Strawberry Fields- A Sweet Time
- navakallc
- Jun 15, 2024
- 3 min read
As June comes along, with it comes warmth, the happy feelings of school ending, and then finally, the best bright red fruit. Strawberry season is my favorite, the red berries bringing sweetness to our lips in the time of heat. Which is why, a person like me is the most excited for strawberry U-Pick. As I mentioned in my previous blog (link) a U-pick farm is a huge farm with various different varieties of fruits and vegetables planted, and the most unique thing is you get to pick them yourself!
This specific section of the farm was solely meant for strawberries, with a range of varieties planted in different sections on each side. Based on the signs places beside each patch of the farm, you could tell which variety had a more riper selection of fruit during this time of the year. The farm structures the sections a specific way, so that at least one section has a ripe batch for fruit for every day of the entire season.
Once you enter the farm, it’s a dreamland. The only thing you can see for miles is the leafy green leaves of the strawberry plants, with tiny pinpricks of red and pale green sticking out, the fruit of the crop. I move hurriedly towards the center of the field, eyeing the brown shed sticking out among the wide array of green, with baskets blooming with bright pink and white flowers. Walking towards it, I pass by the weighing scale for the strawberries, a pole with a hook to hang the scale, and a white basket underneath to put the strawberries in. Smiling, a little out of breath due to my speed walk towards the shed, I beeline towards the boxes we get to pick our strawberries in. Brown Carboard is the prettiest when it’s doused in heaps and heaps of sweet red berries.
Turning around, I scope out the best-looking berries, craning my neck upwards and tiptoeing to see all the way to the end. I squint as I look up at the sky, a V-shaped flock of birds catching my attention, the sun glaring down upon us. My mom calls me then, having already picked out a few berries. Quickly, I move over to where the reddest and juiciest berries have held fort and pick out the best ones to throw in my basket. After a while of plucking the best ones, my basket is half full, and my fingers are smeared in strawberry juice. As a break, I sneak some of the berries into my mouth, and they’re the most delicious things I’ve ever tasted.
I close my eyes to savor the flavor, the sweet taste filling my mouth, the seeds fun to crunch, giving off a sour after-taste. The juice trickling down my fingers as I try not to get any on my dress, the perfect late spring day as I end it with a mouthful of sweet taste. By the end of our excursion, we had about 4 pounds of berries, all sweet and ripe and ready to eat.
We went to the scale and place our box in the basket, watching the satisfying sinking of the scale due to the weight. Marveling at our own strawberry-picking skills, we went home with stomachs full, smiles on our faces, natural lipstick from the berry juice on our lips, and thoughts of eating more of them as soon as we got home.