesterday, we spent the entire afternoon in the garden planting our sweet corn, potatoes, and a few other things. Today, it is Sunday, and if the rain holds off-although we really do need it, I would like to try and finish everything else this afternoon. It is Memorial Weekend, and last year, I had things coming up already. This year, it has been too cold and wet to plant much earlier, and I have been lamenting the lateness of the gardening season, but I chuckle when I remember other years when I really did plant a garden in July-really, I did-and it still produced well.

We have huge rows of raspberries that have sprung up from the original 30 plants we brought with us from our old farm. The strawberry bed has been revamped this year and doubled in size, and there are many blossoms out there, which means berries aren't far behind. We have enjoyed the early rhubarb in several desserts already, and can't wait for the first strawberry-rhubarb pie.

My children have been beside me through most of the gardening this year. Both Kendell and Nick love being out there. Tyler, on the other hand, is much more into boy things, like making sticks into guns, throwing rocks, and just being 3. And I am so blessed by his being 3, that it only irritates me a little bit when he tromps off into the garden, stomping on my newly planted rows of raspberries that we transplanted this year.

Even though I did lose my patience a time or 2 with the older children yesterday, I know we all had an enjoyable time in the garden. Making memories, discussing memories from last year's harvest time and canning season, planning summer fun, learning how the corn planter works-a borrowed treasure from a friend that is now on my MUST-BUY list as it is also great for marking the rows before you plant the other crops-watching Tyler explore his world, petting a persistent kitty that insisted on sitting in the bucket of cut potatoes, or better yet, on top of the ones just put in the ground but not covered up yet. It is a joy to be home and be a Momma, and be in the garden.

Many blessings to all

In Him

Chris