Ha! That means it must be blueberry season! I am certainly not one to waste such great child labor - laws, schmaws...
The heat and humidity has been relentless for close to 2 months now, no relief in sight. Our own garden is suffering horribly, and the insects have all but taken over since we aren't out there doing battle until after 7 pm most days. I think I had 20 mosquito bites the other night while trying to tie up tomato plants!
We had planned to go blueberry picking this morning, and heat or not, I was determined to get those berries. It was already 92 degrees when we pulled into the berry farm at 8:45 am! The place was packed, most likely everyone with the same idea - it was scheduled to be triple digits by noon.
The crowd was only in their parking area, however. Once out in the field, there are acres to spread out in, everyone seemed to have their own row of paradise!
The lil' chilluns' are just the right height to get the best ones!
Loch gets one berry and then swears there are better ones... down there! The seasons could change again before he fills half a bucket!
Finn has a scowl in every picture today, he absolutely hates the heat and hates sweating! Loch is the one who yells out "all right!" when the weatherman says temps will be 109-110 this Sat & Sun... ugh!
It's actually a photo of me, I can't believe it. I asked Loch to take a pic showing how tall our Southern Highbush Blueberries really get! Don't worry, northerners... although the size is impressive, taste does not always follow suit - I absolutely love Northern lowbush and wild blueberries and would pick them over these. Not to say that these are bad, they're quite good - but it's a taste thing - Southern taste sweeter to me and the Northern have a more berry-like pucker to them, which I prefer.
More berries...
They are DONE, wanna go hooooome! No time outs in the berry patch today, I was too hot to discipline, I wanted to throw a good tantrum too...
Finn still scowling...
I let Loch pay for the berries, then we hopped across the dirt road to their produce stand. Finn got some math practice in by counting out a dozen ears and paying the farmer. Very lucky today, the farmer himself was cooling off in the shade and talked to the boys a bit about how this corn was sweeter and a different color than the stuff he was going to harvest in a couple of weeks. I'm happier with the education this old guy was giving my kids than the school system! Forget the SOL's... I'm taking my kids to farm! Finn got to count out 3 dollars, that was his first time handling money. On the ride home we all talked about how it's always better for the farmer, the food, and the family to buy our produce as close to the spot where it came out of the ground as possible. They get it, and that's a great feeling!
Home with the day's harvest (tomatoes are ours). We'll have to go back for more berries on another day when it's a little cooler. On the agenda for this afternoon, kids shucking corn, freezing blueberries, and headed to the community pool for a floatie-toy party in the evening! I am sure some of you are frustrated by the way pool toys are sold everywhere but they are never allowed in pools? Our YMCA lets kids bring pool toys every Friday night, yay!
I hope to post a link to my favorite recipe for blueberry muffins with a streusel topping later this weekend when I get a chance to make them!
Kim at The Inadvertent Farmer is host to the kinderGARDENS contest. Check her blog for links to other participants ways of getting the kids into the garden. This week's post on her blog is by a guest author who writes about designing a garden with kids in mind, check it out!
Now on to the help I need... Here's the deal: I want to grow corn this year. I really don't want to dig up a patch for it and have to mow around it (although I will if I have to), and I definitely don't want it taking up residence in one of my raised beds. In doing my morning "walk of the estate" I noticed that the "junkyard" in the back by my shed was in full sun! This has always been an extremely shady part of the yard with nothing but some Virginia Creeper on the fence. Did the new home owners cut down a tree? I don't remember seeing them do it, but I peered through the fence and saw that they cut down 2, evidenced by the really big stumps left behind. I have heard that corn can tolerate some shade in the afternoon, and if that is so, this would be the perfect little corn stand. It is in full sun until about 1 pm, then filtered for another hour or so, and then shade. The photo is facing south, and the trees on the right are east, so you can see that as the afternoon wears on, there is more shade. The bonus would be that I don't have to rip out thick Bermudagrass turf, I would only need to move the trailer, add some amendments, and cultivate a bit. What do you think? Anyone experienced with fitting in corn in unlikely spaces or dealing with light shade for half the day? Oh, yeah, the other thing making me hesitant is that the fence you see behind the trailer is the one the occasional squirrel uses to come down from a tree, is planting corn there asking for trouble or do squirrels find it wherever it is? Help!
