The Ambivalent Strawberry Picker

Local strawberry picking season started this week, a full three weeks earlier than last year. When I made a couple of suggestions to my daughter regarding what we could do today, she enthusiastically chose strawberry picking. When we arrived at the farm, however, she picked maybe twenty berries before starting to whine and hang onto on my leg. She didn't want to leave, but she didn't didn't seem interested in picking any berries. (At dinner, all she could talk about was how she couldn't wait for blueberry picking. I quietly rolled my eyes.)

I absolutely love local strawberries and will do what I must to enjoy them for the 3-4 weeks they're available each year. This year the berries are juicy, compact, and flavorful, and it was worth enduring the ambivalence, leg-pulling, humidity, and 90-degree (32C) heat to collect three and a half quarts of them. I hope we have enough to last through the weekend :)