Mark Twain

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do ...
Explore. Dream. Discover." Mark Twain

Monday, August 8, 2011

Two Stories: The Strawberry and The Blueberry


We are in the middle of harvest season. Farmer's Markets abound!
Produce of all kinds is at its peak!
I dislike summer but I love the products of the season.

My blogging friend at The Feathered Nest shared a berry picking story from her childhood! It was charming.

It triggered two berry picking memories of my own - one which was charming and one which I try to forget - apparently unsuccessfully.

The charming one first!


The county where I live used to be more rural 30+ years ago. There were many farms where you could pick your own fruit: peaches, strawberries, blueberries.

One of most favorite memories and pictures is one of my daughter dressed in white as a 4 year old. She went strawberry picking with her mom and picked her way down a row of strawberry plants, eating with gusto.

Dressed in white!

What was I thinking when I dressed her in white?

She had a good time, though.


My second story is not so cute. In the '80s my mom and I decided to go blueberry picking. Blueberries are one of my most favorite fruits. The bushes were chock full of blueberries - and there were a lot of Japanese beetles that year as well. I remember they were all over the berry bushes and flying around us as we picked. They were also in my yard. It was a terrible year for Japanese beetles. We had beetle traps set up everywhere to reduce the onslaught of these destructive bugs.

But I was not deterred on that berry picking day. I ignore the pesky beetles. I just kept picking and picking until we had picked everything we wanted. We paid for our purchase and went home. That afternoon I decided to nibble on my haul of blueberries - right out of the bag I brought them home in. They weren't washed, but I didn't care. It was no different than eating the berries right off the bush while you were picking, and I had already done that. They were tasty.
While I nibbled I watched some TV. Once in awhile I noticed that some berries were crunchy. I was engrossed in the TV show and didn't stop nibbling. At some point I looked in the bag to see how many were left ... and I noticed that some hitch hiker Japanese beetles had made the trip home.

And then I remember the crunch!

YYYUUUKKKKKKKYYYYY!

Yes, I had definitely eaten a few of those beetles. Gross, gross, gross. Even to this day, if I think of that thought while eating, I want to spit out everything in my mouth.

I still love blueberries, but I can't help from remembering that incident every time I eat them.

9 comments:

Empty Nest Insider said...

An adorable picture of your daughter! The extra protein with your blueberries probably helped make you the strong person you are today! Julie

Anonymous said...

Yep...for sure wash fruit before you eat it. Raspberries are a bit of a problem though. The fruit is in segments and tiny little black bugs work their way in between them. The only way to get them out is to soak the fruit but if you soak raspberries two seconds too long you have raspberry mush.
Your wee one was so cute in her berry stained clothes. Just think of the vitamins she took in that day.

Linda said...

She looks like she had a great time berry picking.
Sounds like the beetles didn't taste too bad but ewwwwwh!

Susan Flett Swiderski said...

Ah, a bit of protein with your berries never hurt anyone. (Says the person who didn't actually EAT 'em!) Cute story.

Carolyn said...

Two berry good stories!

Knitty said...

Oh my, I bet you shudder every time you think of that!

happyone said...

Oh that is so yucky!!
Well, at least you got some extra protein that day.

Chatty Crone said...

I love your story - I can just imagine someone doing that - in fact - to be honest - I bet we all have done that whether we know it or not!

g-girl said...

ugh! i got shivers reading about those escapee beetles!!! :P poor you! at least they didn't keep you from loving blueberries. :)