Berry Picking

We recently purchased a very large freezer for the garage and I am in the midst of a frenzy trying to fill it with all the plentiful produce that we Oregonians are blessed with each summer. Thus, my good friend Brittany and I have coined this The Summer of Berry Picking.

We have been very diligent about heading out to pick every Wednesday. Our standing date starts at 8:30 when I pick her up and we load the car with our buckets, baskets, water bottles and flower jars. We then head straight to the James John Cafe for the best savory breakfast muffin in the world (still warm and filled with bacon-y goodness!). We dine on the road as we drive the few miles from St. Johns to Sauvie Island and pull into the Kruger parking lot. We are usually the first ones there so we head in to ask Farmer Don "what's pickin' " that day, grab our wagon and hit the dirt road to the fields.

Brittany and I love this time. Being outside, sun shining and the air filled with the smell of fresh berries and wonderful conversation... I often remind her, "we are making memories here, you know". We usually have the same conversations each week (do all friends do that?), but we love to talk about the same things all the time... "What's for dinner?" "What is new with your family?" "What is growing in your garden?" "How are your pets?"

Once our buckets and baskets are filled we then head down the road to Sauvie Island Farms for our weekly flowers... this is my favorite part of our day! Every week holds a new bouquet of flowers to adorn our homes until we head back to the farm. We fill our jars with whatever flowers happen to be blooming and then it's time to head home.

Once home, I fill my freezer containers with berries, make jam, make berry-muffin batter to freeze for a spot of sunshine in the winter and bake up berry pies. It has been so much fun and so rewarding to see our freezer fill up! I know I will enjoy all this hard work come February when I need a taste of what's to come!