Monday 20 July 2015

On the weekend, a friend took me out to a farm near Caledon, north-west of Toronto to pick strawberries for an hour or so. As a child I had gone to the Okanogan in British Columbia to pick apples and pears from the trees in the orchard fields.





It wasn't much different. Instead of walking into the orchard to find the trees laden with ripe pears and apples, the farm provided a tractor and wagon with benches to take the pickers out to the fields, about 800 yards from the gate.






The scene and trip reminded me of John Steinback's novel "The Grapes of Wrath".



The berry picking went well, as there were plenty of ripe strawberries to be had in the numerous rows. In less than an hour, we had a full basket, and it was back to the gate to weigh in. The cost was $2.50/lb, with the basket coming to $15.00.


Also, at the farm were an assortment of pens of farm animals: a donkey (looked more like a burro as it was smaller than any donkey I had seen before), two goats, and some horses. I apologize for the photo of the goat who wasn't very co-operative as she was more interested in eating the grass at the edge of the fence and any strawberries children happened to drop specifically for her.





As for the strawberries when I got home, were a nice treat -- I must say they are alot better than the store bought ones. Perhaps a bit smaller, but juicier with more flavour.

Photo Credits: ©BEMartin2015

7 comments:

Leah J. Utas said...

Fresh strawberries. Mmmm. Sounds lovely.

Charles Gramlich said...

I used to really love picking berries. We made money picking blackberries. a dime a quart.

Rajesh said...

Wonderful experience.

Barbara Martin said...

Leah, they were almost like the wild strawberries you can find sometimes in woods. A bit tart yet juicy.

Charles, my room-mate said she'd picked berries at 9 years to earn extra money for $7.00/day.

Rajesh, its a annual experience for many.

Anonymous said...

"The Grapes of Wrath" is one of my favourite novels, but I don't associate with strawberries :-)
Looked nice, here though - and I enjoy strawberries very much.

Barbara Martin said...

RuneE, in the novel there were migrant workers for the farm fields in California. The tractor and bench wagon as well as picking crops reminded me of it.

A Cuban In London said...

Beautiful photos. Hope you are well.

Greetings from London.