.....I have been slightly obsessed with fruit picking this summer.....once I found out that there were strawberry fields, it was like the other fruits felt left out and hailed us to come hither......
......we picked our strawberries on the last day of the season and of course, the farm made sure we knew that blueberries were next.....my jaw dropped.......I had no idea there were blueberry fields in CT........the more I started to share the good news with friends, I found out that peaches make their debut in mid-July as well......I may have gone weak in the knees......not that I am capable of whipping up a cobbler from scratch or a blueberry pie, but the thought of taking my kids to a farm and bringing the fruit straight to our table is a very cool and healthy memory I want them to have......suddenly, upon hearing of all these you pick 'em options, I instantly made it my mission that we would pick strawberries, blueberries, peaches, donut peaches, raspberries, apples and pumpkins within 30 minutes from our house during their prospective seasons........I still talk about tomato picking with my Mom and vividly remember making sauce later that night......as a kid, I sold the limes we picked from our tree on our corner and every weekend we squeezed our own orange juice from the tree on the side of my yard......
.....farm to table, baby.....there is nothing like it.......I hailed the troops to the blueberry fields, ready to sear another berry moment in my kids' memories......
.....our record breaking heat wave seemed like the perfect opportunity to pick blueberries.....we truly experienced the fruit of our labor......by 10am when we hit the field, it was already above 92 degrees and the babes were already complaining they were hot on the truck ride to the field.......I also had no idea that blueberries are tricky to pick.......it takes a lot of work to search for the perfectly ripe berry......there is a lot of reaching, bending, kneeling, and being tangled up in branches to find a ripe bunch......it especially takes extra effort to make progress when Brody swipes his share from the basket for a snack in the shade, but the girls weathered the heat and the berry snatcher defiantly......
......the ice cold water bottle I used to spray heads and hot skin probably bought us an extra twenty minutes in the field......all of which we needed because the berries we brought home lasted 18 hours before they were gone.....I didn't even have an opportunity to to feel like I could possibly pull it off and google 'blueberry pie recipes' before the baskets were bare......
.....so this week, we spontaneously headed to another farm on Monday morning ready to start the week with healthy intentions.......
.....peach picking is the easiest of the fruit picking we have done this summer.....find the bright orange, soft peaches and pull......it's easy, it's quick and my babes eagerly handed me four full bags in less than 20 minutes.....
....this trip, Brody actually pulled his weight.....
.....the cooler weather this week also enabled us to slow down and to inhale the beauty of where we live.....the hills, the lush green vegetation, and the scenery.......
......then we can drive home and be back at the pool club with our sweet neighbors or scour the beach for shells and crabs in the afternoon.....
.....best of both worlds in so many ways......
.....and if anyone has a good peach recipe, I am all ears......we can not eat or give away the loads of peaches we have quick enough......
.....I may just have to attempt cobbler after all.....
......all of this fruit talk has made me envious of the wine I could be drinking to go with it......soon enough..........but for the rest of you, MommyJuice Wines is sponsoring a giveaway of two stemless goblets for one winner.......perfect for the last of summer happy hours in your favorite place......
.....good luck and cheers!......
