5 Words About Allume

October 29, 2012 By

Allume I had the privilege of attending the Allume conference for Christian bloggers this past weekend, and it was just as wonderful as I remember it (back when it used to be the Relevant Conference). A little larger (OK, twice as large, at least as far as attendance is concerned), and in a totally different hotel, but still very much the same.

I’ll try to sum it up in 5 words.

(Yeah, right.)

Friendship

Online friendships are a wonderful thing, but real life friendships are, well, real. Authentic. Whenever possible, I highly recommend you turn your online friendships into the real-deal, authentic, face-to-face in-real-life friendships. Because it’s a beautiful -and irreplaceable - thing.

Community

None of us can survive without a community. Once again, the authentic face-to-face variety is always to be preferred, but an online community can fill in the gaps. I was challenged with the privilege and responsibility of cultivating the community right here at Authentic Simplicity, a treasure I have heretofore taken for granted.

Sugar

What can I say? I ate a lot of sugar. Way more than I have been used to recently. And I drank a lot of coffee. More than I’m used to, for sure. Henceforth and therefore, I stayed up way too late, talking, chatting and laughing with the above-mentioned friends. But it was all totally worth it.

Dreams

Whether it was intentional or not, one of the prevailing themes in the keynotes and sessions was that of “dreams”, but not perhaps in the way you might expect. Dreams are wonderful gifts, and if we have one, we should pursue it with passion and intensity. But for those of us who desire the will of our Heavenly Father to guide us, sometimes we have to lay those dreams down at His feet, and instead pursue HIS dream for us with the same passion and intensity. And the wonderful thing is? His dreams for us are much bigger and better than our own dreams.

Family

I was reminded once again that nothing can replace my precious family. All the blog followers in the world will never make me anymore important to the world than I already am to my family. If I were to become a mega-blogger with book deals and TV shows and speaking engagements across the country (hey, it could happen!)… but my family hated me… I would have lost everything.

So. Want a little taste of Allume? Go pick up the phone and call your friends to have some fun over sugar and coffee, then wrap your arms around your family and pursue the dreams God has given you together.

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Help I have two boys (Wait Three) and I Blog

October 20, 2012 By

Today we have a very special guest post-er. It’s my DH, known in real life as Jonathan. I don’t know what I would do without him and I am grateful every day that God brought us together. He’s sharing today about how the Allume conference has blessed me in the past (when it was Relevant) and what he hopes for me as I attend it once again next week.

There have been many times my wife has called me at work telling me the latest “adventure” one of “MY” sons has been on that morning. Many times she is at her wits end and needs someone to vent to. Being a man, I want to solve the problem and get back to what I am doing at work. Sound familiar to any husbands out there? This is not the right response but it is what men do. Men do not think like women (I know, shock!). There is something about talking to other women of like faith and who are at a similar place that calms the troubled soul. When I think of Allume I think of renewal.

First my wife gets a renewed focus on her blog and gains an excitement that she is not just writing to herself. Talking with other fellow bloggers is a wonderful time to share insights you have and learn from others. My wife loves that most of the ladies that come to this conference may not be blogging on spiritual things but are blogging from a Christian perspective. She has been to other conferences where making money was above time with family. Allume emphasizes God, Family and then blogging and making money on blogging comes somewhere after these things. They make sure to focus on the eternal and not just the temporal.

The second way Allume has helped my wife is getting a renewed vision of raising her boys. Remember I said that men do not think like women. My wife has gone to the meet up Mothers of Boys (MOB). They can commiserate and share (I did not say fix the problem). This helps my wife know she is not the only one going through this. I have a feeling there is a lot more commiserating and listening happening then problem solving. Maybe I should learn from this and be “Swift to hear and slow to speak”. I am sure there is also some good insight that is gained.

Finally and most importantly would be spiritual renewal. My wife is able to go and get her batteries recharged. Everyday life with two very active boys is hard. The house seems never to be clean, the kitchen seems to always be dirty and, the boys always want to eat (Big Boy included). You feel like you are giving all the time and never have time to come up and breathe. You are drowning from everyday life and you feel like everything is falling apart around you. Taking time to stop and bring your focus back to our great and loving God is vital to being the person God wants us to be.

I hope my wife is able to gain some great insight about her blog and have a fresh enthusiasm to continue the great job she is doing. I also hope she is able to talk to friends and other ladies at the conference and commiserate and share “Wonderful” stories about our active boys. Most of all I hope my wife is able to (as she has in past) have a spiritual renewal as she drinks from the well that will never run dry.

P.S. The free coffee and swag is great also.

Other husbands have been hacking their wives’ blogs, too. Check ‘em out here.

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Down Memory Lane: Back to the Beginning

August 13, 2012 By

Path along the old line
I’ve been doing a little house-keeping, if you will, on my blog lately, in preparation for its transformation into Authentic Simplicity. It’s kind of like going through old scrapbooks or photo albums, taking a pleasant walk down through Memory Lane, remembering the old days with all the nostalgia 5 years can muster.

I enjoyed my little walk down Memory Lane so much that I simply had to invite you all to join me. After all, you are all a part of this hobby pastime passion of mine, but many of you joined me fairly recently on the journey, and missed out on all the early years. And while I certainly deleted plenty of posts that have not stood the test of time, there are plenty of posts that deserve much more than the dusty corner of my bloggy attic.

So from now until Authentic Simplicity is fully revealed, I’m going to revel in all the fun that was Quick and Easy Cheap and Healthy. And I invite you to join me: come back every week for a fresh selection of QECH memories and worthwhile posts.

Oh, and just for the fun of it, I wanted to show you the original picture that I used as a header when I first started my blog, but I can’t find it anywhere in my files. Sadness! Just imagine a large (think 1000 pixels or more) square picture that’s kind of sepia-toned and a little blurry of a meal (poorly) plated in a semi-fancy setting. Yup. That was my first header. My next one promises to be a LOT better.

Back to the Very Beginning: August 2007

all at once - My very first post ever, wherein I introduce myself and my bloggy mission. Nothing changes; nothing stays the same. Through all the various renditions my blog has undergone… this post remains true!

farmer’s market - Another post I could have written in August 2012 instead of August 2007, except perhaps the slight difference in farmers’ market prices (inflation, dontchaknow?!). I have always been passionate about local food sources!

health vs. weight - This was a pet peeve of mine 5 years ago, and guess what? Still a major pet peeve. The vast majority of Americans equate weight with health, and “diet food” with healthy food. The resulting perspective is a seriously skewed idea of what is healthy food and what is not.

something from nothing: bread crumbs - So the logo wasn’t created until last year, but the concept was there from the beginning. Taking what seems like trash and turning it into a treasure is one of my favorite pastimes.

Better than Fruit Salad (woot! I finally started using capital letters in my titles) - This was one of the first recipes I ever posted here on the blog, and I still make a modified version of it all. the. time. (Oh, and this post is unique because it contains one of few - or perhaps the only - emoticons. At some point along the way, I decided those were unprofessional. Enjoy the lonely smiley face!)

After one more post in September of 2007, I actually gave up on my little bloggy project for almost 2 years. I got really busy commuting an hour or more (depending on traffic) to and from work, so the blog went by the wayside until I found myself a SAHM with a desire to create and communicate with people outside the walls of my apartment. Next week, I’ll tell you all about the REAL beginning of Quick and Easy Cheap and Healthy.

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Finding Emotional & Spiritual Health amid the Chaos {Guest Post}

March 16, 2012 By

Don’t miss a single exciting post in my Women’s Wellness Series - subscribe today! We’re talking about all aspects of women’s health, plus I’ve got a great giveaway and some guest posts lined up for you! Follow my Women’s Wellness board on Pinterest for even more great articles and product recommendations.

One cannot speak of wellness without consider emotional and spiritual health. After all, we are not just a body - we are a spirit and a soul, too! And the three work together, inseparable. I am so honored that Leigh Ann of Intentional By Grace is sharing with us about spiritual and emotional wellness today. You will definitely enjoy her post!

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The beds lay unmade for the fifth day in a row. Laundry piles atop the kitchen table waiting to be folded. Men’s work shirts call from the corner chair begging to be ironed. The work sits by the computer waiting to be finished. The checkbook lies open on the counter with the rent check still in place. It should have been mailed yesterday. A lot of things should have been finished yesterday, and yet today is almost gone.

Sometimes, things are just hard.
Sometimes, everything around me just feels out of place and chaotic.
Sometimes, I just wish I could crawl into a closet, plug my ears, and sing Jesus Loves Me until the cows come home.

Hide and Seek 112/365

Recently, the hard days have far outweighed the easy days. The days filled with tears take first place in my mind while the days filled with laughter feel like a distant memory.

Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning. Psalm 30:5b

In my own strength, I am failing. In my own strength, I fail to believe God’s promises, and I fail to rest beneath His wings.

Sure, I am in His eternal rest, Heaven, because of the blood of Christ, but I am not able to experience His earthly, spiritual rest that He has offered me because I’m working out of my own strength.

For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:10


Canaan was the earthly rest that was offered to the people of God in the Old Testament. Unfortunately, an entire generation did not get to experience it because they hardened their hearts, even after going through Egypt, the Red Sea, and Sinai! They rebelled against God. They tested God. They failed to believe Him, and as a result, they perished in the wilderness and were prohibited from entering God’s rest.

What’s sadder than this Old Testament story is how many of us come right up to the edge of entering into freedom and fullness and fruitfulness in Christ, and then our hearts are hardened. We look at giants. We look at our circumstances. We quiver in fear, and we say, “We’re not going forward. We’re not believing God.”

Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. Hebrews 3:12

As a wife and a mom, I have found the days are hard sometimes, and more often than not, I fail to believe that God is capable of providing me with the much needed rest that I long for. But, I must put off unbelief. Instead, I need the shield of faith, faith that holds firm to Jesus Christ all the way to the finish line. I cannot accomplish my goals on my own accord, with my own plans, with my own ideas of success. I must instead say that Jesus Christ is enough. My greatest need has been met, and because of this, God has promised me a present rest, a life of freedom and fullness and fruitfulness in Christ.

The life of rest is a life of faith, faith in Christ and Christ alone. We will not experience rest here in this life - the peace, the abundance, the freedom, the fullness, the fruitfulness –as long as we are striving in our own effort to be who God wants us to be. It has to be Him at work in us for us to experience peace that surpasses all understanding.

So I must ask you. Are you resting in the peace that God has offered you today, or are you striving to accomplish all of your work in your own strength? My friends, Christ longs to carry the burden for you. It’s hard enough being you without carrying that which was never meant for you to carry.

For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God? Psalm 18:30

Leigh Ann’s life goal is to create a home where it is impossible to not think about God. At Intentional By Grace, she blogs about her journey of intentional living in order to make this goal a reality.

She is the wife of three years to the man of her prayers, Mark, and mama to a loveable little boy, Samuel. She takes joy in spending her days creating memorable moments with her husband, conducting kitchen experiments, researching every natural alternative known to man, and making her little boy laugh. She does it all by the grace of God.

You can follow her on twitter @n10tionalgrace or by liking Intentional By Grace on Facebook

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Eating Intentionally: Make Peace with Food

February 29, 2012 By


This year, I’m learning to Eat Intentionally, and I’ve invited you along for the ride. In January, we focused on ditching the diet mentality, and February was learning to honor our hunger.

Eating intentionally is, in the end, about having a normal relationship with food. Food was created to nourish our bodies, and it was also created for enjoyment. So often we abuse it to the extent that it does neither, and intentional eating is about getting back to that balance of food that both delights and nourishes.

That’s why principle #3 - Make Peace with Food - is so important. In the end, that’s what it’s about. You shouldn’t be in conflict with your food. Food should not control you, but neither should you control it. It’s not a domineering relationship on one side or the other.

And it’s not the enemy either. Think of food more as your ally, not your enemy. It’s not the “thing that makes you fat” - no! It’s what nourishes you, gives you energy, keeps your body’s systems running smoothly, and yes, is enjoyable.

Just think about that for a minute: food was meant to be enjoyed. Not in a gluttonous way, but as a simple pleasure. It’s a necessary fact of life, but it’s not a drudgery! Isn’t that amazing? Truly, if we don’t eat, we die, so it’s an absolute necessity. And yet, unlike other necessities of life, it’s a pleasing occupation. It’s a pleasure to sit down to a breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, yogurt and fruit. There’s no need to feel guilty about enjoying it, because it was given to us to enjoy.

So here’s permission to enjoy your food, especially your favorite foods. It’s not a sin to savor a piece of chocolate or laugh over a cupcake at a birthday party. Food is a way to share love, with your family, with a sick friend, or with a neighbor. Food is the centerpiece of celebration, so celebrate!

Works for Me Wednessday H2W

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It’s Just Too Exciting - I Have to Share!

January 9, 2012 By
beef
photo source: topfer

I had a post scheduled for today - a delicious and perfect-for-winter twist on my 1-2-3 Granola! recipe - but life intervened and instead I have something totally different to share with you.

Earlier today, I was sitting in the waiting room at the allergist’s office, periodically checking my Certain Little Someone’s face for hints of hives or swelling or redness. Listening to his breathing for any sign of a wheeze. Glancing up regularly from my word puzzles to make sure he was feeling OK. And as I sat there, scenes from his infancy came unbidden to my mind, memories I rarely - if ever - dare to uncover, because of the deep emotions they stir.

  • Scene 1: My Certain Little Someone, sitting in his little Bumbo seat, eating scraps of a piece of deli turkey meat. I was so desperate, trying to find foods that were safe for him to eat, that I didn’t care what they were or where they came from. I just wanted food that was safe for him and easy for him to eat. I was so worn out from staying up all night with him because he couldn’t sleep with the terrible itch the eczema gave him that I had very little energy to spend in cooking up all kinds of healthy baby food from scratch. I was depressed because being on his diet made me hungry, irritable, and mad. And just depressed. So there he was, sitting in his Bumbo seat, when hives began to spread across his face and down his neck. He began to cry, and scratch at the offending itch, and then I noticed the faint wheeze in his breathing, although I couldn’t really face the reality of it yet. I was just too scared. I called my DH in a panic, not sure exactly what to do, this being his first honest-to-goodness allergic reaction. My DH felt trapped at work, but longing to help me out in some way, he sent his brother (it was his day off) and his brother’s wife to come and stay with me until I was calm again. I fearfully gave my Certain Little Someone his first ever dose of Benadryl, and anxiously held my breath and tried not to cry while I waited for it to work. I had an epi-pen but I most certainly didn’t want to use it. Ever. Gradually, as I watched, the hives began to fade and disappear, while his breathing became clearer every minute. In my rattled state, it took me a while to figure out exactly what had caused the reaction. The slice of turkey he had been eating was bought at the deli counter, where they sliced it on the same machine they used to slice all the other meats they sold. Beef. Cross-contamination.
  • Scene 2: Still a fairly new mom, juggling her baby and her groceries, trying to use the self-check while holding a wiggly infant in one arm. His hand swiped across a package of meat as I scanned it. I thought nothing of it until we got out to the car, and I saw that his entire hand and wrist were covered in hives. The severity of his allergy almost brought me to my knees, and most certainly brought me to tears. He had only touched the outside of the package! The package of beef.
  • Scene 3: Enjoying some fellowship with family at a fast-food restaurant (why, yes, I do sometimes eat at fast-food restaurants). Empty sandwich wrappers were sitting on the table within reach of my Certain Little Someone, whose go-go gadget arms wasted no time in grabbing them for his entertainment. We watched him play with the piece of paper, enjoying his joy, and worrying only about whether he would try to bite it and choke on it, never thinking of the deeper danger that lurked. Until we got home, and saw the hives, once again covering his face and making him itch. Beef. Again.
But it’s the scene today that I want to remember for the rest of my life. The one I will treasure in my heart and mind. The one I will not hesitate to uncover and remember whenever I need to remind myself again of the goodness of my God.
  • Scene 4: Daddy, Mommy, and our Certain Little Someone, sitting in the waiting room at the allergist’s office, across from a huge tank full of tropical fish. Mommy is doing word puzzles, Daddy is reading a magazine, and our precious little one is keeping very busy with the bag of tricks we had brought along. Reading books, playing with cars and trains, carefully (or not so carefully) placing stickers of his hero Lightening McQueen into his well-used sticker book, listening to stories on the smart phone. Every now and then, we ask him to look at us. “Any itching?”, we say. “Are you breathing OK?” Each time, his response, which came quicker and quicker with every repetition, a sturdy, “I feel well.” “I feel well“, he said. And you know what he had just eaten? A whole slice of roast beef.

 

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In My Element at Relevant

October 31, 2011 By


Relevant is so much more than a blogging conference: it’s a retreat, a meeting of like minds, a gathering of kindred hearts. I came expecting much, having experienced so much more than I had hoped for at last year’s Relevant Conference, and I left with my expectations not only met but exceeded.

I wouldn’t say that I learned many new things; it’s more accurate to say that what I already knew was crystallized. Half-thoughts floating around in my mind were acknowledged, recognized, categorized, filed, and given purpose and intent.

Perhaps because it’s something that’s been on my mind anyway recently, or perhaps because the speakers were intent upon it, but I heard much spoken of “purpose” and “passion” this weekend. Tsh Oxenreider (the Simple Mom) spoke of being in your “element”, the place where your skills and passion collide. Those words instantly struck a chord within me, because, like her, blogging is my “element”.

Many, many other wise and wonderful things were said, and I could talk your ears off all day long with the information I gained, the amazing women that I met, the friendships that were forged, and the fun I had, but I’ll just leave it at that. Blogging is my element. I love this job!

PS. I didn’t take a lot of pictures, but spend a few minutes to browse through my virtual scrapbook below!

Click to play this Smilebox scrapbook
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10 Things My Relevant Roomie Should Know About Me

October 11, 2011 By


I am SO excited that in a couple short weeks, I will be winging (driving) my way to Pennsylvania to attend the second Relevant Conference, a conference for Christian women bloggers. I went last year, and it was such an amazing experience that am thrilled and grateful to be able to attend once again.

Last year, I went with my family in tow, but this year, I’m only bringing Baby Boy along. I will be rooming with a blogger from the same general area that I actually met at last year’s conference and have kept in touch with since then. You can see us below (with another fellow Relevant attendee) in the picture. Laura, also known as the Beltway Bargain Mom, brings metro-DC-area frugalistas all the greatest deals in food and family fun. She’s the one with the little cutie pie, who is, incidentally, almost the same age as Baby Boy.

relevant meetup

I’m joining in the fun over at Brooke McGlothlin’s Life In Need of Change, where fellow Relevant attendees are posting about 10 things their Relevant Roomie should know.

  1. Since she is also going to be riding up with me, she may want to be aware that I consider myself a cautious and careful driver. Others call me slow.
  2. Along the same lines, I have a terrible sense of direction. Don’t worry, though; I’ve got a GPS!
  3. Generally speaking, I’m a pretty quiet person. But (and she may have already caught wind of this), put me in the right place at the right time in the right mood, and you can’t shut me up.
  4. I’m probably going to spend a fair amount of down time missing my DH and my Certain Little Someone. *sniff* I miss them already, actually.
  5. If I’m in the hotel room at 10pm on Thursday (and not socializing with the other late-night Relevant ladies), I might want to watch the Mentalist. Bones doesn’t start until the following week, so I’m good at 9pm.
  6. I’m a little nervous about how Baby Boy is going to handle the whole experience. Yikes. I’ve kind of got knots in my stomach already just thinking about it.
  7. I’m dairy and egg free right now, so I’ll probably be dragging around some of my own food. I know, that’s weird, but I can’t help it.
  8. I have a tendency to stress out about little things, especially when my DH isn’t there to balance me out and calm me down when I’m freaking out about nothing. (This tendency is, oddly enough, worse when I’m on an altered diet.)
  9. I find it very difficult to wake up in the morning. Very. Especially when a little 3-year-old is not there to insist that the sun is up and God turned the sky blue so it’s time to wake up. (True story; that’s how he woke me up this morning.)
  10. Last year, I was blessed to room with my DH and my Certain Little Someone (and technically, Baby Boy, who, at the time, was rooming inside of me), but I have to admit that there were times I felt like I missed out on the whole roommate experience that might have helped me to feel more a part of the whole Relevant event. So although I’m definitely going to miss my family very very much, I’m excited to be rooming with another like-minded conference attendee, so we can compare notes on the sessions we attend together, and have tons of fun together!

 

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Feeding Baby: When it All Goes Wrong

September 27, 2011 By

All I wanted with Baby #2 was a normal food relationship. You know, the kind where you nurse Baby, and he grows, and then you feed him solids - all different kinds of solids so he continues to grow healthy and strong and doesn’t get picky - when he’s old enough, until eventually, you wean him to milk and table food.

You know, the kind of relationship most babies have with food.

It seems that is not the plan that Heaven has in mind for me. Apparently, instead it is my lot in life for my babies to have completely abnormal relationships with food, and not in a good way.

Not that I am complaining. At least not now. I have moved on past that: I’ve accepted the situation, I’ve learned how to make the best of it, and most days it is just a way of life that I don’t even think twice about it.

But there have been a few bumps in my road that jostle up all the emotions, bringing them to the forefront for a little while until I work through them once again and get on with my life. I’ve already told you about his struggle with constipation, and his lack of interest in finger foods, but there’s another concern that’s been building for a while and finally came to its ultimate and undesired conclusion.

I am now supplementing breast milk with Nutramigen. I did it before with my Certain Little Someone, and I am doing it again with Baby Boy. The problem is that he was not gaining weight, and had not been for some time. After ruling out other causes, like possible allergens still in my diet, I realized that I was just putting off the inevitable and admitted that he simply wasn’t getting enough milk from me to help him grow. He was getting enough to satisfy his hunger, keep happy most days, and even grow lengthwise, but not enough to gain weight.

Coming to this realization was painful, to say the least. Like I said, all I wanted with Baby #2 was to have a normal nursing/feeding relationship.

I went through the same exact thing with my Certain Little Someone and have come to the conclusion that when I take certain things, like dairy and eggs, out of my diet, I don’t replace them with an adequate amount of calories that would enable my body to keep up a good supply of breast milk.

Nutramigen is not what I want to be feeding my child - it’s full of ingredients that I otherwise avoid. But it’s too late to replenish my supply, and my only other alternative is to make formula myself, which is just not going to happen (I do not have time in my day for that!). So I tell myself to be grateful that dairy-free formula exists because at least it will help my Baby Boy to grow!

It’s been almost two weeks since I started the supplementation, and this morning when I weighed him, Baby Boy had gained about 5 ounces. Right now, for me, that makes it all worth it.

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Strawberry Patch Memories

June 5, 2011 By

Did I ever tell you that when I was ten years old, I had my own strawberry patch? No? Well, I did. I fondly recall those days! I even picked out the strawberries from my mom’s seed catalogs (guided by her, of course; she helped me pick ones suited for our area, which was Carroll County, MD). My mom (or maybe my dad or my brothers) did the hardest part of tilling the ground for the patch and preparing it for planting, but I am pretty sure that I was heavily involved in the planting and tending. I remember being surprised at how the strawberry plants spread so quickly!

I know for sure I was heavily involved in the picking of the strawberries, although the funny thing is…. I don’t remember having a huge abundance of strawberries! Maybe my little strawberry patch didn’t do so hot. Hmmm. I will have to ask my mom about that.

I do know that with the strawberries I did pick, my mom promptly taught me how to make a fresh strawberry pie, using a recipe from a local farm. I made so many of those pies, I pretty much perfected the recipe, at least as much as a ten-year-old can perfect a recipe! I haven’t made strawberry pie since leaving home, though, probably because I was a little bit burnt out on strawberry pie.

But not strawberries. Oh, no. I could never be burnt out on strawberries! Especially strawberries fresh from the farm, kissed by the sun. Mmmm Mmmm! Simply can’t be beat.

 

sun-kissed berries

Today, we (myself, my Certain Little Someone, Baby Boy, my DH, and three of my sisters) went to a local pick-your-own farm, and between us picked just about 20 pounds of strawberries. I took my half home and turned it into jam, sorbet, and frozen strawberries, leaving a few in the fridge to nibble on and to share. Strawberry season doesn’t last super long - look in your area and see if you can go pick some strawberries in the next couple of weeks.

Larriland Farm, the closest pick-your-own farm to us, has all kinds of fruits and vegetables available for picking throughout the growing season. It all kicks off with strawberries, but in the past I’ve picked raspberries (including black raspberries), peaches and apples there, as well. I’ve always been incredibly pleased with the fruit and the picking there, although the strawberry selection was a bit down this year due to the unseasonal heat wave that hit this past week.

There were still plenty of delicious ripe berries, though, definitely worth the trip. All the helpers there were extremely courteous, and gave tips and pointers regarding the best berries to pick. The price was $2.49 for less than 20 lbs, which is a great price; but if you picked more than 20 lbs, it dropped to $1.99/lb. We were just a few ounces shy of the 20 lb mark, but since it had started to rain and we weren’t all that thrilled about going back into the field to pick more, the kind cashier gave us the 20lb price - woot!

We came home, itchy and hot from our time in the sun and in the berries, but pleased with our trip and with our success.

Do you have any pick your own farms nearby? What do you like to pick?

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