Let the Berry-ing Begin!

Well, woohoo. Strawberry season has arrived in the Northeastern USA and I am ready to meet it head-on. Unlike other years, when I'm only dimly aware of these jewels when they're almost gone, I was one of the first in the fields this year. Friday saw me wading thru the slop (after a torrential downpour that morning) in my slinky black pants and sleeveless white sweater - I was on my way home from work when a Pick-Ur-Own sign caught my eye. Came home with four quarts, all I could handle for an unplanned stop. These are for eating fresh - about half of them are juicing in the fridge with raw cane sugar for shortcake tonight. Next week will be a minimum of 16 more quarts for freezing. We'll see how freezer space looks after that. We still have cherries, raspberries, wild black caps and blueberries to come. But strawberries are my favorite so they may get a little more than their share of room.

In other garden news...look at our lettuce!

We also have broccoli, tomatoes (Dr. Wyches Yellow, Reinhard's Goldkirsche and something The Father-in-law selected), cukes (English seedless, Lemon and Boston Pickling), beans (green string, McCaslin and Purple Poles), peppers (yellow banana, habanero, Corno di Toro Giallo and Sweet Chocolate), Walla Walla sweet onions and a ton of other stuff. The FIL has the greenest thumb of anyone I've ever known except for my mom. So it looks like a bountiful season ahead!

Here are some dumb clucks who share our yard space.



And the hummingbird feeder in our back cedar trees. It gets a lot of action, but I'm way too slow to get a shot of an actual hummingbird. Picture one here:

These were all taken last week, as you can see by the dates. Other than the lettuce, which has taken off like a house afire, it all pretty much looks the same :)

Wilting in the heat and wishing you all a Happy Saturday!