Berry Haul

I went out to my very own little strawberry patch this morning and got this:



Okay, so it's not much, but they're beauties! They're just getting going, so I should get a few every day or so. Not enough for jam, but we'll have some shortcake and a few for the freezer. I usually pick 20-30 quarts at a berry farm each summer, so I'll still have to get some for jam, but it looks like my patch will supplement our berry harvest. Next year, perhaps I'll have enough of my own!

Here's my patch:



It's thin because when I was given the plants last year, I didn't have anywhere to plant them. So they had to wait to be planted, and by the time Nathan got a spot prepared, many of the plants were toast. But the few that survived multiplied nicely. Then I got a few more plants from an Amish neighbor, but it was in the fall, so some of them didn't make it through the winter. But when they're done producing this summer, I'll renovate the patch and move the plants into better rows. Then they can spread some more and I'll have lots next year!

Yum!