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I am a retired English teacher and department head, the mother of three grand mother of four, and have been married to the same man for 52 years. I subscribe to Dr. PM Forni's concept of Civility. I was born in South Philadelphia and grew up in the 'burbs. I love soft pretzels and cheesesteaks, the Phillies, the Eagles, and San Diego. I love being Mom, Aunt Kathy, Nona Kathy, and Teacher. I spend a lot of time in my gardens in the spring and summer, and in the winter I plan what I'm going to plant. I also am an avid reader and photographer.

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Saturday, May 22, 2010

Yesterday, after getting the fourth shots (in a series of five) for my knees, I headed to the western part of the county to Larriland Farms to pick strawberries.  The sky a beautiful blue; the temp a pleasant 77°, sunscreen applied, ice water in my Rubbermaid bottle, I was ready.  There were about 25 in the field when I got there.  Of course things cleared a bit when someone spotted a snake, and the bratty kid who kept encroaching on my row ran screaming to his car, but I stayed and was able to pick about 13 pounds in about an hour. I didn't think I had enough and thought I might return next week. (What was I thinking???)   

Today I got to work rinsing, hulling, and crushing the fruit to make strawberry preserves.  It took me all day.  This is what 13 pounds of strawberries look like now.

15 comments:

Linda Reeder said...

I grew up in rural Oregon, in the Willamette Valley. Every summer right after school was out, we worked in the fields. The first month was strawberry picking. I crawled along many a row, year after year, in all kinds of weather, starting about 6:30 AM. I'm not so fond of strawberries, or picking them, or eating them, or strawberry jam. But I do appreciate your hard work and the beautiful results.

TAG said...

Love, love, love fresh strawberries. Those look so much better than the really large (imported from FL) ones we've had in the local stores to this point.

TAG

Cobalt Violet said...

Yum!!! Love strawberry preserves. My grandmother had a garden in Mariposa California near Yosemite and grew all sorts of berries and made preserves. Brings back great memories.

I am so impressed you went out berry picking! :)

Gilly said...

You have been busy!! How did your knees stand up to the task?? It would have killed me! Pity!

By preserves, do you mean jam (?jelly on your side of the Pond??) or have you preserved them in another way? I am intrigued by the tops on the jars. When we here make jam we just use the original screw top, or the time-honoured way of a greased circle on top of the jame and then cellophane top, put on when pot is hot so it stretches and keeps it all air tight.

If we preserve fruit we use kilner jars, which have rubber rings and glass lids and very strong screwed rings around the lot. Hard to describe!

But whatever you have done, it looks yummy!

Did you save a few strawberries to have with cream and sugar???

Kimberly said...

Holy Cow! That is a lot of preserves...(mouth watering as I gaze upon them).

Lena said...

I am amazed you can pick strawberries with a bad knee!

Sounds like a very productive day! And those strawberries look beautiful!

happyone said...

Wow, that is a lot of strawberries! They look soooo good. :-)

Jay said...

We're kinda famous for our strawberries around here. Well, the little town of Marshall just south of me is. But, I've never gone down there and picked my own. There are people set up on the side of the roads all over the area selling strawberries. Yummy!

Linda said...

The strawberries and the jam are beautiful but is that what you're suppose to do right after an injection to make your knees better?

Purple Flowers said...

I have one word - yum! :)

Mage said...

Just wow. I hope that's enough for the summer.

George said...

I don't think there is anything better than fresh strawberries. I bet the preserves are delicious.

beachgirl said...

How fun, I remember making jam with my Nana. We picked all kinds of things growing up and then we canned them. 9 people eat a lot.

beachgirl said...

How fun, I remember making jam with my Nana. We picked all kinds of things growing up and then we canned them. 9 people eat a lot.

Sweet Virginia Breeze said...

My, you have been busy! I bet those preserves are delicious. You will be enjoying them all year.
Hope you knees are doing better.