June-bearing in May
the day's take
Climate change has bumped our strawberry harvest up by a couple of weeks, and they're coming in fast and furious here at the end of May. We're dealing with some fun problems: the daily picking work can get onerous, and we get more berries every day than we can actually eat. Or should eat, at least; Harvey wouldn't mind putting away all of what is pictured above, which he and I picked this evening, but I don't know how his digestion would cope with a pint of strawberries a day.
I think that right now our strawberry patch is kind of in-between sizes. We're getting a generous amount to eat at the rate we pick it, but not enough to eat some and have some to give away; still less enough to preserve. What we should do, of course, is forgo eating any for a day—a pint makes a nice gift for the neighbors—but I don't know that my children would allow that. Maybe I'll try tomorrow. As for the jam, we don't worry about it too much, because we know that the real picking—out at the big farm—is starting up in a couple days.
Of course, if anyone wants to pick your own now, just stop on by: this farm is always open!