STAWberries (as Jake would say)

We went STAWberry picking with Mark, Elizabeth, and Jake this weekend. We picked about 5 lbs of strawberries....it sounds like a lot, but it gave me an excuse to make something with them.

This was our second time picking strawberries this season, and unfortunately our last time since the season seems to be coming to an end. Last time we got strawberries, I made strawberry bread, strawberry smoothies, and strawberry shortcakes. Of course, Hershey got his share of "baby berries." He is so spoiled! (He loves strawberries, and will sit there staring at you with pleading eyes until you give him a strawberry. Once he realizes you are giving him one, he goes crazy with excitement!) This time, Hershey once again got to eat some "baby berries" and I also made another batch of strawberry bread to freeze.

The rest of the strawberries went towards making strawberry jam. It was just the recipe from the gelatin box, so hopefully it will taste good. Either way, Cody and I had fun making it! We got 12 half pints from the batch.

You might be wondering about the strawberry plants we planted in our garden....they are still alive! They look pretty healthy and are producing some fruit. Cody picked our first strawberry today--very small and a little tart, but good nonetheless. I have a feeling we won't be getting any big berries, and I'm going to have to figure out a way to keep the fruit from rotting before it ripens (maybe some sort of plastic, like at the strawberry patch???). For our first year growing strawberries, I guess they are doing ok. While we are on the subject of the garden, the rest of the plants are looking pretty healthy as well. Everything is growing and getting tall and very green--thanks to Cody's consistent watering! We have one tomato that is still green, but it is getting bigger. The pepper plants and cantelope plant have blooms, so we should be expecting some more produce soon, hopefully! I'll post some pictures once we have a little more to see....