Yesterday morning during our lazy morning of cereal for breakfast, followed by an episode of Daniel Tiger or two, I had the random thought to take the kids to the blueberry patch! It's something I've always thought the kids would enjoy, but we've never actually ventured out to pick anything! It was an overcast, breezy morning which was a nice change from the sweltering heat we've had the past few days. We traveled a short 20 minutes, packed an easy picnic, played a bit in the hay maze, and ventured out to pick some berries.
The kids were great pickers!
Blueberries (aka "ba-be-ee") are Caroline's favorite. I was a bit concerned she would eat every single one she picked. But, once she saw that we all picked and put berries in the bucket-- she did the same thing!
Belle picked enthusiastically for a little bit but then spent time in the shade with Caroline. She did provide a "tasting" sample from each plant we stopped to pick. They all passed her inspection.
Jackson was a great spotter of ripe berries. We worked well as a team. I'd get berries up high and he'd get the ones that were lower.
Caroline only picked for a bit. The heat was beating down so she just mostly sat in some shady spots between bushes. But it didn't stop her from picking berries within reach.
And maybe eating a few. This was after she DUMPED the berries we had both picked like it was some game to fill up the bucket and then pour them out. I picked up what I could from the ground (fortunately it wasn't too many!) and proceeded to share a bucket with Jackson instead.
We picked until Caroline had enough. We were dripping with sweat and tired from the heat and I knew it was passed her normal nap time. But when I got to my car and looked at the clock-- it was an hour earlier than I expected! Ha! It felt like SO much longer. :)
We brought home almost 3 pounds of blueberries.
Earlier this spring, I did plant two blueberry bushes. To date, we have one single blueberry. Three kids. One blueberry. This is how wars are started. Or years of future therapy. Who knows. Hopefully more berries start to pop up!
The kids did each enjoy some fresh strawberries from the garden today. Along with making a few different blueberry treats. We made two batches of blueberry muffins and made frozen yogurt-covered-blueberry kabobs. We still have about half of our blueberries left. Do you have a favorite recipe we should try?
Fun! About your blueberry bush, don't lose hope. We planted some this year, too, but Jon said they don't set fruit until the 2nd (or 3rd?) year. So, the fact you have one berry already is pretty great!
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How fun! I can't wait until Annabelle is old enough to go do things like this! :)
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