The kids go pickin'!

Okay, all this talk about orchards and pickin' your own stuff and eatin' good, fresh foods... I never fail to take pictures, right? Not usually. I did, however, forget to take it to the blueberry patch, but it was a quick, last-minute thing after the movies the other day. The weather was overcast and in the 80s - that, my friends, is NOT something we've seen lately. So, we made a quick trip to fill a bucket of blueberries.

I plan to return to the patch before the end of the season (mid-July) for one more round of their sweet goodness before the Fall comes barging in and the cooler weather sets in and I don't have a freezer full of frozen fruit.

Anyway, here are a few pictures from our pickin' lately... OH, and I found another U-Pick that's MUCH closer that sells blackberries and TONS of veggies (OKRA!!!!!!! SQUASH!!!!!). The ONLY thing is that they DO use Sevin on the vegetables (not the berries). I'm sad about that since I'm trying to go all organic. Thing is, almost anything in the South will be overcome with squash bugs if not treated. I'm on a mission to find me some organic okra, doggone it!!!


This is what I turned and saw, no kiddin', 2 minutes after we started. Hahaha!!!




No, I don't normally dress my kids to look like preppy tennis fans, but it's HOT. Redheads crisp extra fast in 90+ degrees, no shade. Hats and visors are our friends.




Mmmmmmm!!!


Okay, so as I mentioned previously, we've continued in searching for inexpensive, fun things to do this Summer. We went to the Kids Summer Movie Fest and saw "Alvin and The Chipmunks: The Squeakuel," had lunch, and then picked blueberries.

When we got up to the stand, I saw two bags of Southern glory staring me down, each priced $10. Given the fact that A) I had an almost Pavlovian reaction to the bags and B) my waters run deep in the Southern traditions I try to hold onto for my kids, I snatched up my ten-dollar half-bushel of freshly-picked PURPLE HULL PEAS. Yesssss, my friends... I used to sit for long periods of time in my grandmother's living room shelling those bad boys. Purple, sore fingers and all, I love love love these beautiful little gems.

However, in shelling them, I discovered these itty bitty grub-like worms falling from the hulls. ICK!!! EW!!!! On looking it up, they're a normal pest in the peas. Thing is, it's a crapshoot to get 'em all out. If you don't and you don't see the one little pea with a hole in it -- guess what?? You've just eaten a worm. The good thing, though, is that you'll never know if you did or not. LOL! (Terrible, right??) You can toss your freshly-shelled peas into water and skim off the "floaters," and that'll take care of a few of them. Say your prayers and take off your glasses for the rest. You'll never know they're there, I promise! (Well, technically, you will NOW since I just told you.)

Now, in my question to pass on tradition, I taught my children the know-hows to shellin' purple hulls. It took off really quickly, and my son has been BEGGING ME for 2 days solid to keep shelling (which, ironically, is how long it's taking us to finish the half-bushel!)

My little farmer apparently LOVES to shell these peas, and it couldn't make me more proud. In fact, I had to shoo him away from the unshelled peas again tonight.



Aren't they beautiful? The bushes were so plentiful that it maybe took me half an hour or so to pick a gallon.


Seems our harvest lately has been rather colorful, eh?


Like a RAINBOW!


Here's a better perspective of HOW MANY there are!!!


Once again, my little bandit was on the loose...


And, of course, here they are shellin'...


I have a quick tip for you moms and dads out there... Want your kids to eat more fruit? Are you striving to eat more, yourself? I've noticed in the past that if something needs to be prepared prior to eating it, it tends to sit in the fridge uneaten. If you take a little bit of energy and wash up your fruit on grocery day, dry it, and then place it in glass bowls or in easily accessible places in your fridge, I'll bet that you'll have little hands grabbing bits of fruit for snacks throughout the day. Also, when you're belly's fussin' at you while you're cooking dinner and you tend to take nibbles AS your cooking, try taking the edge off of your hunger with a few grapes or cherries... or a strawberry or two. Take advantage of the bountiful fiber, antioxidants, and vitamins waiting at your fingertips! I find that the kids, Bryce especially, will go into the fridge several times a day and come out with grapes or strawberries, just nibbling away. In fact, tonight before dinner when he was hungry and fussing about when dinner would be ready, he grabbed a few strawberries and proudly said, "That's good, huh? So I can fill my body with HEALTHY food!!"

*proud mom moment*


Here, you can see our grapes and blueberries at a tot's reach. (**Please note, though, that this isn't a good idea for the little ones who can choke easily on such round, small foods.**)


I never journaled about Father's Day. How terrible is THAT? I don't think I need to gloat and brag about how lucky we are... it's incredibly obvious. Chris is a wonderful Daddy to our babies, and I couldn't be more happy and more proud of that fact!!


The kids, fresh out of their swimmin' pool, and Chris, opening his gifts...