Strawberry Day 2015!

By Captain Jack-The Dog

Hello Everyone!  I’m so excited for our Strawberry Day party this coming Sunday, June 21!  I wanted to make sure I reminded everyone about the party in case you haven’t had a chance to read any of the invitations we sent previously.  We’re going to have a great time sharing together in a potluck lunch, followed by wagon tours through our fields and lots of strawberry picking.  Of course, I can’t forget to tell you we’ll also have strawberry ice cream!  We have a lot of exciting things happening in our fields right now and there will be plenty to see and pick.  Here’s a little sneak preview of some of the things we’re excited to show you on the tour.
We’ll start with the obvious….strawberries!  My dad, Farmer Richard, says this is one of the best fields of strawberries he’s ever seen….and he’s seen a lot!  We spent a lot of time and effort making sure the field was mulched really well last fall.  Dad says our investment has paid off this year.  Despite the rains we’ve had over the past week, the field still looks good and the berries are clean.  The plants have really been producing gorgeous, sweet, delicious berries.  My dad and some of his crew leaders will be in the field on Sunday to help you find the best berries.  Don’t forget to walk in between the rows with your ballet shoes on.  We want to keep the plants nice and healthy so we can continue to pick berries this year and so the field looks nice again for another year.  If you aren’t sure where to walk, just ask my dad.  He’ll show you the best way to tread lightly in the fields.
Along the tour route, you’ll see quite a few other vegetable crops as well.  We just started picking zucchini last Friday.  The plants look really nice and they are loaded with blossoms!  Right next to the zucchini you can check out the progress of the cucumbers, watermelons and melons.  If you look closely you might find a tiny little cucumber!  To get to the zucchini field, we’ll have to drive by the onions.  Man, they look good!  I think it’s going to be a good onion year….at least that’s my perspective as a dog.  Just another week or so of scallions and I think the green top Cipollini onions will be ready to harvest.  These are some of my mom’s (Andrea) favorite onions.  As we’re leaving that farm, you can take a look at the celery root field.  It looks pretty good!
We’ll make another stop at a location we call “Dorothy’s Bench.” Dorothy is our landlord and she has a really nice farm.  This year we planted our early broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi and sweet heart cabbages on her farm.  They look really nice and we’re excited to show you these beautiful fields.  We also decided to plant our tomatoes on her farm this year.  The first planting has already been staked and tied for the first time.  Wait until you see the tomatillo plants…..their stems are huge!
Before we leave Dorothy’s you’ll want to check out the sugar snap peas.  I have trouble picking them, but I can show you where they are and tell you how to decide whether they’re ready to pick or not.  You want to look for the big fat ones…they’re the sweet ones.  Don’t eat too many peas though…we have to save room for strawberries!
The strawberries are so delicious this year!  I’ve been eating them for my snack almost every day!  You are welcome to pick and eat in the field.  You might get a little dirty, so don’t wear your nicest shirt.  If you want to take some home to make jam or strawberry pies, make sure you bring some containers.  Kelly will have a scale by the packing shed where we’re going to load up the wagons for the tour.  Make sure you talk to Kelly before you get on the wagon so she can weigh your empty container.  Oh, I almost forgot…we’re having a contest!  While you’re picking strawberries, keep your eye out for large berries.  We are offering a prize to the kid and adult who find the biggest strawberry (by weight).  The prize will be strawberry ice cream that you can take home!  So lets talk about this ice cream.  Most members probably know by now that I really like strawberry ice cream.  Our friends at Castle Rock Organic Dairy made the ice cream for our party again this year.  They use their delicious creamy milk and strawberries from our farm that we froze last year.  They always alter their ice cream recipe a little bit for us so there is at least twice as much strawberry in it!  Last year there was a member who said she didn’t like strawberry ice cream, but she tried a little bit anyway.  Surprise—she loved it!
It’s time for me to get back to work.  I need to go check on the harvest crews with my Dad and then it will be time for my afternoon nap.  I hope you will consider coming to our farm on Sunday.  I’m really looking forward to a fun day!