This past Saturday, Daiku and I finally got to do something that we've been wanting to do for weeks- go raspberry picking! You see, every time we decided to go to raspberry orchards, it would rain (they don't let you pick wet raspberries because of the risk for mold), or it would be a super-crowded holiday, so they would all be picked out, or we would be out of town or... well, you get the picture!
But this weekend, with the sun shining and the temperatures in the 80's seemed as good a time as any to head over to Henkel's Berry Patch, about 15 minutes north of Syracuse. Here are some scenes from our outing:
The skies were really dramatic and kept threatening to break into a storm, but thankfully, no rain fell. We did, however, see a few trees here and there with bright red and orange changing leaves.
We got to pick red and golden raspberries! The golden ones had a beautiful peachy-pink color to them. We even saw a few remaining currants still hanging around- they tasted so good!
We also got to enjoy quite a bit of floral goodness as we traipsed from patch to patch, leisurely filling our bucket and popping a few berries into our mouths as we went along.
Here's our full bucket buckled into the car preparing for the drive home. (We picked up a couple of fresh garlic bulbs as well- now that I know the pleasure of fresh-picked garlic, there is no turning back.)
To the right, you see the "raspberry of love" - shaped like a heart and bigger than a penny! Below, you see a couple of ways we enjoyed the berries once we brought them home- a smoothie and some flan topped by fresh ones. So far, we haven't done anything too fancy other than pop huge handfuls into our mouths. I froze about 2-3 pounds, though, so there will be no shortage of raspberries for future creations.
Ahhhh. Happiness, thy name is u-pick produce.
Here are some photogenic bales of hay and some raspberry bushes, bidding us goodbye as we left. With perfect days like this, I am finally beginning to feel that I have had the quintessential summery experiences that I've been longing for!
Posts
29 comments:
I just love your photos. Do you use an editing program of some sort to get the split photo effects?
Hi Paula,
I use the "mosaic maker" at Bighugelabs.com - it is so fun and addictive! I have to thank Emmie for introducing it to me.
what i wouldn't give to go there.
that picture of you is sooo peaceful! it makes me happy. your pictures are getting better and better by the nanosecond, and they were already A+ to begin with!
Okay, you've convinced me- I WANT MORE SUMMER! What a lovely day! These photo mosaics are gorgeous... They make me want to ditch work today and find the nearest raspberry farm!
Oh man, you still have raspberries ripe for the picking? Our season ended over a month ago! I just finished eating a bowl of frozen, store-bought berries, wishing it weren't true... Arg, I'm so jealous!!
I'm impressed you guys picked so many. When we tried raspberries, it took forever to get even a pint. Maybe the plants just weren't as full of berries as yours.
I've never tried golden raspberries before.
Love the farm and flour pics. ---Another summer day today!
Ok, you've convinced me to give beer another try ;o).
On a completely unrelated note, I so wish there was a raspberry-picking place here. Raspberries have always been a favorite food of mine. Please enjoy some for me!
That looks like such a great day. I know I'm going to be jealous when you start making some awesome raspberry things and it's snowing outside.
Oh my god. Such a beautiful post. Those pictures make me want to roll around in fields and dip my hands in a bucket of warm berries and be in love.
Gorgeous Bazu!! Sounds like a wonderful experience, and some beautiful photos. I love love love raspberries. Your freezer must be packed full of them! Glad you're getting to enjoy the last days of summer!
Oooh the raspberries look so beautiful. I want to eat them.
The weather actually looks pretty amazing. Fall is a'coming!
Really nice photo montages! I especially like the top two.
absolutely love the photo of you with the raspberries!!
Thanks for all the nice comments on my blog!
What awesome, awesome photos - this post looks fantastic. I especially love the photo and caption, "Ahhhh. Happiness, thy name is u-pick produce." Hahahahah :D
raspberry heaven! they are, arguably, my favorite fruit (or at least they're tied with peaches). fun day, fun post.
What a wonderful experience, worth waiting for the perfect day! I love all the photos--you really have great camera skills! My two favorite things to photograph are wildflowers and dramatic skies, by the way... Oh yes, and the raspberries themselves sound divine too!
That's so lovely bazu! I'm really envious of your raspberries, I wish we had some bushes around here. I've been meaning to go blackberry picking soon, but so far I've only managed to go once. There are plenty of bushes where mum lives, but it's a traumatic experience, you come home bruised and in pain from all the thorns. They're worth it though.
Beautiful... I love the line about u-pick produce! And how nice of you to share how to get the mosiac-effect pics!
YUM! (I'm jealous of your raspberries!)
I giggle at the photo of the raspberries buckled into the car. Now that's love, man. :)
I love picking my own produce. I've been apple-picking the last couple of years in a row, and I need to get better about enjoying ALL locally grown produce all summer long!
Oh, how I love the "happiness" photo of you and your berries. You couldn't have said it, um, shown it, better. :) U-Pick rocks!
You are fortunate to have so many u-pick farms around. We don't have very many here and the ones we do didn't open this year (late frost after a hot spell killed most everything).
The look on your face with the raspberry bucket is priceless.
Oh, beautiful raspberries! I picked so, so many growing up. Your blog is my Syracuse fix!
You mean you can pick raspberries for free over there? Wow! Here they are expensive!
Hi Dreamy,
The raspberries are not free! But when we pick them ourselves, the prices are much less expensive than buying them in stores. In my area, the stores sell raspberries for about 4 or 5 times as much as the price we paid for these ones that we picked.
I love the pic of you and your raspberries...you look so contented! I don't think I've ever seen golden raspberries, they are so pretty! Thanks for bringing a little bit of summer in to my life this morning!
Thanks for referring me on to bighugelabs.com. I am going to check them out now.
Wow... your photos are great. It really looks like you had a fun time. Thanks for sharing.
Post a Comment