We’ve been pickin’
While we are back in the country of bluegrass music, we were not pickin’ tunes this weekend, but we were on Bluegrass Trail out at a blueberry picking farm! Josiah and I had a good time picking snow peas the other day, so on Saturday all three of us took a beautiful drive out to Sinking Creek farm to collect blueberries.
The first time I picked blueberries was two years ago in Alaska. We found bushes growing wild out in an Alaskan valley north of Anchorage and stopped to collect. I was on watch for bears the entire time – if there are tasty ripe blueberries, there are likely hungry big bears around!
But this weekend our venue was the farm of two horticulture experts who teach at Virginia Tech. The blueberry bushes were laid out along the slope of a hillside, with a beautiful view of a very typical Blue Ridge mountain scene. It was a wonderful morning to be pickin. We grazed along, trying to pick thoroughly, and listening to the conversations among the different groups of people out for the morning’s “work.”
Berry picking is a wonderful way to slow down, relax, and enjoy the morning in beautiful countryside. But it would be hard work if you are laboring for your job… I don’t think Scott and I would make any money since it took us over an hour to pick about 5 lbs of berries (Josiah picked and ate another 1/2 lb). But for people looking for a nice outing and fresh berries, it was a casual and wonderful way to spend a bright summer morning — and the first day of summer at that!
I look forward to harvesting other crops at local farms, and hopefully some of our own in our newly planted veggie garden. If I can manage to keep the deer out of it, we will have nice tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers coming our way later this summer. We can hope anyway!
Dog Days of Summer
We also went to the Summer Solstice Fest in downtown Blacksburg.
We listened to our friend Jeanette’s steel drum band play on stage, and then watched the dog parade. These weren’t just any dogs, they were dogs in costumes! Josiah was a little tired by this point in the day, but I think he enjoyed his spot for the dogs walking right by, and he got a couple doggy kisses, which always make him giggle.
I can’t tell you what’s going on with this dog in the jacket, hairpiece, and soda can necklace, but it was too funny and had to be captured and shared with the world!
