It is that time of year. Strawberries are in full swing followed by raspberries and then blueberries. Picking berries directly from the field is child's dream come true. However, don't expect your child to contribute to the picking bucket as most of them go directly into the mouth. This is the reason I stress the importance of picking in organic fields if at all possible.
Strawberries in particular are one of the most heavily sprayed crops. There are as many as 60 know pesticides used on strawberries. Some people will have a bad reaction to strawberries and believe themselves allergic to strawberries when they may be in fact reacting to not the strawberry but what the berry has been sprayed with. These dangers can be avoided by buying organic berries. In the regular grocery store buying organic can be expensive but if you are willing to head to a u-pick field you can save some dollars and have some fun in the process.
If you live in the Portland area Sauvie Island is the place for berries. I recommend
Bella Organic Farm with a great price of $1.38 a pound for u-pick organic strawberries.
Lyra getting her fill of dirt and strawberries
With about 15 pounds of strawberries we had company over for strawberry short cake, froze some berries and also canned some strawberry preserves. If you have a dehydrator dried berries and fruit leather are also great options as well.
Strawberry preserve all ready for winter pancakes!
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