Blueberry Picking at Honey Pot Hill

Yesterday morning I took the boys and their cousin to go blueberry picking at

Honey Pot Hill.

A nice family run farm here in Stow.

It is something we like to do at least once each summer.

Picking your own blueberries is fun and the kids enjoy handpicked berries

so much more

than the ones we buy from the grocery store.

Here they are, the boys, on their way to the blueberry fields.

Each ready to fill their own pint size basket.

We passed by row 7 and 8 to sample the sweetest berries

(according to the sign by the entrance).

Then settled to pick from row 1 and 2 that had the most ripe berries.

The grayish coating protects the berry and is called bloom.

The patience to pick blueberries on a hot muggy summer morning for little boys

lasted just long enough to fill our baskets.

For lunch there was pepperoni pizza and blueberry smoothies.

Yum!

How peachy!

Finally, after 4 days of rain, the sun came out. I took the kids and headed straight to Shelburne Farm, the apple orchard that also has strawberries and peaches.

Four and a half months ago, in April, the peach trees looked like this.

And now they look like this.

Heavy branches crowded with peaches screaming "pick me, pick me".

Sun warm, fragrant, fuzzy, beautiful peaches.

I love watching the kids pick them, smell them and feel the softness

of the peach against their cheeks.

We picked a whole peck of peaches, or, in a more easily understood measurement; 11 pounds.

Now the question is, what do we do with them all? We've eaten some (nice and juicy I'll tell you), and will eat a few more, a few will be frozen for smoothies, and then there's the whole rest of them. What to do?

Any suggestions? Jam? Cobblers? Upside down cakes? Maybe grill some? I had grilled peach slices at a near by restaurant once, topped with some ricotta, wrapped in prosciutto and drizzled with a little balsamic vinegar. Was there a sage leaf in there too? I don't remember, but THAT was good.