I was going to title this blog “A Trip To The Strawberry Farm—A Parent’s Survival Guide,” but I didn’t want to send the wrong message.
Yesterday my 3-year-old daughter and I finished off the last two pieces of a very tasty strawberry rhubarb pie. It was a pie we made together with the fresh strawberries we picked earlier this summer at our local berry farm. (I froze a few pounds and have been adding them to recipes throughout the summer.) Nothing says summer than fresh strawberries, right? That was my thinking about two months ago when I loaded my daughter into the car and headed out the strawberry farm.
I had picked strawberries at this particular farm in the years prior to my daughter’s birth, so I knew the lay out of the property fairly well. However, never in my life had I ventured out into the fields with a 3-year-old (and now I know why—just kidding). Mind you, my daughter is crazy about strawberries and somewhat of a picking expert (for someone her age). We’ve taken her to pick apples from the orchard and pumpkins from the patch… but strawberries… well that was an entirely new adventure.
Don’t get me wrong. In no way am I trying to deter you from taking your little ones to a strawberry farm. In fact, on the contrary, I would highly suggest you provide your children with the opportunity to see that fruits and vegetables don’t grow in the supermarket. Allowing them to get out in nature, get their hands dirty, and see, touch and smell where produce really comes from is a priceless gift. I’m just saying before you accept the mission keep these tips in mind:
Dress Appropriately. Berry picking season peaks around the last week in June (at least here in the Midwest), so it is not unusual to be gathering berries on a 90-degree day. With that in mind, it’s critical that your children be dressed appropriately. My daughter and I were picking in a row next to a grandmother and her two young granddaughters. The girls were decked out in adorable matching pink and white sleeveless sundresses complete with embroidered strawberries. They looked as cute as can be (and it certainly made for a great picture—strawberry dresses in a strawberry field), but the entire time they were picking all I heard were the girls complaining to their grandma that the bugs were biting all of their exposed skin. In contrast, my daughter wore a pair of jeans and a shirt featuring of all things—-watermelons (I pick my battles with her and clothing is not an issue I go to the mat on). I also lathered my daughter with sunscreen and made her wear a hat out in the field. Comfortable shoes are a must too.
Timing Is Everything. It’s a good idea to call ahead before you go out to a strawberry farm. The farm we go to accepts school groups and I knew it would be disastrous if we decided to pick berries on a day when the fields were full of kids my daughter viewed as “competition.” It’s also wise to monitor the weather. I knew I wanted to go on a weekday (weekends are typically when the masses flock to the fields) and tried to choose a day that it would be sunny and mild. If it looks like it’s going to be a scorcher, consider getting your picking done by mid-morning so you aren’t wilting in the hot summer sun. Believe me no kid is going to enjoy the adventure of picking if his vision is impaired by sweat.
Have Realistic Goals. My goal was to walk away with 8 pounds of strawberries. Prior to leaving for the farm I combed through recipes and calculated the number of strawberries I needed for each. So 8 pounds it was… was supposed to be anyway. When we first arrived at the farm my daughter was raring to go. She had a ball riding the tractor trailer out to the fields and was delighted that the farmer gave her a special pint-sized basket of her very own to collect her sweet treats. The first five minutes were great. We talked about the strawberry growing process and the method by which you should pick berries. We made a game out of who could find the biggest berries… we laughed… she posed in the field for pictures… then about three minutes later as I was positioning the empty buckets along our designated row I heard my daughter ask: “Mommy… when’s the tractor coming back to get us? I want to ride that fun tractor again–NOW!” Did I mention that we still had 8 pounds of berries to pick? My point is when you are picking strawberries with a child you may have to redefine your goals. I was able to get my daughter refocused and we did eventually get about 6 pounds of berries picked, but towards the end I too started to wonder where that tractor was.
Quit While Your Ahead. After about 20 minutes in the field I deduced that my daughter is a city girl through and through. Country living (or any type of manual labor in the great outdoors) is simply not her strong suit. I knew I was in trouble when my normally chatty child went silent for a bit. My back was turned to her while I picked berries at warp speed knowing that it wouldn’t be long before she went looking for the tractor on her own. “How you doing over there,” I asked blindly. A few seconds later I got my answer: “Mommy, these are great strawberries.” I spun around to find that my strawberry loving 3-year-old had emptied an entire basket of strawberries into her mouth. So, technically we picked about 7 pounds of strawberries. Only about a pound of them rode home with us her in her stomach instead of in a basket.
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