Today, with the company of good friends, baskets in hand, sunshine on our back, and a lightness in our step, we welcomed summer in the fields. While I had my heart set on peaches, it turned out that Olallieberries were the fruit of the day.
I find comfort in returning to the same place year after year, in search of sunshine and yummy fruit. The boys know the gig, and so do I. Ride tractor. Pick. Pick. Pick. And goodness are they ever good pickers these days, that is unless they have friends to run amok with, as was the case today. There was just about enough picking done by the little hands among us to be sure and leave the fields with the evidence written all over their faces. At our next stop the cashier asked them if they were saving some for later, they looked puzzled having no idea they looked like a berry themselves. As for myself, I came away feeling satisfied that another season of picking was fully upon us. Picking and preserving has begun. It makes my heart happy each year, for food in some ways seems so simply basic, and yet there is so much to learn about it, to enjoy about it, to celebrate around it, and of course to truly be thankful for having plenty of it.
Wishing you the very best of summer!
