Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Berry Christmas!

I had been saving this link until a particularly depressing and dreary day. I'd say that a gray, rainy, and cold day-after-Christmas fits the bill. Here is a bit of summertime dreaming to cheer you up. The Washington City Paper had published an article last June comparing demure, local Maryland strawberries to their Goliath-like California cousins. Who won? Puh-lease. No contest. Read the mouth-watering piece here and if you froze any of those wonderful local berries, time to thaw some out and mix yourself a nice year-end margarita.

We wrote about growing your own strawberries in one of our first issues and I had decent success with a patch of Ozark Beauty ever-bearing ones. (That was my biggest "bumper crop" pictured here.) However, visiting creatures ate more than I did. Plus, they are not long-lived plants and all have pretty much petered out. Looking over all the drool-worthy garden catalogs now flooding my mailbox, I'm tempted to purchase another two-dozen plants. Instead I'll leave it up to our expert local growers and just visit their pick-your-own fields once or twice next June to gather a few pails full. That will leave my sunny edibles patch open to try out some more experimental goodies.

7 comments:

  1. I have a very distinct memory of a berry picking expedition in Maryland from years ago. Roll-your-eyes-back-in-your-head delicious. Best ever. Though I can tell you that they have some very good local farmer strawberries in CA. They just use those gigantic berries for export.

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  2. True, to get a fair comparison of the strawberries we'd need a transporter. (WHEN are they going to get moving on that research?) That way we could sample the MD berries at their prime on a gorgeous sunny day out in the field right off the plant, then *whoosh* on over to a field in CA to do the same. I'm still betting that MD one will win hands down.
    :-)

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  3. Not to rub it in or anything, but it is already strawberry season by me. Strawberries and yogurt every day for breakfast until the season ends...YUM!

    Gila

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  4. Oh, and you can ask any Israeli--our fruits and veggies are the best! :)

    Gila

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  5. Hmm, maybe I should not tangle with Israeli pride -- being the "land of milk and honey" and all, but I think a taste test is definitely in order. Another reason for me to schedule that trip to the Holy Land! If I taste my way through the Israeli countryside and farms, can I write it off as a business expense? ;-)

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  6. Absolutely!

    Actually, in all seriousness--you have to go to the Bahai Gardens--you will be in ecstacy.

    Let me know when you want to come--I will see what I can do about setting up a proper "business" tour for you!

    hmmm....don't suppose you include vinyards in your definition of gardens. If so, add in a couple wine tasting stops as well.

    Gila

    PS--had berries again this morning. :)

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  7. Absolutely! Grapes and vinyards are an essential part of the local MD/VA gardening scene and one must, of course, sample those of other regions to get a real grape-growing education.

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