POSITIVELY BOUNTIFUL!

by Mauverneen



Sweet Corn!

It’s the time of year to start harvesting nature’s bounty! At different times in my life I have picked blueberries in Illinois, peaches in Arkansas, cherries in Wisconsin, strawberries in Florida and Apples in Michigan.


Door County,WI Cherry Orchard

Bushels of fresh picked peaches

I remember as a kid driving out to the country with my grandparents to buy a bushel of apples. The corner where the market was is still there, but the stand is long gone, and it’s no longer country but suburban townhouses and what used to seem like a long drive is only about 15 minutes away. Funny how we remember things. And how they change.



Fresh picked strawberries

 

Quite the haul

 

A couple of weeks ago my youngest daughter and I went blueberry picking. We haven’t done that in years. Her mantra back then was  – ‘One for the bucket, one for me’ and she’d pop one into her mouth. All these years and nothing’s changed.

Too good to resist!

"...and one for me."



I think everybody out there picking has the same idea. Until you realize that the bucket isn’t getting full as fast as you’d like unless you start picking in earnest. I always joke that if you got weighed before you went in and then again when you came out, they’d figure out how many berries you REALLY picked!

My vegetable garden is producing cucumbers, tomatoes and broccoli a-plenty – even carrots! Last year I swear, I had one carrot, but I was giving zucchini away. This year it’s the exact opposite. A bumper crop of carrots but so far I’ve had a total of one lonely zucchini. I can’t help but wonder if one of my plants hadn’t ‘gone missing’ if I’d have had more. But, that is a story for another day.



Makes me want to say bippity-boppity-boo!



Today's harvest

 
My grandparents canned pickles, tomatoes, beets, peaches, pears – you name it. If they could grow it, they canned it. It always tasted better than anything you can buy in the store. I’ll be happy if I can at least can a few pints of tomatoes. But the fruit – the berries and cherries, etc. – gets put in the freezer. Come those nippy days of fall and winter a couple of pies baking in the oven will take the chill out. And the aroma of fresh baked pies – well, my mouth is watering already!

Warm apple pie

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