Berry Picking

I spent the most memorable years of my youth (age 11-18) in Portland, Oregon and during every summer I can remember, my mom took my sisters and I berry picking. I’m sure in some years, the activity was met with more groaning than others, but the activity remains a very positive memory.

Since my mom was in town, I took full advantage of her experience (and the second pair of eyes and arms) and set out for my very first berry picking adventure with daughters of my own!

Cadence, obviously, was too young to get anything out of the experience, but I’m sure she enjoyed the fresh air and (partial) sunshine. Adelaide, on the other hand, had a blast! She took right to the task of berry picking!

We started out picking strawberries, since they’re low to the ground and don’t have thorns. My mom showed her how to tell which strawberries were ripe (the red ones) and she was off and running! The strawberries were pretty picked over, but we managed to get a decent haul. Then we moved on to raspberries. The raspberry season had just opened so the vines were packed with ripe berries. Most of them were too tall for Adelaide to reach, but she managed to pick eat a few. I’m not sure any raspberries she picked actually made it into the buckets…but that’s part of the experience!

We wound up with a whopping 5 pounds of berries! Woo! The raspberries were made into freezer jam that night—DELISH! I have yet to do anything with the strawberries…still undecided on that front so far. I only have another day or so to make up my mind before I just freeze them, as-is. Any suggestions??

It was such a fun experience! I’m thinking of going back for blueberry season. Adelaide ADORES blueberries.

🙂