Last weekend I got a chance to visit 2 local farms for fresh pickings. It was two days of hanging out in the fields, soaking up the sun, walking among the rows of plants, feeling the fruits, warm and alive under our fingertips, Throwing them right into our mouths and biting into it, the explosion filling our mouth with the sweet sweet juices….
We visited Fishkill farms, CT on Saturday for Cherry picking and Jones farm, Shelton, CT on Sunday for Strawberry picking. Both the days we made sure we set off early because the temperature was set to soar off to mid 80’s in the later part of the day. We took care to apply sunscreen And we carried many bottles of water and lemonade.
I was very excited because this was my first picking experience in the US. Though I’ve roamed through the many farms and fields of sugarcane, corn, rice, vegetable fields back in India in my native village during school/College annual holidays.
I thoroughly enjoyed the cherry picking more due to many factors. First, it was the coolest day of the week and the short cherry trees planted in rows gave ample shades. And most important for a lazy person like me was the fruits being all over the trees right from the lowest of the lower branches touching the ground. All I had to do was just reach out my hands to the branches pick a bunch of cherries and gobble them up.
Just look at them, Deep Red and Luscious :
The farm had a tractor trail running dropping off and picking up the tourists to and from the cherry fields, The driver was kind enough to take the longest route around the farm and he pointed out various fields having small apple trees, peach, plum trees etc growing and getting ready for the season.
My husband and I picked around 3 pounds of Cherries and filled our bowls though I’m sure we would’ve filed our tummies with at least one pound of cherries. The cherries were so delicious that to say that I was mind blown when I first tasted them would be an understatement. I had Hated cherries till then and I went to the picking just for the experience and since our friends' group was attending the event. I’ve eaten the cherries only in sweets, shakes and ice cream toppings, those were the ones treated in sugar syrup. I also hated the cherry flavored juice, ice cream, popsicles etc that is anything cherry flavored in short and I hated the smell of it from my guts. But I’ve never tasted fresh berries in my whole life.so I took the smallest of the bowl from the entrance of the farm for the picking Knowing I would hate it. I was more excited and looking forward to the strawberry picking on the next day.
But the moment I cautiously picked a small cherry and popped it into my mouth My eyes grew wide and I was like Whaaaaaat!!!! Because trust me guys, that was the sweetest, juiciest, tastiest goddamn cherry I’ve ever tasted. Needless to say, I picked pounds of it and ate so much cherries during the picking.
Branches very close to the ground carrying Fully ripe Cherries :
The other fruits and vegetables have not reached their full growth peak and ripened yet. Many green veggies like Swiss chard, Romaine lettuce were available though. I picked up some Basil leaves. They were so fresh and smelled so good that I just had to pick them. I picked them for making my favorite Caprese salad which I promptly made the next day.
On Sunday It was Strawberry picking day!!!! We drove down to the Jones farm,CT and selected a picking bowl and took the tractor ride from the entrance to the strawberry fields, They had rows and rows of short strawberry shrubs with small flags sticking out from few of them. The guide allotted us whole rows for ourselves and explained that the flagged ones were already picked and start from the other side.
*My husband picking the berries with great Care :D *
We set on to the task of transferring Fresh, Ripe and Juicy Strawberries straight from the shrubs to our baskets. The strawberries grew in small shrubs close to the ground so one has to kneel and pick the berries and keep moving forward as they go.
I personally felt like it was a Treasure hunt as in the rows most big ripe strawberries were picked and it was much hotter that day and the sun beating down on our backs as we kneeled and picked the strawberries didn't help the case either. So make sure if you goto any picking there is an amiable temperature and you go well before the end of the season. we went in one of the last weeks available for strawberry picking and most big ripened ones were gone. one of my friends had visited the farm only the previous week and she was all raves about the big red strawberries and prompted us to go soon. I think we were a little late in the last week.
But it was a wonderful experience and makes you realise how much fresher and tastier the locally grown food is, I have definitely decided to look into the upcoming fruits and vegetable seasons and will be attending all the pickings in local farms supporting them and experiencing the chance to get involved with all senses of touch, smell and feel in bringing my food home.
I can’t really wait for blueberry pickings to start and very eagerly looking forward to it. I want to make a big batch of my the wonderful blueberry jam and cupcakes.
Thanks for reading my blog! And please share the picking experiences you’ve attended and loved!
** VinuRam **