Strawberry Summer

I don't know about you, but to me summer tastes like a strawberry.  So vibrant and sweet!  Our summer has already kicked off with a lovely bowlful from our neighbor, and just this week we were invited over to her house to pick some more from her abundant garden.


Loaded up on sunscreen and water, the kids wasted no time searching for the red jewels.  My ears were constantly greeted with "Mama, look at this one!" and "Ooh, this is a good one!"

By the time they had collected all the berries they could find, it was getting quite hot.  So we went to chat with our neighbor for a bit and show her all of our treasures.

That evening, I was pulling some weeds in my own backyard and noticed some spots of red beneath the strawberry plant leaves.  Upon closer examination, I discovered some beautiful ripe strawberries that hadn't yet been spoiled by hungry birds!  After picking them (and trying a couple) I just had to document my "crop" with some photos.

My berries must be a different variety as our neighbor's as they are small, but red all the way through.  I am overflowing with pride since I don't have much experience in gardening.


These sweet berries reminded me of a story I've read to my kids this summer called The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and THE BIG HUNGRY BEAR.  They love it and I do too.  Really it is more suited to younger audiences, but the illustrations are wonderful enough for anyone to enjoy.

Yup, it's shaping up to be a strawberry summer.  However, I did see some ripe raspberries starting to make an appearance in my garden ...