Strawberry Fields

“For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing birds is come…”
                                       Song of Solomon 2:11,12

How true this verse is! For right now, as I sit here typing, I can hear the melodious chorus of birds singing to their hearts content. You know their songs can give us a heads up about the weather if we listen and learn what each song means. For instance, an owl hooting in the woods during the day time, usually means that there is rain coming very soon. Every time I have heard an owl this spring {during 
the day time} we have gotten rain that night or the very next day. Just an interesting fact for you bird watchers out there!   Strawberry season is in full swing right now in our beautiful valley. A couple weeks ago we canned 20 quarts of fresh strawberries, thus kicking-off the beginning of canning season too. And, what could possibly be more delicious than a perfectly ripened-by-the-sun, gorgeous, red strawberry {or bowl of berries} with a cup of raw milk, or even thick, sweet cream?! I don’t know of anything more wonderful than being so blessed as to be able to grow such delectable foods. What a wonderful Creator we have! I was just mentioning to Jasmine the other day as we were planting out the tomatoes, that I think you can enjoy a complete fulfillment of cooking a good meal when you have toiled in the field, sweating, working and praying over the very harvest you hope to prepare for the dinner table someday. It must be the epitome of the “bread winner” to provide by the sweat of his brow, and the essence of the home maker to take that provided harvest and nourish the household with it.
Growing up in a farming community, we have so many wonderful memories of working in the fields. Of damp, cool, mornings, being out in the strawberry field long before the sun had come up over the hills, on our hands and knees in the straw, picking ripe, little, red jewels from the ever green plants, throwing the rotten ones at a nearby picker, laying on your back and looking at the gorgeous morning sky, and then looking down the long, long, row wishing you were done because the sun had finely gotten too hot and your knees and back were killing you. Of later that day, being in the hot kitchen, washing jars and checking the cook stove fire, and sitting on the porch capping strawberries till your hands and fingers are shriveled like raisins and your finger nails are so stained red that it takes a few days before it is worn off… and then at suppertime that night, when the dessert is served by the ambiance of the kerosene lamp, and the men folk exclaim, “Oh, my, strawberry short cake, my favorite!” it seems like all that toil and hard work has gone with the wind and the satisfaction of a meal well appreciated is the best reward you could ever dream of, even though you don’t ever want to look at a strawberry again in your life. You ever so gratefully and most tiredly climb into your feather bed and are asleep before your head hit’s the pillow and the next morning, you begin all over again refreshed and eager to work through this strawberry season.
   One of the blessings of strawberries is that if you have never canned a jar of fruit a day in your life, these little berries are some of the easiest to learn by. Strawberry jam is super easy, if you can wash dishes and cook a meal, you can definitely learn how to can strawberries!!  I would like to encourage anyone who is aspiring to learn more homesteading skills, or anyone who needs inspiration for the skills they already know, to pick up a cookbook {we just happen to know of real good one at www.homestead-blessings.com} or grab “Homestead Blessings, The Art of Canning” off the shelf {or find it at www.homestead-blessings.com} and be inspired to put up those strawberries, or make that dessert that’s bound to be on your men folks “Most Wanted” list!!  And be blessed as you embrace your calling as the Queen of the your home!

                                                                    Until next time….
                                                                             Cecilia for Homestead Blessings

“A significant part of the pleasure of eating is in one’s accurate consciousness of the lives and the world from which food comes.”
                                                           - Wendell Berry, from “The Pleasures of Eating”

Ps. If you are looking for a great book to read aloud to the family, we would highly recommend “Strawberry Girl” by Lois Lenski. This book was my favorite as a child growing up and I still love it today. It is a fictional story about a family back in the late 1800’s, moving from their home in North Carolina to an old farm in central Florida and growing strawberries as their main cash crop. Full of ole’ timey adventure and farming experiences, it captures the Old South and it’s culture perfectly. If the “Little House” books are on your favorite reading list, you’ll love reading “Strawberry Girl”!