My mom used to make the best strawberry preserves when we were young. I remember going to the patch to pick them, and her being in the kitchen all day canning them. We often did the actual canning at Great Grandma Oatney's house, since she was a master canner (also well known for her pecan pie and crocheting masterpieces). I've seen a few farms in our area advertising strawberry seasons, and knew I wanted to continue this fruity legacy. When our friends, the Amoses, wanted to go picking last Saturday, Emerson and I knew we had to go!
We headed to an area patch. I work with Suzanne, our husbands are chummy and bowl together, and our boys all get along really well! Luke and Noah are a little older than Emerson, and are so great with him. He views them as a single entity though..."Luke-and-Noah." He even suggested we name the baby "Luke-and-Noah." Not Luke. Not Noah. Luke-and-Noah. There are few evenings that go by where Emerson doesn't ask to go to their house. One of the many reasons we love our neighborhood!
We ended up with about 12 lbs. of strawberries. The Amoses had over 30 lbs! This is attributed to a few things. Suzanne had two helpers and I had one. Squatting and picking strawberries while 8 months pregnant was a little more difficult than I anticipated. And...my helper didn't add a single strawberry to my basket. My helper thought his strawberries were missiles for strawberry war. And he ate his weight in those he didn't throw. Nonetheless, I had enough to make a couple batches of jam. After canning, I froze them, and plan to enjoy them all year! Let's hope they turn out!
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| Kind of a cool dude in the way back with the big kids. |
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| Note that Noah has a bag filled with strawberries. Emerson does not. He doesn't even pretend like he's helping. |
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| One of many that he ate. |
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| The three boys...what you can't see is that Emerson took a few berries to the back of the head, temporarily dyeing his hair "strawberry blonde" in a few spots! |
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| Campfire time with Noah on the Amoses patio. Summertime fun! |
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