Berries, berries, and more berries

At this time of year in the great Northwest there isn't anything better than fresh, plump and juicy, hand-picked berries. The kids and I have been berry picking several, well more than several, times so far this year. We throw on our dirty shoes (now nicknamed our berry picking shoes) put our berry boxes (and the backpack for Drew) in the car and we're off. We've now picked raspberries, marionberries, boysenberries, and just on Friday, blueberries. We drive about five miles Northwest of our house to this great little farm called West Union Gardens. The people there are so nice and the kids are always welcome to help pick. They even encourage taste testing which is a must when you are picking berries. If they were smart, they'd weigh the kids (and me) before we started and after we were done...I bet the kids eat at least a couple pounds of berries in the hour that we're there. So far though, we luckily haven't had any tummy troubles. Anyway, I just love it out there, the farm land is so beautiful and so peaceful and everything is so fresh and tasty. (They also sell fresh green beans, zucchini, and cherry tomatoes which we buy in large quantities.)

Luke and Ellie do a great job picking. Some of the berries might not necessarily be ripe by my standards but for the most part they get the idea. On Friday while we were picking blueberries Luke was picking some of the berries that the birds had gotten to so I told him that those might not be the best ones to pick since the birds had eaten them. He went on his merry way and continued to plop big berries into his container. About five minutes later he says "Mom, is this yellow stuff the bird's snot?" I about died laughing.

So after all of this berry picking, I have to admit that I've become a berry snob. I look at the berries at the grocery store but they just aren't good enough, or fresh enough for me.... Aren't we lucky to have the abundence of all this yummy fruit right at our fingertips?