Strawberries

I've been thinking about strawberries for days now. Ever since my daughter-in-law gave us a variety of fruit spreads she canned last year, I've been anxious to try my hand at it again. When my first husband and I lived in Barhamsville, we had a huge garden and I canned all sorts of good stuff: pickled asparagus, spaghetti sauce, concord grape jelly. Now that it's May and fresh vegetables and berries are starting to appear, I'm ready get down the canning jars and start the water boiling. We've had local asparagus, but are just eating them fresh. My current husband doesn't care for pickled foods. However, he does consume a lot of fruit preserves. So, it's May and that means strawberries.

When I decided that today was the day for strawberry picking (see my last post -- I decided to pick strawberries instead of weeds), a quick Google brought me the happy news that Hidden Brook Farm would be open for picking today at 9 a.m. The farm is located on the western edge of James City County about 12 miles from Williamsburg. Farmer Jim Hill rode up in his golf cart as another customer and I arrived. The other customer lived nearby and just wanted a quart ($2.50). I went for the 4 quart bucket ($10.00). He said he took checks, so I told him I might have to pick a couple of buckets.

While I was picking, 3 more customers came. The strawberry patch was big enough for all of us to grab a row and go to town. The berries were thick, even though he'd had a lot of customers over the weekend and had taken berries to the Farmer's Market. I guiltily ate one berry and brought my first bucket back to his stand. Another couple arrived at the same time with buckets piled to overflowing and Jim joked with them about eating all they wanted. Okay, so greed is expected. I went back with my second bucket and ate to my heart's content. Actually, hot strawberries (temperatures were in the 80s) really aren't that tasty, but I couldn't let them go to waste, could I?

When I checked out, Farmer Jim asked me if I'd like a dozen eggs. They were fresh this morning. I couldn't turn down that offer. He described how fresh eggs don't spread out when you fry them. Hmmm. I think we'll have fresh eggs and toast with fresh strawberry jam for dinner.