strawberries sing sometimes too, in their field spots.

for the second friday night in a row, i traveled to oley for more green of reasons, after work. last weekend involved my trip to glick's greenhouse. this friday's early evening episode claimed strawberry picking, as the seed-speckled red fruit began to pique during the week.

following handwritten signs has its charms, i believe, compared to trailing some more precisely made ones. there's something ultimately wholesome about the un-manufactured writing crafted by a brushstroke incorporating the hue of the almighty may-ready berry.

my eventual destination ended as 516 oyerstdale road at the beatiful property known as oley valley organics. 

i referenced the farm and barb dietich recently in a post about ladybugs. the farm not long ago earned a grant from the pennsylvania department of agriculture for its new path to organic program for 2010.

the time available for strawberry picking is short but sweet. at oley valley organics, you can buy already arranged quarts of strawberries, or you can take the time to pick your own among rows and rows of the luciously delightful and dainty treats.

while learning about organically versus non-organically raised food in the past, especially while researching stories on the subject for some past newspaper articles i wrote, i repeatedly heard that the naturally cared for style led to a better overall taste and more  flavor evident.

after popping a few of the freshly rinsed strawberries into my mouth, once i was home for the night, i suddenly understood how true that opinion-turned-seeming-fact is. maybe it's because i haven't had ripe, local fruit in so long, that it just tasted too perfect. but perhaps the lack of pesticides and chemicals used on the crop is why i swooned for the bites of wonderful flavor.

dietrich was considerate enough to let me come pick strawberries after regular business hours, since i can't leave my job until most 9-5 places are closed.

 

she also kindly took my fur child for a walk around the stretch of land, as i brought him along since he'd been cooped up all day in the house, and i figured he deserved some good, open air. unfortunately, he of course went wild nose-wise and wanted to trample the green-made patches but appeared to feel happily invigorated in puppy-speak by the trip around the yard with dietrich.

a friend had planned to accompany me for the berry picking, but after a rough day at her own job, she resorted to going home instead for some time away from the world. as a usually private type myself, i could relate. after leaving the farm, i dropped off a quart of strawberries at her house to cheer her up with the bright red food hype.

then last night, the tables turned, and i had a sour evening, a bad night of sorts. this afternoon, she left two containers of french vanilla ice cream at my doorstep, decorated the dulcet way with some of the strawberries i'd passed along to her. 

i didn't spoon up the dessert yet but fully intend to tomorrow on my first authentic day off in months, excluding the exception of last sunday. with the projected 90-some degree weather ahead and my new kiddie pool of today, along with that ice cream, tomorrow should be a delectable one. 

edit for monday, 31 may 2010-- i am downing the strawberry persuaded french vanilla ice cream ! 

holy yum to my morning ! ice cream is excusable for breakfast in my world.

and that little fur child is still trying to figure out how to get over his distaste of intimidating gathers of water for the sake of cooling off from this heat !

oh berries. they go better with the happy beats of vampire weekend.

and here is a small hint of the strawberries now ripe and bordering my tiny veggie garden. my friend evelyn picked them  while the sun was still baking down in late day. many of my strawberries are malformed (i should research why !), with still more knawed out by bugs. but i'm actually surprised about how many were untainted and ready to eat, compared to the pre-nibbled supply from last year.

i don't usually offer my dog much in the way of human food, but i did let him eat the first ripe strawberry of the garden this season. the little mass almost confused him, and he kept dropping it in the grass, but he finally gulped it down.