Strawberry Fields

I have longed to go strawberry picking since Hadleigh was a toddler.  We have been blueberry picking, apple picking, and pumpkin picking.  But this is the first time we've lived (or visited) near a strawberry field during the right season! 

Some new friends from church invited us to go with them a week or so ago, and I was happy to agree!

We set off with six children between the two of us.  I quickly learned that while Crocs might be the easiest shoe to clean from berry picking, it certainly is not the most ideal shoe for the rain-filled rows we encountered.  And so, we were off to a muddy start.  

There were some tears and one four year old who proceeded to gather strawberries with one shoe on and the other off.  But eventually my girls enjoyed the search for berries and happily filled their buckets alongside their friend.

Nathanael, all boy, was not daunted by the mud in the least and was always too far ahead of my camera to pose for a picture. (Though I did catch him from the back in that top shot.)  He gathered a huge number of berries and then played with the other boys in the field beside the berry rows.

The children tired out much more quickly than us moms, and so we called it quits after a row or two...but not before we each gathered about 13 lbs. of strawberries.  And to top it off, as it was the end of the season (and the farm was no longer gathering to sell in their market) we picked at the reduced rate of $1 a lb.  Quite a sweet bargain, don't ya think?

These are the berries we brought home.  Freshly-picked is the best way to eat a strawberry, I think.

I think I'm already excited about next year's strawberry crop!