Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Picking Raspberries

Today our friend called us in the morning to see if we wanted to go raspberry picking. We ate a quick breakfast, got dressed and went to pick berries. This year has been my first real year of berry picking, so if you are not a picker yet, here is something obvious I forgot to take into consideration.
Strawberries vs. Raspberries:
Strawberries are low to the ground so I could always see my boys as they wandered and played, but the raspberry stalks were taller than corn stalks. The kids loved to run and hide in the raspberry stalks, but I couldn't see them so this made me nervous. Washington strawberries are small, so you have to pick a bunch to make jam. I could pick a whole lot more raspberries in an hour, but because I had to spend so much time trying to keep an eye on my kids, I picked the same amount of raspberries as I did strawberries. Andrew kept hiding and the big boys would try to find him. This would cause Andrew to run farther away while giggling. Also, as you can see in this picture, Andrew enjoys strawberries more than raspberries. All in all, we had a great time. Next year will be even better because the kids will be a little bigger and I will know what to expect. Needless to say, I hope we picked enough raspberries to make jam. --emily

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

We'll have to invent child friendly chain-gang gear for picking berries and other mom activites that require a parents attention elsewhere. :)
momAKAgrandma

Darci said...

Yum! It's great that the kids find ways to entertain themselves, but it does slow progress a little. They'll remember these fun outings with you forever.

CJAllred said...

I love raspberries. My folks had a large raspberry patch at their home in Idaho. My mother would pick one or two large mixing bowls full of raspberries each morning and night. She knew how to prune the plants each spring to produce the largest berries. They were DE LISH! Then of course she would make raspberry jam, because as much as we enjoyed eating fresh raspberries with milk or ice cream, we couldn't eat them all fresh. It looks like the kids had fun.

CJAllred said...

Actually, it looks like you need a buddy to go with you just to watch the kids.