Berry Pickin'

Summertime is all about the berries around here. I look forward to berry season every year. They are everywhere; in the farmers markets, at roadside stands, and in u-pick farms for miles around. Picking them yourself is obviously the cheapest route and certainly the most fun.
I always pick more than I intend to because it is so addicting!

We started out in June picking strawberries out at Sauvie Island Farms. Strawberry season is the trickiest for u-pick because it is so short and usually falls around the time school is getting out and we are busy. There are still strawberries to be found all summer at the farmer's market, but it is so much fun to pick them ourselves. We were also surprised to find some early blueberries ready to go as well.

We ended up with 6 pounds of strawberries and 2 pounds of blueberries. They did not last long. Many of them got eaten. We made a blueberry pie and some strawberry freezer jam. Yummy!

Look, how pretty are these?

It's a good thing I have good helpers.

This week I was ready for raspberries. We went out to West Union Gardens on Monday. The first time I went to pick raspberries here I was astounded. I had never seen raspberries so big in all my life! They were as big as strawberries and just as sweet. This year I forgot the cardinal rule of berry picking - never pick early in the week because the plants will be picked over from the weekend. It was not a great raspberry day but we got enough to make raspberry freezer jam and got some blackberries too.

Now I am just trying to think of what else I can do with berries so I can go out and pick some more.