My mom is famous for trekking all over the countryside, sniffing out every last wild strawberry patch to make homemade jam. She missed this one that the grandkids found, though. It was brimful of berry morsels until the kids stripped it clean....and it was hidden in the little woods 15 feet from the house.
There are two things that I thought was unusual about this. One is that I didn't think you could find wild strawberries in the woods. We only get wild strawberries in the fields. Up in the woods, they make blossoms, but I've never seen them turn to fruit--I always assumed because it was too shady.
ReplyDeleteThe other thing is the time the kids are picking them. Were they picking in June, or July? I know cultivated strawberries go on for longer, but our wild strawberries get ripe around June 14th (Evan's birthday, so it's a good present to pick him some!)and then usually only last a week. After that,there's not a trace of them to be found.
This year, however, was a much better wild-strawberry-season then I've ever seen; there was much more of them and they lasted much longer. But still, you had to scrounge around to find any by the end of June.
We've never had enough on our property to make either jam or pies--or at least never saved up enough. But wild strawberry pie...mmm...I bet that would be good!
It was an amazing berry patch, but the only sun that hit it came down in dappled little shafts.
ReplyDeleteThey picked them on June 25th, and there were still some blossoms and ripening berries, too. Maybe the season lasts longer outside of your Valley of Inexplicable Weather? :) This was an incredible year for strawberries, though-- the best that my mom has seen in many years-- and the berries were bursting with sweetness. The great growing conditions may have helped prolong the berries a bit, too, in addition to the fact that they weren't anywhere near the Purdy Thermometer of Doom.
I've never had wild strawberry pie, either. Every year, my mom usually finds enough to make several batches of jam, though, so I'm sure that if she chose to, she could squander some on a pie. (mmmmm.....)