Strawberry Fields Forever

When I was in high school, I had a steady boyfriend.  We called it “going steady” back then.

We went to the same school, and we used to pass notes back and forth to one another in between classes.

We signed them, “Love and Strawberry Fields Forever.”

I sure hope my kids and DSH don’t read this post.

Strawberry Fields Forever was a song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and released in 1967 by The Beatles.

I don’t remember the significance of why we picked this song title to use in our missives to one another, but there it is.  I didn’t even like to eat strawberries until I was an adult.  And now I really only like them if they are fresh.

I’ve been in Minnesota for a few weeks now, and I was invited by one of my sister’s neighbors to go strawberry picking.  It was a nice break from helping take care of my brother-in-law who is in hospice care.

We went to a lovely farm in  Northfield, Minnesota, Lorence’s Berry Farm.

I never took my kids to pick berries when they were young.  I took them apple picking, but never berry picking so this was my first time picking strawberries.  It was a beautiful day.  We went early so the fields were full of older strawberry pickers.  By the time we left, the families with children were starting to arrive.

To pick strawberries, you have to get down on your hands and knees and crawl along the row while carefully pushing aside the foliage to find the ripe fruit.  It’s a laborious process. I will never complain about the price of strawberries again.  It’s just not a fruit that can be picked by a machine.

My butt cheeks hurt the next day.  It took me a few minutes to figure out why.

It didn’t take long to learn that the best fruit could be found far inside the bushes and usually near to the ground.

I ended up picking 12 pounds of berries!  No wonder my butt cheeks hurt the next day.

We made strawberry shortcake, and ate lots of freshly sliced strawberries.  My brother-in-law ate entire bowls of them, and he’s not been eating much lately.

We froze strawberries in one pound packages.

We made chocolate covered strawberries.  Yummy!

And two quarts of homemade strawberry ice cream.  I normally do not like strawberry ice cream, but eating freshly made strawberry ice cream is incredible – so fresh and pure tasting.

If I were at home, I would have made some strawberry jam.  There’s always next year.  I loved picking fresh strawberries and plan on doing it again.

Let me take you down
‘Cause I’m going to Strawberry Fields
Nothing is real
And nothing to get hung about
Strawberry Fields forever
Strawberry Fields forever
Strawberry Fields forever

Love and Strawberry Fields Forever,

Mama