We went strawberry picking the other day.  One of my favorite summer activities, which is funny because I remember hating it as a child.  You have to squat the whole time, being careful not to step on berries in the tight rows, sore legs, and aching back.  Maybe we stayed too long or I was just a whiny child.  I don’t know.  Now we go to this awesome place with beautiful views and wide rows.  The kids plop down and eat pick berries into their pint containers, occasionally dumping them into my big tray.

Eve samples the goods.

Nice wide rows, perfect for little ones to sit down while picking.

I love this place!

They had cherry trees too! They are sour cherries, but I thought we should pick some and I’d make a pie. Then we got there and the trees are covered in sticky juice, the bees are everywhere, and I remembered that cherries have pits and it would take a long time to make a pie… so we scrapped it and headed for donuts instead!

The picking goes pretty quickly so we’re usually done in a half hour or so.  I have trouble leaving the field because I always see just one more red berry, but the kids dragged me away, eager to get to the petting zoo and the homemade cider donuts!

Yummy! Fresh cider donuts!

Of course we need to visit the petting zoo too!  Lots of goats and birds and chickens this year.  The bunnies were in cages, which made Eve sad.  The pigs were pooping and therefore not fun to watch and the sheep was in hiding somewhere.  The goats are always the funnest part anyway, in my opinion. :)

This confused kid thought my toes were strawberries and kept trying to nibble them. :)

Hello goats!

Lex really enjoyed being in the bird cage this year. There were pigeons flying around the top, circling around and around, and I thought the whole thing was scary, but he spent a lot of time in there. They both love the peacocks. There are several of them this year!

We were sad that the bunnies weren’t out running around. Eve loves to pet them. Then we started looking a little closer in the cages and found lots and lots of babies! Each cage had a momma bunny and a litter of babies. Then we understood why they weren’t out running around.

This picture made me laugh. One white goat is working the food machine and the other is working the milk machine! :)

Back home…

We got lots! It took me longer to wash and hull them than it did for us to pick them all!

I made a strawberry rhubarb pie (soup) last night. It is delicious, despite the soupiness!

Today I made eleven jars of strawberry jam while the kids were in camp.  Since I was heating up the house and had all the canning supplies out, I decided to make pickled beets as well.  I had a bunch of them from our CSA and I don’t really like beets, so I decided to pickle them.   I also made “beet chips” like kale chips with beet greens, on recommendation from our CSA farmer.  They are way more work than they are worth, in my opinion.  Tomorrow all the remaining greens from the CSA are going into a big sauté pan!