over 40 pounds of strawberries is alot of strawberries

It's that time of year again, time to head out to the strawberry fields! We love homemade jam and strawberry rhubarb pie, so we need lots of berries! Today we picked over 40 pounds and might head back for another picking as the berries are exquisite this year. SO juicy and bursting with flavor. I think I'll dehydrate some to put in our granola and possibly make some fruit leather, oh my my mouth is watering!

in case you ever wondered what 40+pounds of strawberries looked like!

I did mention they're juicy, right?!

I've been making my own jam ever since Faith was a baby, mom showed me how and I've just stuck to it. The first ingredient in my jam is, oddly enough, fruit! Not sugar like some recipes, hummm could that contribute to the weight issue America has??? Well one year after putting up enough jam for the year I got a survey call. (I have to chuckle about it every time I think about it, I'm pretty sure the 'noise' on the other end of the line was this guys head exploding.) I don't remember what all the rest of the survey entailed, but I vividly remember the part about the jam consumption in my household. He wanted to know what type I bought, what brand, how often, etc. I told him that I no longer purchased any jam, because I made my own......pause......"ok" (clearly looking for that box to check), "what flavors did I currently have in my home?" I rattled them off, hoping I didn't leave any out, ....strawberry, strawberry rhubarb, apple, pear, raspberry, blueberry, grape and grape apple! another long pause........."really?.......I don't have room for all those. You said strawberry right?" Smiling I said correct. the funniest part was when he asked me how many I currently had in my home. .......Just shy of 200!!! (Some were Christmas gifts, I've always had more talent than money...) I said with a grin and a smirk, clearly having fun with this guy now but being totally honest. Very, very long pause..............................(insert sound of head exploding here)................"uh,.......................well, .......................my computer won't let me go that high, can I just put down 3?" Sure, what ever it takes. Glad I wasn't the one paying for this info! He did say that I was not the usual responder to the questions, humm imagine that!

Now I need to go take care of the rest of the berries!