Saturday, August 30, 2008

Raspberries

A few weeks ago I took my kids to a local U-pick farm. That's one thing I totally missed out on when I was growing up in Arizona- there are NO U-pick farms in the desert . . . only botanical cactus gardens and red rock canyons.My kids were enthralled with the idea of picking berries. However, when it came down to it- they just wanted to pick a few and go home. Right after I snapped this photo, Lucy dumped all my hard earned raspberries onto the muddy ground! About 3/4ths of the raspberries were destroyed as I hand-shoveled them back into the bucket. Good thing I was planning on using them for jam. (Now I know why a dozen raspberries cost $4 at the grocery store, "fragile" is an understatement.)

My friend Jessica R. laughed when I told her how many raspberries I picked. So we went together early the next morning and did some serious picking of both raspberries AND basil. Now I have frozen jam and home-made pesto sitting in my freezer, waiting to be eaten in the brutal winter months that lay ahead. Aren't you jealous?

10 comments:

AMY said...

we totally missed raspberry season - luckily green bluff will get fall raspberries in a couple of weeks. Mike is totally a raspberry jam fan. The boys and I did go pick blakberries for jam though. It's pretty good if you want to try something different.

The Hansen Clan said...

How fun! Katelyn dropped our raspberries too (just the few from our garden) and then Brooke stepped in them. As for my basil plant, it was thriving when we left for Utah and when I got back it was gone! Apparently there is a critter that likes fresh herbs because it left the tomatoes, squash, zucchini, peas and green beans - but my rosemary, thyme and basil are gone. So yes, I am very jealous of your pesto :)

jessica said...

Ummmm...heck yeah...I'm jealous! You better invite me over for some of that jam and pesto...not together of course :) I'll bring mac and cheese for the kiddos so we don't waste any of that liquid gold on them!

Elisha said...

Oh my gosh! My mouth was totally watering as I was reading this post!!! Yeah, that's the bummer about AZ, they cost like $4-5 for a little container!!!

sainsburys said...

It is so fun to catch up with you guys again. We totally did the picking and making jam this summer. It is so yummy. Your kids are sooo adorable. It is so awesome to see your family now. congrats on the Shock doing so well. I love that you are in Spokane and are so involved. keep in touch. Amanda

Amy said...

That looks like so much fun! Isn't that classic how the kids totally only enjoyed it for like five seconds? I chuckled at how Lucy dumped them all out. We're hoping to go out to a big orchard place over in Wilcox to do pumpkins in a couple of weeks. I'm totally looking forward to it. We'll see if the kids like it.

Ilene said...

Jealous of the winter?

NO WAY.

Jealous of the fruit and pesto?

YES.

Angie said...

rasberry jam is so so good...I am jealous! We have this delicious peach tree...and I'm going to have to decide what to do with all of them!We already had 2 branches break off the tree because of the weight of the peaches! It will be a funny looking tree next year. Oh well...

Amy G. said...

i didn't know you grew up in AZ...or did i? sorry, this is the first time i've posted on your blog i think, but i was too hyped to know/remember that you grew up here! and yes, very sad that there are no u-pick farms in AZ. oh how i miss that about VA!

your blog is very cute!

Susan said...

Hi Meg.....a little late on this post; but, I must say the raspberries look divine. I'm thinking about starting some here! For sure, we'll probably put in an apricot tree. What do you think? By the way, there were u-pick orchards in Q.C. for peaches. We got some one year; I always wanted apricots, but by the time I got around to that, those were not there anymore. Utah is ideal for peaches and apricots....RASPBERRIES TOO!
So glad you got some!! Love,
Mom