Raising a Berry Fiend

As I mentioned in my last post, last weekend we got word, via Mandy, that my favorite strawberry farm was having an early season U-pick session for a few short hours. The weather had been warm enough to ripen some berries, but then it had been monsooning (essentially!) for a few days, and the farm was worried that the ripened berries would rot before they were ready to open up officially for the U-pick season. I, being an avowed berry fiend, jumped at the chance to pick the first fresh strawberries of the season. We managed to fit it into a busy Saturday morning (Friends school yard sale, Waffle Shop breakfast, music class, and then strawberry picking!) and boy was it worth it.

The berries were delicious and the field we got to pick on wasn't nearly as overgrown as their fields sometimes have been in the past. It was FINALLY sunny (after a good week of rain and gray) so it was wonderful to be outside. We brought Sarah and Brad with us and then met up with Mandy, Scott and Noah. Hayden had been berry picking last year - but it was a bit of fiasco, trying to wear her on my back. This year, we let her walk around and she started off strong. Sarah and I ended up sharing a bucket and Hayden went back and forth between us, grabbing the berries we had picked and putting them in the bucket. A great system, if you ask me, especially when both Sarah and I, with growing baby bellies, were content to find a fruitful spot and stay there seated for a while, trying to pick as many berries as we could within arms reach. But Hayden didn't want to be the berry deliverer for long, so she went off with Daddy to check things out in a different part of the field. Notice I haven't mentioned letting her EAT any yet; I thought that might set a bad precedent.

Hayden acting as berry deliverer with Sarah.

Posing with the first fruits of our picking efforts.

Sure enough, when she returned from her adventure with Daddy, I introduced her to actually tasting the berries, and she was hooked. She kept asking for more and more. She would occasionally still act as berry deliverer, but her services were getting sloppy. At one point, she wanted to put the berries I gave her (at this point, feeling much more hard earned from bending over a baby belly) in Mandy's container. Or she would look at me quizzically asking without words, 'do I have to put this berry in a container, or can I just eat it?'

Can I eat this one please?

Ahh, strawberry goodness...

Even with Hayden's "help" at eating the berries, we managed a pretty good haul and eventually we were able to tear ourselves away from the temptation of finding just one more berry and go pay for our loot. As noted in my last entry, Hayden and Noah held hands on the way out for a bit and then had a great time being wheeled around the new store at the farm in a car shopping cart.

I think we pulled in 8-9 lbs of berries, which seems like a pretty good accomplishment for the first round of picking this season. We just finished the last of them on cereal and yogurt this morning. I made a delicious strawberry-rhubarb pie (thanks again for the recipe Mandy!) that Jason just couldn't get enough of.

The pie (if you couldn't tell). So tasty!

I also made strawberry bread that was tasty (Hayden had a piece and a half for snack yesterday and would have eaten more). Plus we all ate plenty straight up, as fresh berries should be enjoyed.

don't those berries look yummy!

All in all, it was a good first picking. Hayden enjoyed the process of picking (I think!) and she definitely enjoyed eating the berries. She gets sort of picky with food at times these days (oatmeal is always her breakfast request, but we don't always indulge her). I would offer strawberries and she'd say no all whiney and rejecting. But if I put one in front of her, while fixing the rest of the meal, chances are she'd end up gobbling it right up and asking for more. I guess she really IS my daughter, even if she doesn't look all that much like me. :) We will probably head out to pick again tomorrow - we need to replenish our stash. It'll be interesting to see how it goes with just me and Hayden doing the picking. As long as we can get enough for jam, and maybe a smoothie, I'll be happy.

Family shot, posing with our haul.