Kidspert: Let's Go Berry Picking

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Let's Go Berry Picking

My oldest son has wanted to go berry picking, particularly strawberry picking, for nearly two years now. Ever since seeing the Daniel Tiger episode where DT (as we affectionately call him at our house) goes strawberry picking, we've tried to put it on our calendar every June. Sadly, June is such a busy month for us and strawberries seem to be finicky growers (or so I'm told) that we always miss the weeks that strawberries are in season.

Today, I talked my three minis (ages 6, 4, and 2) into going raspberry picking. There's not many places near us, so we headed north to The Berry Patch in Nevada, Ia. Best. Decision. Ever. My kids have never been fans of raspberries but after picking $7 worth of black raspberries and red raspberries, I suddenly have two (the third is slowly coming around) raspberry lovers.

A big shout out to The Berry Patch. Your employees were incredibly helpful, knowledgeable, and friendly that you made our first berry picking experience extraordinary. Visit their website for more info: http://www.berrypatchfarm.com/

We picked both red and black raspberries. They were in different locations on the property, but both easy to get to. You can drive through or walk (we drove since we were slightly pressed for time), but there were employees along the way to guide us to where we were going.

Max said very calmly: "Um, there's like...blood. On my finger. I don't know what happened." Matt (also known as Dad, Dada, Daddy, and The Hubs): "Max, have you been eating some of the berries?" Max: "Yea....." Matt: "It's just berry juice." Only my 6 year old!

Our take home! So, what did we do with all of these berries, besides eat them in the car on the way home???

Make raspberry pancakes of course! I combined the red and black raspberries in my homemade pancake recipe. These berries made the best raspberry pancakes we've ever had.