Berry Picking - Round 2

Last month the kids had so much fun picking strawberries that we promised to take them back to Larriland Farm again as soon as other fruits were in season and ready for picking. So, a week or so ago we grabbed our baskets and headed out bright and early to see how the berry crops were doing.

Our first stop was the red raspberry field (if there's one thing better than a ripe, juicy, just-picked strawberry, it's a ripe, juicy, just-picked raspberry!). Then we hit the black raspberries and blueberries. We played peek-a-boo with each other as we wandered kind of haphazardly through the rows and rows of ripening fruit, stopping to fill our baskets when clumps of fresh berries caught our eyes. As usual, much of our son's harvest went directly from bush to mouth, but after a couple hours we headed back to the farm stand with several pounds of berries. With stained and sticky fingers, we paid for our bounty and headed back to the van.

Now, with fresh produce, the trick is to eat (or preserve) it all before everything goes bad. So, the next morning I made everyone blueberry pancakes and my wife made a delicious mixed berry pie. We also snacked all day long on the remaining berries (in fact, I can attest that it is certainly possible to eat too much fresh fruit, as my bowels were protesting the next day... I'll spare you the details). Not wanting to overdo it, again, we washed and froze the remaining berries for future use.

If you have the chance, take your kids out to a farm or orchard sometime and pick some fresh fruit and vegetables. Good stuff! We'll definitely be going again.