a pickin’ we will go
Something I’ve always wanted to do but have never gotten around to doing is strawberry picking. I finally got that opportunity on Thursday evening when we went with a couple other families to a local strawberry farm in town. And the timing seemed perfect because it was a paradise of strawberries for as far as the eyes could see. Mike was ambitious and got us 6 baskets to load up because the farm was offering a special of buy 5 baskets and get one free. We gave each girl a basket, too, in hopes that they could contribute even just a fraction of the workload.
Mimi wasn’t so successful. Somehow all the strawberries she picked ended up in her belly.
Annie was quite the worker bee. She filled up an entire basket with suitable strawberries. She was so proud of herself and even asked if she could get a job there. When it was time to pay up for our pickins’ Annie actually asked the teenage girl who worked there if she could have a job, too. We’ll see how she feels when she actually reaches the legal employment age.
The final results of our labor. One family donated the 6th basket to us because it would have taken a bit longer to pick that last one. Thanks to the Johnsons for that.
All the kids (minus 1) who “helped” with all the picking and 2 families’ worth of strawberries. We sure will be busy making jam.
We started our jam session last night, but only got through one double batch which resulted in 20 8 oz jars. Two more double batches will probably be needed to get through the rest of the strawberries. Do the math, it’s a LOT of strawberry jam! Mike and I debated whether we should make that much jam, but I reminded him about how many pb&js I make each week. I’ll definitely post about it with pictures when the job is complete.
June 27th, 20092:33 pm at
Very cool! Keep encouraging Annie to get a job at a strawberry farm because it sounds like an awesome job!
That is a lot of strawberries. Good luck making jam.
June 27th, 20093:13 pm at
I canned 17 pints last weekend, following exact directions, and the jam is runny. Waiting for a response on the Fresh Preserving blog. I’m going to try to do some blueberry jam this weekend. I have a great recipe for some spicy salsa if you want it -just let me know.
June 27th, 20093:42 pm at
We are already finishing off our first 16 oz. jar of jam. I am sure we will be sick of jam soon but right now we are loving it! I even made some fresh warm bread…too yummy! I am still laughing at Annie going up and asking for a job with a totally serious face.
June 27th, 20094:09 pm at
SP-
I think it would be a wonderful experience for Annie to work at a farm when she gets older. It’d put hair on her chest. Er, something like that.
Helen-
Mike is worried that ours may be too runny, too. But the instruction sheet inside of the pectin box said it could take up to 2 weeks set up. So maybe we all are just products of our society of instant gratification. We’d love to have a good salsa recipe since we’re going to have more tomatoes than we know what to do with in a few weeks. Mike has big goals for canning dozens of jars of spaghetti sauce.
Julie-
I don’t think I could get sick of strawberry jam, but then again I’ve never had 60 jars on hand to go through. Mmmm, warm fresh-baked bread and homemade strawberry jam sounds delightful. Annie is totally serious about her future strawberry farm job. She’s been talking about it non-stop.
June 28th, 20092:34 pm at
Jen, here’s the recipe – Helen
Salsa Recipe
1.5 cans Rotel Tomatoes with Green Chiles (drain juice)
2 good size tomatoes (cut up)
½ onion, chopped
¼ cup cilantro, chopped
½ lime – squeeze juice in blender
Place all ingredients in blender/food processor. Puree about 1.5 minutes (until everything is pureed).
Refrigerate for 24 hours before serving. (This is a good way to try it before you make the commitment to can a whole batch).
If you are going to can this, you need to make the calculations for the number of jars you want to prepare. The secret to the spicy recipe is the Rotel Tomatoes and Green Chiles. I’ve tried it with other brands but this is the best. I think I canned 20 pints last year – and it didn’t last very long in my house !
June 29th, 20091:58 am at
I love strawberry picking. Yum.
June 29th, 20097:29 pm at
Thanks, Helen! Mike loves salsa and insists I purchase a jar almost every time I go grocery shopping. He will love to have his own on hand. Now if only those tomatoes would start sprouting.
Denise-
I need to get caught up with you. Thanks for checking in. I know you are uber busy with those boys. I’ll be in the same boat in less than 2 months:/