U-Pick, We Pick

 The Nugget's favorite part is the ride to the patch.

 Harvesting is a workout!

 My precious!

Sampling the goods

There's something just extra-satisfying about selecting your own produce straight from the fields, and if you haven't tried it, I can't even describe how much fresher the fruit tastes than it does from the store.  And at $1.50/pound, you just can't beat the price.  We love driving out to the local farms and trying our hand at harvesting.  The Nugget is obsessed with farms and farm equipment (if you want to hear him talk for 5 minutes straight, ask him about the John Deere cotton picker), so he is less interested in the picking and more interested in which tractor we get to ride next.

Of course, the main problem is that your "little" peck basket doesn't look so big out in the vast fields of berries, and you know these are the cheapest, tastiest berries you're going to see all year, so you are tempted to fill 2 pecks.  Upon arriving home, the berries suddenly feel overwhelming on your tiny kitchen counters, and the time is ticking away for you to process/devour them before they start to rot.

So far, we've delivered berries to neighbors and friends, froze enough to fill a gallon bag, made strawberry syrup for today's pancakes, enjoyed strawberry shortcake, and I have a recipe for strawberry muffins on deck.