Strawberry Picking and Beach Sunsets

Growing up my Mom always asked for help in the garden. Whether it was pulling the seemingly endless amount of weeds, tilling the dry, hard soil or planting seeds that I would always end up accidentally dumping all in one spot, it felt like a chore.

I always seemed more interested in digging around for worms or playing in the woods. Having two older brothers, this didn’t come as a surprise.

I didn’t understand why she bothered putting so much work into something that the deer, birds and other animals would end up eating half of anyways. You know, because who loves eating fresh peach pies, having the kitchen counter covered in cucumbers, squash, and tomatoes, or spreading fresh black currant and raspberry jam on that perfect piece of toast?

Yeah, let me go ahead smack myself upside the head. Gardening is awesome and there is nothing like seeing your hard work turned into something that many people can enjoy. It’s incredibly therapeutic and get’s you outside to enjoy the sunshine and fresh air. No matter how many times those birds have eaten all cherries off my Mom’s cherry trees, she is so resilient and excited to start the new season of preparing and planting.

Living in Brooklyn doesn’t exactly make for the easiest place to just lay down a garden. So in the meantime, I’ll just visit everyone else’s gardens and farms until I can have one of my own. Which is exactly what Jon and I did this past weekend!

Nothing says summertime like picking fresh berries, and with a Mom that loved making berry jam in the summer, I decided I wanted to try my hand at it. Jon and I drove out to Anderson Farms, a U-Pick strawberry farm, in Riverhead, Long Island where we pulled off the road straight into a huge field with rows upon rows of fresh strawberries. With our baskets in hand, we headed out and loaded up with the best berries we could find.

When making jam, it’s best to pick a mix of very ripe and juuuuust ripe enough strawberries, as this helps balance out the softness of the more ripe berries. Of course, I forgot to take pictures of the actual jam making, but oh man was it delicious. We used this recipe from The Food Network that called for just 3 ingredients: strawberries, sugar and lemon juice. TIP: Make sure to use the juice of a real lemon, as this recipe does not call for pectin, which is an ingredient that helps make jam, well, jammy. Lemon already has pectin in it, so don’t use store bought lemon juice, as it has probably been pasteurized.

After Jon and I OD’ed on strawberries, we headed further out on the North Fork to a little town called Greenport. We came here last year for Jon’s birthday camping trip and loved its charm and quaintness. We stopped at a seafood restaurant right on the water, where we watched the Shelter Island ferry and sailboats go by.

Starting our journey home, we headed back down the North Fork when we came across a little beach on the Long Island Sound, where we decided to relax and watch the sunset. I just purchased my new Sony Alpha 6300 camera, so I’ve been eager to test it out.

Nothing like a beautiful summer sunset by the beach to end a lovely day. Can’t wait to have more days like this and opportunities to try out my new camera!