Strawberries!!!

 God has blessed us incredibly this year with our garden and produce.  The first item to come piling in was our strawberries.  To date we have picked 96 and a half quarts of Strawberries.  Uhuh.  And our backs know it.  The patch is pretty much done, but we are hoping, oh so tentatively hoping that we can squeak out 100 quarts before the season hangs up the CLOSED sign.

So what have we done with our basket-fulls of strawberries that we plucked every other day?  Well, first we froze them, only allowing ourselves a few for eating, because you see these aren't just any Strawberries, these are our very own no-chemicals-at-all-Organic-in-everything-but-certification-Strawberries.  Charity for the past year has been buying frozen organic strawberries at the store. Tiny dinky little 12 oz bags of frozen Strawberries for overly exorbitant prices.  So our goal was to be able to freeze enough of our own that she would not have to buy any.  Well as usual God provided beyond what we could ask or think, and we had the 30 pounds Charity needed, by the 5th picking.

 Of course we didn't freeze every single berry we picked, because Strawberries make such a lovely after-ball-game dessert when there piled on a graham cracker and topped with whipped cream.

 We have now picked 10 times; our peak was 19 quarts from one batch, and we had two pickings of 17 quarts.

 I have almost decide that I am going to become a biologist/inventor, and create climbing strawberries.  Leaning over and picking for 2 hours (and yes it did take all of 2 hours if not more to pick them each time, not to mention the other 2 hours it took to sort and hull them ;) does a number to your back.

 Strawberries are so versatile, so after the next softball game, they were sliced and served over homemade vanilla ice cream drizzled with chocolate syrup.

 After getting all Charity needed frozen, we discovered that Strawberries also make great gifts.

 Especially when packed into miniature clay pots and set in a ribbon bedecked basket.

 As the Strawberries kept coming in we used them in muffins,

 for Fathers day in the shape of a Strawberry Glace pie,

 and we turned them into jam.  This was beyond blessing, because we were sincerely expecting and planning on going picking at our local strawberry farm to get enough to make jam.  We didn't even dream we would have enough of our own for that!

 Of course some of them (okay lots of them) were eaten just the way God made them.  In fact if Faith and I had been banned from picking we might have had a 100 quarts by now (somehow Mumsie has the self control not to eat any while picking! ) I am sure I have eaten at least a couple quarts by now just by myself. :P

 Faith found yet another way to package and serve the berries one evening with this absolutely delicious Angel Food cake.

Believe me, it tasted just as good as it looks (on second thought maybe even better :) and this was just a practice cake for our ladies luncheon we were planning, but you will have to hear about that later.

God's abundant provision is absolutely amazing, and I don't think anyone see it more than the workers of the ground, which is why I am so thankful that we have the opportunity to have a garden and animals.  We see the hand of God here on our mini farm everyday multiple times.
~Chs

"The Kiss of the sun for pardon,
the song of the birds for mirth,
one is nearer God's heart in a garden,
than anywhere else on earth."