Full On Summer

Blueberries

Summer is here for sure.  We’ve had several days in a row where the temperature was in the mid 90’s.  We’ve frozen strawberries and blueberries, dried cherries and canned strawberry and blueberry jam and cherry preserves.

We’ve made several trips to a local blueberry farm.  Just like last year we’ve been taking advantage of their “share” option, where we leave half of the berries we pick and take the rest for free.  I love this farm.  It’s an acre or so, stuck in the outskirts of town and because it’s on the edge of an industrial area, you wouldn’t imagine it’s there.  There’s noise from the adjacent businesses, but despite that there’s a peace I find in this blueberry farm.  There are bees buzzing around from the apiaries, birds swooping and chattering and I can let my children wander around without much worry for their safety because the whole property is fenced and hedged in.  I only wish we could get out of the house earlier to beat the heat and get more picking hours in, because they typically close the farm at noon.

We’ve gotten a little over 22 pounds frozen so far and still have a large bowl to process.

Splash!

Our pool has also been getting much use with these hot temperatures.  Our house stays fairly cool for much of the day, but all of my girls love the water, unlike me, so we spend a good amount of time around the pool when it gets over 85.  They play and splash, I read.

Warming up after a chilly swim

We have more fruit and vegetable picking and preserving ahead of us and while I’m not a fan of this hot weather, I’m grateful for all the abundance that results from the sun’s heat.  It fills our pantry and our bellies much of the year.