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Americana Journal Joy Notes Who Am I Wisdom

Using the berries God provides

When we moved here 2 years ago, I soon noticed a group of elderberry bushes in bloom just over a stone wall.   It was being attacked by marauding vines and overshadowed by maple saplings.   But I was determined to pick some elderberries.   I remembered picking them as a young man and eating elderberry pie that my mother made.

But I soon discovered that elderberry season is short and there are competitors.  The first year when I went to find berries there were none.  I had been away on vacation on the key week and either the birds or the bears had finished them off.    Same story the second year.    So I made a more deliberate attempt to persecute the wild grape vines and clear out some overhanging maple.

This year, I found berries, lots of berries.  Our vacation was earlier in the summer or I would not have because the catbirds which are very abundant here were upset when I started picking the crop they had already started to claim.   Never fear, there will be plenty left for them.  I volunteered to pick the berries off the stems and JoAnne made me a pie.   Pictures of the process are below.   What a pleasure to finally harvest what God had provided.

 

 

 

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Journal Joy Notes Who Am I

Strawberries: I’ve been waiting for this!

As a hobby gardener, sometimes it is a while between good harvests of one particular crop. That’s the way it has been with me and strawberries. For several years I nursed an old patch hoping for a good harvest; only to be repeatedly disappointed.  The old plants never seemed to put out runners like they should have. So two

Lots of strawberries, at last!

years ago I planted an entirely new patch hoping that soon I could fill my strawberry tray with fresh strawberries.  But waiting was still the name of the game.  The first long year I was advised to snip off all the blossoms and just encourage the plants to get stronger. Then last year we did harvest some strawberries, but not enough to fill my tray.  The meadow voles ate as many as I did!  But the plants continued growing and I kept weeding the patch and I added a little manure for fertilizer too.   The plants multiplied and filled in the patch completely.

A week ago Saturday, I brought a handful of ripe strawberries into the house and said to my wife, “I think we will be picking strawberries on Monday.”  Little did I guess how many. My small patch overflowed with berries; six quarts on Monday, 24 quarts on Thursday, and 21 more quarts on Saturday!  Lots of strawberry shortcake, strawberry jam, strawberries for the freezer, and hopefully a strawberry rhubarb pie too!   And lots of strawberries to give away to friends—another favorite thing gardeners like my wife and I like to do.    

Just call it a banner week for a hobby gardener—a strawberry banner that is!