(inside the giant troll’s mouth)
A month after we went tulip picking at this farm we came back with our grandchildren and their parents for some strawberry picking. This was their first visit, in spite of having lived in the area for many years. Of course, Kat and Finn noticed the half-buried giant troll right off the bat and wasted no time running up the hill and climbing up and down his legs and getting into his head.
(good thing the troll didn’t sneeze)
While the kids played Dima waited in a very long line to get a bucket for strawberry picking. Then he led the gang way out into the field, at the direction of a staffer, who assigned them a row, and gave them detailed instructions. We came along with Larisa at a much slower pace and finally spotted them when Kat waved to us, and I got this picture with a zoom lens. This was larger than any strawberry field I’d ever been to in Connecticut!
(strawberry rhubarb pie?)
I still can’t get over how early strawberry picking season comes here! On our way back to the store to pay for our haul we passed by some blueberry bushes. Maybe we’ll be back some day to pick blueberries — I wonder what month that will be in…
The plan was to play on the troll again while Dima waited in line again to pay for the full bucket. As Kat and I went on ahead of the others, and she a bit ahead of me, she circled back to me and exclaimed, “Grammy, there’s another troll in the woods!” So I followed her as quickly as I could. Up another path we found two more giant trolls, not quite as big as the half-buried one, but these were completely above ground.
Our best guess is that the troll catches children in the cage and then keeps them in the “guest” house he stands guard over.
Eventually the others caught up and Kat was very proud to show them what she had discovered. I never would have noticed these extra trolls.
The line for ice cream was too long to wait in so we decided to go into Hillsborough and find a small ice cream shop. Good choice! Had to get those strawberries home sooner than later. 😉
What a fun place! Looks like the kids really enjoyed it. You are making fond memories for them.
A very good time was had by all! 🍓
What a great day that must have been. I have many good memories berry picking as a kid, when more went in my mouth than the basket, hehe. The grandkids are growing so fast!
As we were walking to the field a little boy came up to us with strawberry juice all over his face and hands. He was bubbling over with excitement about his experiences picking those berries! 🍓
Wow, I’m amazed that you already have strawberries. It will be awhile until local ones are available here. I hadn’t even thought about making strawberry recipes yet, but maybe I should start looking at them.
I’m still amazed, Sheryl. Back in Connecticut we didn’t get to pick strawberries until June so it’s proving to be quite something adjusting to new local rhythms of the seasons for us. Larisa made a strawberry rhubarb pie. 🍓
mmm. . . the pie sounds wonderful.
It must have been good, they were fighting over the last slice for breakfast! I wonder is a recipe from 100 years ago would be much different than today’s.
I don’t think that I have ever seen a hundred-year-old recipe that calls for both rhubarb and strawberries. I think that the combination of the two first became popular in the mid-1900s.
It’s fun to imagine who might have first thought of combining the two. 🙂
Yum, fresh berries! I remember going with my folks as a child, being assigned a row, and filling up a bucket. Good times. I hope your grandkids will remember this fun day when they become adults, too!
I hope they will remember this, too! I was reading that pick-your-own farms became popular during the Great Depression in the 1930s. It helped the farmers supplement their income while at the same time giving families a more affordable source of food. 🍓
This looks like a fun place for kids and adults too and it gave you some great photo ops, especially with all the trolls. Those strawberries look luscious – what did you end up making in the end? My mom loved strawberry rhubarb pie, but she often just stewed up a pot of rhubarb and strawberries and we had it on toast or over ice cream. I’ve never been strawberry picking before. Sounds like a return for blueberry season is in order!
I think they enjoyed picking the strawberries but the trolls were the icing on the cake! Larisa made a strawberry rhubarb pie which I hear was delicious but all the other berries got eaten fresh. My mother used to make the pie, too, but she was the only one who would eat it. Larisa’s must have been very good, though, because she found Kat and Dima fighting over the last slice of it for breakfast the next morning. Fortunately she had managed to save a slice for Tim beforehand. 🍓
I am sure you will be making more trips to this fun venue. We do have a place to pick strawberries, although not around here. Rhubarb strawberry pie sounds wonderful. It’s been years since I tasted it.
Fresh strawberries! How nice to have them in early May! I wait every year for those precious few weeks in June we get to have them here. Very cute pictures of the family!
Thank you, Karma! The season here actually started late in April! It’s true, the season doesn’t last long enough but at least we have blueberries to look forward to.