Stawberry Fields

It's strawberry season! And I'm the least likely person to talk about strawberries or any other fruit, for that matter. My family knows that I loathe eating fruit; but that's not completely true... I don't like eating subpar fruit. Unfortunately, that's most fruit that we get from the grocery produce section. It was several years ago, with ADW when I discovered this little nuance about me. I always refused to eat fruit when it arrived at the table and rarely bought it voluntarily. We were making a salad, and bought a cantaloupe melon (and a lot of cheese) from the Cheese Boutique off the Kingsway. The melon looked like it was rotting and didn't seem like something most people would have considered  delectable. But, when it was opened up, the fruit was fragrant and utterly delicious; I nearly ate it all before it made it to our salads!

Prior to this instance, I went strawberry picking with a coworker when I worked out in Oakville. I was working at a food research lab for a coop term and have to say, it was probably my favourite posting. Anyways, this lady took me out to a strawberry field after work once and I picked a large basket (4 litres) full of berries. These berries looked beautiful and delicious. They're also not the freak-show mutant blobs that you get in grocery stores where they grow these mutant fruit in Mexico or the like. These strawberries had a sheen and tasted like a little bit of heaven. I finished half the large basket in a day. I was originally planning on canning them but that clearly never happened...

Over the weekend, when I was enjoying my trip out into the country, I saw a sign that said "strawberries" at 'The Farm'. I took the opportunity to go, when I was on my way back from lesson. This place was magical... you drove in from 15th Sideroad and entered this wooded land with trees everywhere and the narrow road just kept going... I drove by the train bridge and up into a field... it was almost magical... and arrived at a field with a small trailer and tarp.

I thought about picking my own but with the humidity, I just couldn't bear the thought of going to do it so I bought the 4 litre basket and headed out. I love fresh strawberries from the farm. They're beautiful and they're sweet. And you know they're fresh when you see the sheen on the fruit; if your fruit looks dull, then it's not fresh anymore.

Farm fresh Ontario strawberries

I spent the drive home reaching back to grab berries... and I'm sure you can see why!