Berry good season

Cliched title, but given the abundance of the season, I couldn't help it. One good thing about the small town I live in is that there are many places to get very fresh fruits directly from the farmers and orcharists.

One of last remaining large farm families here in Berkeley County West Virginia, the Orr family, has managed to thrive. One thing they do that endears them to the locals is their pick-your-own fruit seasons. First come strawberries, then cherries, then raspberries and blueberries.

The strawberries fields were ready

toward the end of May. 

My brother and I went a-pickin for an hour or so, and got enough for us to munch on fresh, but I'm a very discriminating picker. I would starve as a field hand picking 4 quarts/hour.


I ate some, froze some, and brought some to New York as a house gift to a friend who was putting a couple of us up for a few days while we attended the Book Expo.


What could be a better gift than 2 quarts of fresh strawberries picked the day before?

I did hold out the most interesting berries for myself.  The best thing about real food is that it doesn't come in easily packable and shippable shapes.