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Earlier this week, the kids and I went strawberry picking at a U-Pick Farm. I was so excited prior to the picking day! Not only were the strawberries just $1.25 per pound, but I can still remember going strawberry picking with my Mom, so I was pleased to be able to start forming those same memories with the kids.
As an added bonus to our trip, I had emailed out to my homeschooling group about when we planned on going, and was pleased to have three other families decide to join us as well. Of course, this did mean that my kids that I thought might be good pickers (but I should have known better) were even less help, as they happily chatted away with the family in the row next to us. (I wasn’t too upset though, as this is not a family they knew, and they got along really well right away. So, that was nice.)
It’s funny (and probably a sign of some of those differences between being a kid and being an adult), I remember strawberry picking being very fun and I remember eating lots of strawberries. Nowhere in my memory do I recall being horribly tired and sore that night. Now, however, even a couple of days later, I still have a very strong memory of it (especially since my legs are still sore).
We picked for just under an hour, and we left the farm with 17 pounds of strawberries. And, I left knowing that I had a lot of work ahead of me.
First, I hulled and washed all of the berries. (I mostly just hulled them with my thumb nail, as this wasted the least amount of berry. (However, I also used a little hulling tool for part of the time as well.)
After the hulling and washing, I moved on to making only the second pie that I have ever made before. It was so tasty, however, we are now calling it Mama’s Ugly Strawberry Pie. You know, because it was ugly. There just seemed to be too much liquid, and it got everywhere. Still, like I said, it sure was tasty! (If you’re going to fail at making a food, if it’s tasty, it helps to make up for the failure.)
I then moved on to making strawberry freezer jam. I made three batches (using about six pounds of strawberries), and ended up with 18 containers of jam. We got to try it for the first time tonight at dinner and it was delicious. We had breakfast for dinner, so it was a perfect opportunity for toast with butter and jam. In interest of full disclosure, I will share that at least some of us then moved on to trying cottage cheese and strawberry jam, as well as bacon and strawberry jam. Yeah, you read that right. And, as far as I’m concerned, they were all winners.
After making jam, I flash froze both whole berries and quartered berries. I will use these for a variety of uses, but especially for making smoothies. This will be a much more frugal option than buying bags of frozen strawberries to add to my smoothies!
My next to last stop in strawberry processing was to quarter berries and mix them with sugar. I let it set for just a few minutes before putting this mixture into one cup portions to freeze.
And finally, we got out some melting chocolates and had some “fondue” for dessert, including our new berries, bananas, marshmallows, and graham crackers. Delicious!
What are your favorite things to do with strawberries? Do you pick strawberries (or anything else) at U-Pick Farms?
This post is linked to: Tasty Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Friday Fails, and Frugal Fridays.
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Meredith Browand says
We need to find a good U-pick strawberry field out here. As much as my boys love strawberries it would definitely be economical.
I love, love, love a bagel with peanut butter and sliced strawberries on top. Delish!
Kristin says
I have never taken the boys to pick (that would be considered work to them right??) but you are making me want to go pick some myself!
What a great adventure, and frugal for sure! Adding one more thing to my to do list today!! Calling to find a pick your own strawberry farm! HA! THanks for all the great idea’s Angie!
Angie says
Maybe promise them lunch out afterward. 😉 The nice thing was, we did the picking in under an hour, so it wasn’t a horribly long time.
You can find info (by state) on U-Pick farms here: http://www.pickyourown.org/
Jessica says
Oh yummy! Berries should be ready in another week or so up here – so looking forward to it.
When my younger children want to help hull the berries, I give them a straw and they push through the bottom of berry and the hull pops right off. It wastes a little, but they feel like they’re my big helpers! 🙂
.-= Jessica´s last blog ..Cinnamon Rolls =-.
Samantha says
Angie – how productive you are! That was a great idea to freeze some whole strawberries. When we went berry picking a few years ago, I made a tone of jam but didn’t freeze any whole. We make smoothies all the time here. I wonder if the strawberry fields are still open here? Hmmm……
Samantha
.-= Samantha´s last blog ..Overcoming the Huge Hole in My Education with a List of Books to Read or Read Again =-.
Brook (Matt5verse6) says
That strawberry pie sure looks good to me. 🙂 I love strawberries! There was a “fruit stand” on the side of the road down the highway from where we were living and they sold strawberries by the pallet for super cheap. My personal favorite things to do with strawberries are: 1. strawberry shortcake, 2. strawberry and banana smoothies, 3. strawberries quartered and lightly dusted with sugar, and (as you mentioned) 4. strawberries with chocolate fondu. Mmmm-yummy. Thanks for your post. 🙂 It was nice to “meet” you.
.-= Brook (Matt5verse6)´s last blog ..Free "Seeds" Download =-.
Karen says
We went strawberry picking last week. I made strawberry pie, and then we munched on the rest of them. So good!! So much better than imported strawberries!
Angie says
I totally agree — everything I have made tastes so flavorful and fresh! Love it!
Amanda says
We went strawberry picking two weeks in a row. It was so much fun and I think I ended up with about 60 or 70 pounds of berries.
I made jam, froze some and of course we ate them fresh!
What a wonderful family activity that will be remembered for years to come and I agree a very frugal way to save money through the rest of the year!
We will be picking blueberries from a local farm in a few weeks. You talk about a good smoothie, a strawberry, banana and blueberry smoothie is awesome.
Your pie looked delicious. It is always the food that looks horrible that I love to try because it is usually the best dish around.
I think pick your own is a very fun, economical and just plain fun way to support local farmers.
.-= Amanda´s last blog ..Springfield, MO Farmer Faces Jail Time for Raw Milk =-.
Nancy Thomas says
Those look awesome. Love all the different things you did with thejm.
Deb says
How long will the jam keep in the fridge after you take it our and start using it? This looks like a lot of fun. My people love fruit!
Off to Google U-Pick…
.-= Deb´s last blog ..In Which My Daughter is Wicked Smaht =-.
Angie says
You know, I’m not really sure. It last a while for sure. We have never had any go bad in the fridge. (Sometimes it has sat in there a couple of months.)
Kris @ WUHS and Eclipsed says
Yum! Those look so good! My mom has been stopping at a strawberry farm on her way into town when she visits once a week and bringing us fresh strawberries. They are seriously the best strawberries I’ve ever eaten, being picked fresh every day.
Last week the place was sold out when Mom came by, so she didn’t buy any. I was going to buy some at Wal-mart, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. They looked awful after getting spoiled on the fresh ones. *sigh*
.-= Kris @ WUHS and Eclipsed´s last blog ..Time for Mom: Drawing =-.
Jordana says
Mmm…we grow our own strawberries (and blueberries and raspberries) so we don’t go to a u-pick farm, but I do love getting lots of produce to do stuff with. Sadly, our strawberries are already basically done for the season, but the raspberries are starting. 🙂
.-= Jordana´s last blog ..First Grade Booklist for 2010-2011 =-.
Our Nifty Notebook says
How fun! That’s a lot of strawberries!
.-= Our Nifty Notebook´s last blog ..CSN Stores Product Review: Carson zOrb =-.
Dawn@ 5 Kids and a Dog says
Wow that’s a lot of strawberries! We have a massive strawberry patch here at home, and we pick around 10 gallons every July. I love to go to the U-pick farm and get corn, pumpkins, and things like that in the fall. Oh and I can my own applesauce, and some friends have a couple apple trees, so we just pick at their house for free. 🙂 LOVE fresh fruit & produce!
.-= Dawn@ 5 Kids and a Dog´s last blog ..The Better Behavior Wheel- Review =-.
Sharon @ UnfinishedMom says
Wow! $1.25/lb is really great. The cheapest I’ve found it in Maryland is $1.89/lb. We picked last Friday & I froze some, jammed some, made strawberry shortcake and had some on french toast. I love fresh picked local strawberries – much better than the ones picked early and shipped 3000 miles from California!
Myra @ My Blessed Life says
You go girl! Look at all those containers of jam!!
Thanks for linking up to Friday Fails!
.-= Myra @ My Blessed Life´s last blog ..Friday Fails – Missing Car Keys =-.
Olivia says
Wow! That’s great! I want to go too!
Helen says
I would love to find a strawberry farm close by, we take the grands to pick peaches, then there’s a huge spot where we pick wild blackberrie , they’re so big & juicy, well worth the picking!
Helen
Lenetta says
I’m slowly making my way through Frugal Fridays. :>) I was SUPER blessed this year when the family that we sit next to at Mass said they have a couple of patches that they can’t keep up with and invited me over to pick. I need to go back again – you can’t beat free, and they don’t want them to go to waste. I just tossed them in the freezer to make preserves later, though. :>) I was tired after all that picking for sure!