Showing posts with label upick. Show all posts
Showing posts with label upick. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Strawberry season is over here in the lower parts of Michigan. Not so for the northern regions where my parents spend most of their summer on Lake Michigan. They are typically about 10 degrees colder and breezier due to lake winds and wacky weather.

If you recall, I managed to deal with 12 quarts of strawberries picked by my boys a couple weeks back, we ate the remainders from my freezing marathon and then thought our strawberry days were over. Not so, my boys, not so. My father just brought us about 4 quarts of the reddest, freshest, just-picked-today berries I think I have ever seen.

Sure, we have eaten strawberry sundaes, shortcake, shakes, syrup, whole, cut and preserved, but we are gearing up to do it all again. While everyone else here is long past enjoying fresh berries, or dining on Chilean substitutes, we are once again elbow deep in red berry goodness. We know that in a few months, the taste of fresh berries will be long gone from our palettes and we will wish for the day the U-pick opens or Grandpa rolls up with a carton of berries, picked just that morning and loving carted from 4 hours north. You must appreciate the fresh, organic and local produce when it's in season, no matter how long it lasts. The season seems so short during the cold, dark days of December!

Drool on, my fellow bloggers. I still have berries, berries and more berries. Alas, I still don't know how to make quick berry, quack berry jam, but I will muster through. Somehow. Strawberry shakes it is then, delicious strawberry shakes all around!

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Pick Your Own

Scenes from a local U-Pick strawberry farm with 4 boys...


Man, white strawberries are sour.

Dude, white strawberries are really hard.

Sick, the really dark reddy brown ones are rotten.

Stop, I think that strawberry hit my EYE.

Wait, if you throw another one I will catch it with my mouth.

Boys! Is anyone picking strawberries? Let me tell ya, come December, strawberry sundaes will be for PICKERS, not LOAFERS!

Smack! Dude, QUIT throwing strawberries. Seriously!

I don't whike strawberries.... (whiny voice)

Ugh, I feel sick, I ate like about like 50 strawberries like already.

How many strawberries do you have? I have more. I have lots more. See? I'm BEATING you.

Hey, watch. I can throw a curve ball with this one.

Stop it, you hit me again! Jerk! Moooom, he got strawberry guts on my shirt!

Boys! If you don't stop throwing strawberries you are going to sit in the VAN! No wait, YOU are going to pick another 4 quarts of strawberries while I SIT IN THE VAN! .

Holy Crap! Look at that bug. Sick. I think it's dead. Mom, do you want me to pick this strawberry with the dead bug on it?

Mom? Hey! Mom? Can we make strawberry sundaes tonight? Can you make us strawberry sauce for pancakes tomorrow? What else can we make with strawberries? Oh, yeah! I want some of the yogurt with strawberries like a parfait. And, can you put some in the Popsicle molds? That would be good too. I'm hungry. What's for dinner?

Best line of the whole day: Wow, that strawberry tasted like NATURE.

Our haul? 12 quarts of strawberries - yes, the picture is the real deal. Side splitting humor? Endless. Boys will be boys.