Red Raspberries

One time Ryan and I watched a discovery channel type program about "food miles" and how buying local is so much more environmentally friendly (pretty obvious, but the program really showed just HOW much moving food impacts the environment!). In addition, I'm all about "buying local" for the sake of the local economy. Helping local farmers and small store owners, etc.

We're pretty lucky to have a pretty nice orchard/farm type place a few miles away. Milburn Orchards grows a selection of berries, cherries, peaches, grapes and apples. Starting at some point in June with cherries they offer "u pick" fruits through the fall. You have the ability to browse through their orchards and select your own fruits for a reasonable price. In addition, during the fall, they have a children's play area, the best cider donuts and plenty more fall fun!

This year I had hoped to go cherry picking again, but missed it by about a week :(

However, when I got a phone call from Meghan asking if I wanted to pick raspberries, I was all about it! I love raspberries. We headed out around 10 o'clock on Saturday morning to beat the heat, but it was still pretty warm. Carrying Jude around in his sling, I was worried he'd over heat. Lucky for us, we got a good row at first and were able to pick quite a few berries rather quickly.

After we got our fill on raspberries we approached the blackberry bushes. Neither of us had eaten blackberries before, so we tried one right off the vine. Surprisingly, they were pretty good! pretty tart, a little sticky tot he touch and similar to a raspberry, but much larger.

Once I got home with our fresh picked goodness, it didn't last long. I set the berries out on the counter and in a couple of hours they were gone. Good thing is that they berries are in season until the first frost, so I hope to head back at some point for more!

Given my love of raspberries, I hope to find a recipe or two to make one of my seasonal desserts!