God is good.
At the ages of two and three my boys started picking strawberries. They love fruit so much and eat it so quickly that I explained to them they would have to work for their fruit. Those first couple of years they ate more than they put in the buckets but it was all a process of training.
Last May/June we were very new to the area and although I searched the computer for u-pick strawberry fields I was unable to find any. Thankfully, the year before we had picked 70 pounds of berries and I still had some freezer jam and puree for gelato in the freezer.
On Friday I was a bit frustrated because we took the day off from school to pick berries and so far the only place I had found was the place in Canby that we had used when we lived up in Milwaukie. Michael, the wonderful man that he is, searched the computer and found a place only 10 minutes from our home. That is the closest we have ever been to u-pick strawberries. God is good.
The boys and I headed to Bernards Farm. They charged only $1.25/pound, but if you picked more than ten pounds they drop it down to $1.00/pound. Pshaw. Ten pounds. My boys eat that in one sitting.
The strawberry fields were across the highway from their farm stand, so I drove over there. Another blessing. For years we have always had to carry all our berries from way out in the fields back to the farm stand and then to our car. For most of those years I was the primary fruit hauler as the boys were just too little. At Bernard’s we are able to pull right up into the field. 
I’m not sure if it is the type of berry they grow or the fact that we have had very little rain this spring thus eliminating lots of mud for mildew covered berries and all the slugs for berries with slug holes in them. These berries were so perfect. It took us an hour and a half to pick 65 pounds. In years past it would take us two hours to pick 70 pounds.
Once we started picking I realized I had forgotten the camera. A quick call to Michael and he headed over with the camera and a little picking himself.
There we are, five flats of berries.
I’ll tell you what I do with all of them in another post.
I hope you all can indulge in the wonderfulness that are fresh strawberries.
Karen
My mouth is watering, what a wonderful adventure. And only ten minutes from the fields!!! Happy for you. Also the haul of 65 pounds. You might have to take on a side job to pay for all those gorgeous berries, but it would be worth it wouldn’t it. We are still waiting on strawberries here, it will be a few more weeks. Can’t wait to hear what you do with the berries.
It is so wonderful to have such a great place to pick berries so close to home.
I put money aside each month for “fresh fruit”. We used to go u-pick for cherries every year as well. Did that for many years but most of the u-pick places are gone now.
That place might be a good first job for the boys. They certainly know how to pick. My very first job was picking radishes and green onions in the field of a local farmer back in the city.
Enjoy your day,
Karen
I never seem to be able to grow enough of my own! I’ve not found a U-Pick for strawberries around here, but we used to live by one that the kids and I frequented every year. They started having trouble with folks not picking the entire row, but only running by and taking the best of the berries. A few years later they close their U-Pick. That was sad.
I don’t think we could grow enough of our own. My boys would eat them as they became ripe. Joshua is already climbing the cherry tree getting the two or three ripe cherries each day or so. I’ll probably won’t taste a cherry this summer 🙂
One place we picked at for many years, until their prices jumped, would have a flag and they would assign you a row and where you finished picking you would put your flag. The next person they assigned to that row would begin at the flag.
I was really happy to find u-pick at $1/lb. That is what I budget for and they were the only ones at that price. Hopefully that lasts a long time.
Enjoy your weekend,
Karen
I remember putting out of business an u-pick farm back in Maryland. I ate their blueberries at a higher rate than what went into my basket. I think I ate more pounds of blueberries than my own weight. Literary. I don’t think they liked me very much. Each time they saw my car pulling in, they put up a sign “Closed for maintenance”. But it didn’t help. I waited and got my blueberries anyways.
That was a joke. On the serious side, thank Goodness for u-pick farms. They are a blessing.
Kimberly
You know, when they first started out we worried that they would eat too much but the owners understood it and didn’t have a problem with the boys eating three saving one.
If you’ve ever read “Blueberries for Sal” by Robert McCloskey it always reminded me of Sal. And I would always tell the boys we needed to store food up for the winter and yet I didn’t can yet.
Great memories.
That is the next thing I need to find, a u-pick blueberry place.
Ta ta,
Karen