The strawberries came in early this year. We made our annual trip out with our friends to pick a few buckets full. With kids in school now, we went out in the late afternoon. While it could have been super hot, there was a nice breeze and the humidity was low, so the day was perfect. This year was the easiest hunt for our family. We had boots to take away the problems of the mud, the girls were able to pick a full bucket themselves, they were busy with friends while they worked, and we came home with plenty of red sweet snacks.

Our friends – only missing one trooper

This is how to pick strawberries – find a good spot, be willing to climb into the plants to find good ones, and hang with a friend.

We went green bean picking at Ms. Tracy’s parents house. They were generous and shared with us. Tracy is a fast picker and out picked Mama 4 to 1. The girls enjoyed themselves and a bit of freedom. They played with the tire swing, ran around the yard, played with the cat, and enjoyed the front porch swing. Emily even tried to apply sunscreen to herself so that she wouldn’t get burned (something Mama hopes that she doesn’t do again for a while). The girls picked about three green beans each and Emily did try eating one straight from the field.

After we finished our work, Ms. Tracy got their horse Jack for the girls to ride. Julia was scared from the start. She would not pet him at all, although we talked to him a lot. Emily was skittish, but did pet him a little. When it came to time to ride we rode bareback. Emily rode first with Mama. Emily was very brave and enjoyed her ride. Before we put the horse back to the barn, we swapped the girls out and had Julia try riding for a few minutes. She was uncomfortable and wanted down at the first chance, but she rode bravely with Mama. Mama is really proud of both of for giving it a chance. Too bad we didn’t get a photo of us riding, but we needed to focus on other things at the time.

After the ride, we went back to Tracy’s to put up the green beans. Now we have a row of lovely green bean jars and fun memories. Thanks Tracy (and Tracy’s Mama)!

Just some more photos from our July blackberry picking. On a hot day the thought of sweet memories and sweet fingers is so nice.

Some of our blackberry bounty that became jam.

Emily picking her share. Of course her bucket stayed empty. All that she picked she ate. She had plenty of stains on her fingers, face, and dress.

Emily wanted to see the goat that had ventured on to our row. I was hoping that she would not get between the goat and his snack. We weren’t sure how he would react. All was ok though.

Julia too was covered with juice. She does seem a little serious here. I think it was getting a little warm by this point and she had walked and picked quite a bit.

We are looking forward to going again next year!

We joined our friends for some fun blueberry and blackberry picking. It was a sunny fun way to spend the afternoon with picking and a picnic. We picked blueberries first. The kids were fun to watch together. Some picked and filled their buckets, some picked and ate, some picked rocks and filled buckets, some watched after the babies, some ran and played games in the field, and some ventured around the bushes like a maze. Poor Julia had a rought time with a busted lip, the second of the week.

Then we went up to the blackberry rows to pick. I love to see how the kids gravitate to play with each other and which Mama they end up with. Ms. Sara was the hit with my girls, then Ms. Ashley, and only last did they come to the row with their own Mama. The girls did a pretty good job of picking the darkest of the blackberries. Emily pointed out a red & black one and told me that it was not sweet. I think she learned this by experience.

We have a little goat story to go with our blackberry picking. We picked next to a pen of goats. When we were almost done we noticed that one of the goats had gotten out of the pen and was grazing on the blackberries. As we finished up and started to walk out he moved over two rows to share our row. Emily was very curious about him. When we weren’t watching our buckets closely enough he ventured over and ate out of Ms. Ariaun’s bucket. She fought him for it and won. It reminded me of the little black bear eatting out of Little Sal’s mother’s blueberry bucket in “Blueberries for Sal” by Robert McCloskey.

We went strawberry picking with our friends. The morning started out looking stormy, but when we got there it turned out to be a beautiful, sunny day. We joined Ashley, Elena, Maeve, Ariaun, Aiden, Tracy, and Brown for our hunt for red fruity gems. We all left with plenty of great strawberries!

The field was very easy to pick because the plants were elevated and the mounds tarped, but it had a bit of mud along the rows that we had to get around. By the time we were done, the kids were covered in mud and strawberry juice. They seems pretty happy about it.

The big girls picked with Tracy. I’m not sure how much they actually picked, but they seemed to have fun. They also enjoyed hanging out with Brown. He was awesome with the girls! Tracy was very sweet to carry each of the girls over one large mud hole.

The other kids moved between the rows with the other mamas. When they were ready to switch places we picked them up and passed them over the plants. Aiden made himself comfortable with any of the girls or mamas.

Julia started eating strawberries as soon as we got to the strawberry plants. It was like strawberry heaven for her. I wasn’t sure if she was capable of picking a strawberry and putting it in the basket without it going into her mouth. After a while, Julia discovered the dirt path and that she could just play in the dirt. She was one happy girl.

Joy, joy, joy – Blueberries!

Blueberries are little round blue wonders of so much joy. These four girls just ate and ate blueberries. They ate them from their buckets, from the bushes, and probably from the ground. They also picked a few blackberries. Emily had blackberry juice stains on her chin, shirt, fingers, and legs. The pig-tailed girls all enjoyed being out in the sun on a pleasant sunny afternoon and being together.