Strawberry Fields Forever

In one of my earlier posts I mentioned that I would not stay inside during my days off, and that I intended to get the kids out of the house to enjoy Mother Nature.

So, this morning I googled "you pick strawberry" and found info on a strawberry farm very close to our home. Thinking that the rest of the family would be as delighted as I was to learn that we could pick strawberries fresh on the farm just a few miles down the road, I went into the den full of enthusiasm and announced,

"Who wants to go strawberry picking this afternoon?"

(crickets)

"Ahem, who wants to go strawberry picking on this lovely afternoon?"

At least this time they responded,

"You must be nuts, it's 92 degrees outside."

"Mommmm, I'm on the black level of my Harry Potter Quidditch game, really now." (yes he actually talks like that)

"It's hot, and it rained, and like, I'll get sweaty and muddy."


Obviously, they did not share my enthusiasm for strawberry picking. Time to change tactics.

Still full of enthusiasm, I tried again,

"Who wants to eat some strawberry shortcake?"

Their responses were much different.

"Yummy, I didn't know you made one this morning."
"Awesome, Mom."
"OOOhhhh, I love your strawberry shortcake."

I chuckled.

"Well, he who eats must first pick. The mommy mobile will be departing for the strawberry fields in ten minutes."

Suddenly shoes were being donned, water bottles for post-picking drinking were being tossed in a cooler with ice, sunscreen was being applied, sunglasses and hats were on, and the dog was leashed and ready by the door. I actually didn't let pooch go... too bloomin' hot today.

And off we went.



The field was HUGE. The owner told me she had 80,000 plants out there. I believed her. It was a bit muddy, but they had tossed straw in the middle of the rows to soak up some of the water.

I showed the kids how to tell if the berries were ripe and off they went to their own rows. We picked and picked until our buckets were full and then headed back to the entrance to have them weighed and pay for our harvest. We picked just under eleven pounds.

Here's our harvest...




Didn't get a chance to take a picture of the strawberry cake cause the hungry pickers got into it before I could take one.

It was a fun day, y'all.