Saturday, June 21, 2014

Sustainable Saturday - Strawberry Summer

The first day of summer in upstate New York.
The strawberry season started last week.  Here, in upstate New York, it is so short.  Our berries are smaller than the supermarket California berries, and sometimes not as sweet.  But people flock to the tables of those selling them.  It's the first fruit of the annual havest.

Many people, here, pair strawberries with rhubarb (right side of picture above).  I personally, have not ever had a rhubarb strawberry pie (or rhubarb strawberry anything, or rhubarb anything) I've ever liked.  But that's me.

But strawberries, freshly picked, are so perishable.  And, picking them is hard on the knees and back.  But they can be a symbol of hope. 

A hope for a bountiful harvest.  Soon, the raspberries will ripen. Our small cherry crop in this area was ruined this year, but we hope for August blueberries.

Winter isn't officially over until the strawberries appear here in the Binghamton, New York area.

Binghamton wild strawberries June 2013
Tiny wild berries can grow on city lots.
On left, Jeff Howell, formerly of Foghat, Owego Strawberry Festival 2013

They can inspire a festival in the small town of Owego, New York, where an annual Strawberry Festival is taking place today.
Strawberry season. So sweet.  So fleeting.

What a way to celebrate the first day of summer.

6 comments:

  1. I love strawberries and we often go strawberry picking in the summer.

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  2. Thanks for sharing a part of New York I never knew existed. I tend to think of the city as an concrete, urban jungle. As a result, it's refreshing to see festivals and community gatherings, showcasing the more personal side of an otherwise impersonal city.

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  3. There are strawberry festivals in Virginia too.

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  4. Oh the strawberries look nice and juicy !!! Just right for the summers.

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  5. I share your dislike of strawberry-rhubarb pie! I don't care for strawberries that have been cooked, unless they're in jam!

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  6. Strawberries are a staple diet in our house and the only place to get them is my wife strawberry plants, we have already had the home grown Rhubarb and the raspberry bush has turned into a triffid taking over the garden but it will reap and excellent harvest later in the year,

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