Strawberries, Yum!

We went strawberry picking on Saturday. The farm we went to is called Swanson's Berry Farm. They are about a 1.5 hour drive from us. We stopped for brunch on the way so the kids and us could take a little break. I had a lovely beet salad at this little place called Chez Shea. I don't know when I started loving beets so much.

We drove the rest of the way to the farm after brunch and spent about an hour there. Do you see Kira?

We picked almost 10lbs of strawberries! This is an "after" shot. Kira is showing off what she thought was the best of the batch. We filled two of these big boxes.

Now, I am not a country girl and don't know much about farming, berry picking, etc. According to the Mr., the way I was yanking the berries right out of the vines traumatized the plants and it's better that Kira learns her berry picking techniques from the expert. I have to say though, that strawberry picking was more fun and more satisfying than blueberry picking. One summer many years ago, Brett and I spent 2 hours at a blueberry farm and picked maybe 2lbs of tiny little blueberries. I can easily yank out 2 lbs of strawberries in 10 min. Right... I shouldn't have been yanking, I meant gently plucking. Here is a picture of Kira taking a strawberry picking lesson from the master.


She did it! Look at that finger print on the berry. I guess when it comes to farming, she is more like me than Brett... clumsy and violent.


Then she got all concerned that the strawberry "bled" on her.


What's in it for Hayden? Not much. He had to sit in the stroller and wait while we had fun. Sorry baby. Next year, you can climb all over like all the other big kids.


I don't think I've ever seen a flower and a very young strawberry up close.


Posing for a I-am-so-cute shot.


Daddy and daughter hard at work.


Needless to say, we've been consuming our berries like mad here. Kira never seem to be able to get enough of them. I hope she doesn't OD on strawberries like she did avocados.