Today I did something that I’ve been wanting to do since 2005 when I used to drive by a sign on the back roads that said:

U PICK

Strawberries 1 mile —–>

on my way home from Lawrence. I remember seeing it at the beginning of every summer and thinking “When I have kids, we are SOOOOOOOOO going to do that!”

Pickin' strawberries on a farm, E-I-E-I-O!

This is the kind of thing that makes me happy. I love finding new experiences for us as a family as well as for Jack. I have never picked strawberries, have you? It was lots of fun in that fabulous “Look, we’re doing something old-fashioned!” way. (Hey, I have to balance the 60″ tv, dozens of computers, laptops, iPhones and iPads in Jack’s life SOMEHOW. Heh.)

 It was really pretty cute because Jack kept trying to step over the row but his little legs are too short and he was running around grabbing everything he could, even the ones that weren’t ripe. *snicker* We eventually saved ourselves quite a bit of money by picking them ourselves and giving him the very important task of placing the just-picked strawberries in the basket. He took his job as “Official Strawberry Placement Specialist” quite seriously, as you can see in the photos.

He's very determined!

Jack is the official "Strawberry Placement Specialist"

We got a little carried away with the fun of it all and picked more than 3 pounds. But it’s fine because OH.MY.GAWD they were good. Mind-blowingly good. Normally when I buy strawberries at the store, I have to dip them in sugar. These were so naturally sweet I didn’t even have to. Absolutely delicious. I am, for the first time ever, really sad that strawberries are only in season for about a month. I’m pretty glad I looked this up and am now aware that I still have a few weeks to pig off as many as I can. (I may have to get extras and try my hand at freezing them next year, but not this year.)

Now that I’m trying to eat more healthfully (do you think buying shortcakes and piling mounds of strawberries and whipped cream on top counts as eating healthfully?), fruits and veggies need to be a big part of that. And I’ve always paid attention to the lists of things that should be purchased organically (apples, grapes, peaches, etc.) and done my best to do so, but an even easier way to remember (for me), is to apply the “if you can’t peel it, go organic” rule. (I’m not so worried about bananas, for instance.) Now that it’s OFFICIALLY been established that pesticides are bad for kids, duh!, it’s even more important to do so. Jack will so far only eat bananas, pineapple and cantaloupe, so he hasn’t been exposed much pesticide, if any.

While I’m not yet ready to start growing my own garden—the rabbit population in this particular suburb is completely out of control and I must admit that it makes me want to go all sorts of Elmer Fudd psychotic on their hyperactively humping asses!—I am ready to try my hand at a tomato plant (the husband is going to freak the eff out when he hears this, his hatred of tomatoes rivals a vampire aversion to garlic), as well as trying to grow my own indoor tabletop herb garden. Primarily for cilantro, parsley and oregano, but I’ll see what other goodies I can’t live without.

I’m going to “cheat” on both counts: Topsy Turvy for one and pre-planted seedlings on the other. So? I’m still psyched!