berry blue july

Wednesday is Mom's birthday.
That means it's blueberry picking season!

I haven't been on the blueberry picking trip for the past few seasons.  Last year I was in New York and the year before pretty darn sick.  The last was in stormy 2010.

I knew our trip would be soon but I was caught a little off guard as to when it actually came.  

I arrived home from my dinner shift at the restaurant Friday night and Mom told me we were leaving at 7am for the patch.

I was pretty blurry-eyed (and slightly grumpy) when Sara, her sister Liz, and their sweet mother pulled in the driveway for our early adventure.  I can never stay grumpy for long in the presence of these awesome ladies.

We were first in line when the patch opened.  The owner sprayed us down with their own remedy for the mosquitos - a little dish soap with peppermint oil.  This is also the only thing they spray on their plants - easing my mind about all the unwashed handfuls I was about to consume.

 The sun was just peaking through the tree branches and was barely touching the berry bushes.

 Liz and Mrs. Balogh were excellent company in row 11.  Mrs. Balogh and I spent the morning deep in discussion of our favorite subject - education.

Unfortunately, while we were feasting upon the beautiful berries - the mosquitos still managed to find us and make us into their breakfast.  I think maybe that wasn't enough peppermint oil.  When the sun started to climb a little higher the insects began to flee.

By the time the berries reached the top of the buckets, our crew of pickers were ready to call it a morning.  We slowly made our way back down the rows - picking and munching along the way.

 Josiah discovered that a collar helps to keep the bites at bay.  I just love his worried cute face.

Zachary and Sara plop a few last minute berries into their buckets and their mouths. 

 The moms were having a great time and would have kept right on picking.

 A last few handfuls for me.

 Our family had seven picking - Dad had the most with over nine pounds and mom was a close second.

 We brought a few of Mom's favorite containers to pour the bounty into. 

 We ended up filling five containers with our 65 pounds to berries. 

 The mighty picking crew: myself, Mom, Dad, Jason & Alex, Josiah, Zachary & Sara, Mrs. Balogh and Liz.

Afterward we had to make our traditional celebratory stop at Lucky's Donut - their rolls are Papa Telschow certified as delicious.  That's a pretty high standard coming from a man who was a third generation commercial baker and was raised in his parents' bakery.

 The brothers love long johns - some love custard-filled and some love cream-filled.

 Jason was pretty excited to share his love of long johns with Alex.

Zachary likes the custard-filled.

It is in these dairy-laden moments that I miss the vegan baked goods of Manhattan and Brooklyn.  

Being that Dad was a baker for almost our entire childhoods we always had donuts - they became a part of our food culture.  Now, eating them is a happy place of nostalgia to our family.  

Last year, I was in the city for blueberry season - missing this warm/delicious tradition.  There I could stop in Babycakes and buy a bit of that happy memory in cake donut form.  I think there is a bit of irony that now that I am surrounded by my family enjoying this food tradition I am left donut-less, sipping on a bottle of orange juice.  But mom must have felt a little of my sweet-lessness.  When I came home from my dinner shift she had a batch of brownies baking in the oven.  She's a pretty darn special lady - waking up early and dozens of mosquito bites are a small price to pay to make her happy.