260: Strawberries and The Blues
Posted: June 10, 2011 Filed under: 365 Life in the Bogs Challenge, Adventures in art, Adventures in Life, Air, Art, Earth, Healthful Living Plan, home, Local Tourists, music, nature, Photography, Spirit, Spring, Support Your Local Economy, Walking | Tags: Canton Blues Festival, Canton Ohio, Community-supported agriculture, fruit, Hilgert's Farm, Photography, postaday2011, Strawberry, Strawberry Field, Thornetta Davis, Walnut Drive Gardens 21 Comments
It's strawberry season!
You are probably wondering what strawberries and the blues (as in the musical blues) have in common. Well, I’m not sure they have very much in common at all other than M and I having something to do with both today. It has been a long and full day, and I’m going to rush this post out so I can keep up with my commitment so please pardon any typos, mistakes, and things of that ilk. Plus, I’m a little tired, and mistakes are more likely to happen when I’m tired.
I was up at 5:00 this morning, for no particular reason. It’s a lovely time to be awake. The sky was just starting to lighten up, the birds were singing and chatting, and there were wisps of fog drifting and dancing across the top of the pond. About the time the sky started to turn a beautiful shade of pink, I began my morning yoga practice. I finished as the sun rose just above the tree line. It was a great start to the day.
Sign at Hilgert's Farm & Market
A few months ago we received a postcard in the mail informing us that the owner of Hilgert’s Farm & Market had decided to retire. Those of you who have followed my blog for at least a year or so know that Hilgert’s is the farm just down the road from us where we bought about half of our yearly supply of food. It’s about a mile or so from where M and I live, and you can’t get much more local than that. We were deeply disappointed to hear this news and have been scrambling ever since, trying to figure out where we’re going to buy all of our fruits and veggies this year. We usually have a small garden and supplement the rest from Hilgert’s and other local farms. I can and freeze, preserving the harvest to get us through the winter and spring and sometimes well into the next harvest. I’ve looked into the possibility of a CSA, but haven’t found one I’m satisfied with just yet.
Strawberry fields (forever...?)
A little bit further away from us there is another farm, Walnut Drive Gardens, where we’ve gone for strawberries and raspberries, usually when we missed the berries at Hilgert’s for some reason (travel). Early today M and I went out to their fields to pick strawberries.
Delicious, yummy, fabulous strawberries
We thought we were pretty well supplied with strawberries when we brought them home, but we’ve been eating them at a pretty fast clip (who needs other food when you have fresh strawberries??) so we may be out there picking again soon.
Leaving the strawberry fields
After picking strawberries we took care of some other errands, had lunch at home, and then went to Canton for the Canton Blues Festival which kicked off at noon today.
Downtown Canton, Ohio
One of the reasons we went today was to see/hear Thornetta Davis. You can listen to some of her music here. Go on. Go listen. She’s magnificent. You can find some more of her stuff (including the song “Cry” which was featured on the television show “The Sopranos) on YouTube.com, but I’m going to have to let you search for that yourselves as I’m in a bit of a hurry this evening.
Thornetta Davis at the Canton Blues Festival this afternoon
I told you she's magnificent
We met her briefly while getting one of her CD’s signed. She was warm, friendly, and it was very nice to meet her.
CD signing
I’m going to have to wrap this up here. I have more to write about as well as more photos of other performers, but it’s going to be a jam-packed weekend and I need to get some other things taken care of tonight.
I’ll be back tomorrow with, well, something because it’s part of this agreement/commitment. A short post, probably. In the meantime, I hope the start of your weekend was as fabulous as mine. And if you’re in the area, head to Canton tomorrow and check out the Canton Blues Festival. It’s free and I’m as sure as I can get that you’ll have a great time.
🙂
P.S. Caught the big (BIG) typo in the post title. Yikes. In case you missed it, I numbered this one 250. I was off by 10.
Life in the Bogs 
When I saw the first photo of the strawberry plant, I thought for sure you had made a trip to Hilgert’s Farm today! Sad for you that they have retired, but I’m sure it’s the best for the owners of the farm, having made the decision to retire. But yes, the strawberries look delicious! I can fully understand you and M wanting to eat nothing else. 🙂
I hope the rest of your weekend is as enjoyable as today has been. I’ll have to pop back later to listen to Thornetta Davis, as I’m in a rush myself! 🙂
Thank you, Joanne. 🙂
We had hoped someone might be found to take over Hilgert’s. I’m not sure if they attempted that or not. Ah well. It’s the end of one era and the beginning of something new. 😀
I love the early morning. I rise early for prayers and for me, it’s the best part of the day.
I enjoy the early morning too, Marie, although I’m not always good about waking up and getting out of bed to enjoy it. 🙂
I LOOOOOVE strawberries!!! My favorite, since I’ve developed an allergy to cherries.
As kids, we used to go strawberry picking avery summer, and one of the things my mom made, was squish the strawberries (with a fork if you want to work off some calories in advance) and then add sour cream and sugar. SOO good, but certainly NOT something for anyone on a diet!
lol, Michaela! No, sour cream and sugar would probably not be good for anyone on a diet. That’s okay. The strawberries are wonderful as is and need no adornment. 🙂
Oh I need to get some strawberries soon!!! Father’s Day is usually the height of the season here, so I am thinking I should be able to get my hands (and mouth!) on some. I haven’t been out to check my little strawberry patch recently since the critters usually get to them before I do; it is generally just a disappointment whenever I go look!
We never had much luck growing strawberries either, Karma. I often wonder how the big farms manage it. Maybe it’s a matter of sheer volume. Put enough plants out there and some of the berries are bound to survive long enough for picking. 🙂
Oh, I can hardly wait for fresh strawberries .. the grocery store ones are not even close to the fresh ones. The strawberry farms will not open up around here until the first week of July … or later than that if we do not get out of this cold spell …. it got down into the 30’s last night. (I know people think that Minnesota is always cold .. but this is not normal for us … we actually have some very hot humid days during the summer.
I have heard it can get hot there, Bearyweather. I’m sorry some of this heat hasn’t reached you yet. I would gladly send you some if I could.
No, please keep it …. I love it cooler. We have had a few perfect 70 degree days lightly … light wind today to keep the bugs away so I am able to get my gardening done in peace. And, cool at night makes for great sleep. I should be trying to find a way to send some of my coolness to you.;)
Oh, luscious strawberries – delicious! I’m usually up just after five am – the best time of the day during summer.
I wish I could get up that early, LadyFi. It is such a wonderful time of day. But I enjoy sleeping too, so it’s not always easy to make myself get up. 🙂
Beautiful photos! But arrrgghhh! Our strawberry season is already over. We’re now seeing peaches and other berries.
Thanks, Rufus. It’ll be a few weeks before we see peaches and the other berries. Still enjoying the strawberries right now. 🙂
Ahh, nothing like fresh strawberries. Yummy.
Hope you find a replacement farm–always a disappointment when a local produce farmer retires. We had one quit farming a few years ago and the stores just are not the same, even when they buy local.
We found a CSA that we’re going to try, Bo. What I like about it is that there is no season-long obligation. You can purchase a box of whatever is available each week. I don’t mind a season-long obligation but I want to be sure I’m getting good produce before I commit and this place is new to us.
Love freshly picked strawberries. At this time of the year here they are not luscious and juicy but taste more like parsnips so I don’t buy them. But I am going to plant some this year and hope that I can keep the birds away long enough to enjoy them.
Nice post!
Thank you, Judith. 🙂
mm mm,Robin, those strawberries look delicious, and as it’s now mid June, Wimbledon season, there’ll be strawberries everywhere. Although the early hot weather did cause some worries here in England, wondering if the crops would last and continue to grow long enough. Shame about the farm too, if it was a going concern you would have thought they’d be able to find someone who’d be interested keeping it going.
xPenx
I associate strawberries with Wimbledon too, Pen. 🙂