Forever Strawberries

Earlier this year I set a goal to try and take advantage of all the local fruit and produce that I could, and get my girls to enjoy it as well.  So far, the garden has been a group effort that I've decided to enjoy rather than worry about, and we are several weeks into the CSA- eating fresh picked beans &  greens as much as possible.  The local seasonal berries are high on my list of sweets for the summer, and so I had my heart set on getting my hands on some fresh strawberries this season. Tougas Family Farm  in Northboro, MA was a great place to visit on one of the cooler late June days this year. Fresh fruit finished with wagon rides, playground, farm store, and farm animals makes a recipe for sweet memories.



There are tons of berries to be picked, and we just barely took home enough to fill a gallon bag in the freezer, but the kids had fun... 

 

and loved the taste of fresh strawberries...

Even right out of the field!  Now I know you're asking, "What kind of a mother lets her kids eat unwashed strawberries right off the ground, without even paying for them first?"

All I can say is that they were good, insanely delicious, irresistibly so.  What we consumed we made up for in the farm store, and I even called and offered to let them take the kids to work on the farm for the rest of the summer.  They haven't called me back yet on that one, so I'm guessing that we are squared away.

There were lots of recipes online for freezer jam, which I was ready to try.  Alas, our bounty was too meek to meet the required berry volume, so I just decided to keep some in the fridge to eat, and freeze the rest.  Washing, hulling, and placing each berry on a cookie sheet to freeze took just a few minutes, and when they were frozen, I just popped them in a bag together and put them back in the freezer to keep for another day.  When they defrost, they form their own beautiful red syrup, which is pure strawberry juice.  Yum!  You can add sugar, but there is no need if you ask me!

And I didn't even forget to compost the stems!

Don't berries make you happy!?!?