To Market, To Market

Amanda and I are going to pay a visit to Kruger's Farm on Sauvie Island today. It has become something of a yearly tradition. It is approaching the end of strawberry season, and most of the bramble berries are just now getting ready, so I don't imagine we'll haul home a bushel of them. That's okay--I don't really have the time to go on a baking frenzy and making preserves takes quite a chunk of time as well. The beans and peas will be great, especially since Amanda has adopted a vegetarian lifestyle.

But back to the strawberries--the small wild ones--there is nothing like them. They are the pinnacle of the berry world and put all others to shame. Last year Amanda and I were scrubbing the fields for the last little red jewels that had escaped detection by the hordes who'd preceded us. We were getting tired and sunburnt, but it became almost something of an obsession. Just as we were about to call it quits, one of us would spy another little patch of red and we were helplessly drawn to that spot--my back and shoulders began to ache, and I felt a huge amount of sympathy for the migrant farm workers. Their backs must become very arthritic over time, as well as their hands, which I imagine would be permanently stained from berry juice, and bear scars from the treacherous brambles. You think I'm kidding, don't you?

Last year we had quite an impressive haul to show for our labors, but honestly, the sun and heat must have made me a bit sick and addled....because after we paid for our purchase, we headed back home to cool off and admire our loot. It was only after getting home that I realized half of our stuff was missing. By this time the farm was closed. As it turns out, I'd left one very large bag of produce next to my car and simply driven away without it. Hours of work--pffft!! The store owner was kind enough to let me grab the same amount of the types of vegetables we'd picked from the comfort of the indoor bins--and that was nice, all right. However, it just wasn't the same, knowing how much work we'd put in to our peas and beans and berries....only to drive back and buy them like a couple of lazy asses....

Anyway, you can be sure I won't leave any bags behind this year.