Berry Picking

I'll start this post by talking about my Grandma Garner. She made deliciously delicious raspberry jam my whole life. We lived on Grandma's jam. So when she passed away I was so sad not to have that little piece of her around. I found out that she taught my sister how to make it, and I swore to preserve her memory (ha, ha - punny!) by making the jam myself.

Fast forward almost two years and I'm finally getting around to my goal. Better late than never! We went to Underwood Farms in Somis yesterday to pick our own berries for the first jam adventure. Can't get fresher than that.

 

The place was very kid friendly and I loved that Shelby and Cameron could jump right in and fill our containers. Before I knew it we had loads of strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries to take home.

 

 

If Cameron had his way, we'd bring home a container of mud too.

 

There's an area in front with animals to feed, a fire truck to drive, and sand to play in. The kids had a blast with their friends.

Shelby and fellow firefighter Brock.

Firefighter Cameron.

Cameron bonded with the sheep. He got to feed this one a carrot and thought that was pretty cool.

 

Shelby jumps right in with the boys.

About half of this sand came home in the kids' clothes.

Cameron the sheep, Julia the horse, and Shelby the pig.

 

I thought Shelby looked especially cute as a little piggie.

 

Three busy hours later we headed home for the jam-making portion of the adventure. It had to set for twenty-four hours, so I waited until now to report. 

Ok, so it's still a couple of hours shy of the twenty-four hour mark, but we can't let food sit on our counter that long without caving in and sampling early. 

I'm happy to report...SUCCESS! 

The jam is delicious. My sister told me that Grandma's secret was sneaking in some blackberries along with the raspberries in her jam. I did the same and the result was very wow. It's nice to have a chance to reminisce while also eating something so delicious. 

This could be bad for my waistline.