A Day at the Farm: Strawberry Harvest!

Before I had even received my first delivery from Clarion River Organics (CRO), I was invited to come to one of the farms  to pick strawberries!  I knew immediately that this was a must have experience for my 19-year-old daughter, Hannah.  Ever since she was a little girl she had dreamed of going berry picking.  As an avid reader of classics, I think she imagined herself as Anne Shirley in Anne of Green Gables walking through the fields of Prince Edward Island plucking ripe raspberries as she lazily made her way home.  But this was Sligo, PA a nearly two hour drive from our urban dwelling.  Was it worth it to go that far for a few fresh strawberries?  Well, if you knew me you would know that I can never say "no" to my beautiful daughter, and besides, I reasoned, it would be an adventure.  So with GPS in hand and printed directions as a back-up, Hannah and I set off on a bright, sunny Saturday in early June for the Clarion River Organics Strawberry Harvest.

As we drove down the long entrance road of the Schwartz family farm, the sights delighted us - two precious little Amish girls clad in long blue dresses and bonnets standing by a barn holding the reins of a horse, hens and roosters foraging in the barn yard with their babies trailing behind, sheep bleating and grazing in the field, a group of very young Amish women (one holding an infant also clad in long dress and bonnet!) talking by a small pen of lambs.  Taking it all in, we turned to each other with huge smiles and said "We made the right choice!" 

Since we did not arrive in time for the pot-luck lunch, we set right to berry picking.  A handsome, young Amish man handed us some empty quart-sized containers and directed us to the field.  There we found bright red, perfectly formed, juicy strawberries.  We quickly filled our first two boxes and returned to the young man for more.  I don't think either of us wanted the experience of bending down in the cramped rows searching for the perfect berry to end.  Before we knew it we had SIX quarts!  

Next, we were offered some homemade vanilla ice cream topped with what else - crushed strawberries!  Now as I said in my previous post, we don't eat dairy, but the young ladies offering were so kind and we knew that the ice cream would be of very high quality so we could not resist just a small taste.  In a word - delicious!  You could actually taste the cream and it was not overly sweet.  

After that, we drove to a second farm, River View Dairy, where the Byler family raises goats for cheese, milk and yogurt.  The Bylers also receive sheep's milk from the Schwartz farm to make sheep's milk cheese.  Mr. Byler told us that they have 90 goats to milk by hand each day.  Good thing for him, he has seven children to help.  In all, it takes two hours in the morning (at 5 am!) and two hours again in the afternoon to complete the milking.  The Bylers were gracious hosts offering samples of their cheeses and yogurt and giving us minted iced tea to drink as we talked.   

My daughter and I also met Nathan and Zeb that day (the founders and organizers of CRO) who are clearly caring and effective managers.  And had we gotten there a bit earlier we could have taken a tour of the farm in one of the Schwartz's horse drawn hay wagons!  Nevertheless, it was delightful to be out in the "country" and observe just how hard the families work to provide us with these wonderful products.  Hannah and I agreed that it was one of the nicest days we have spent in a long time.  Not only did we leave with six quarts of strawberries, but also with a fondness for these hard working Amish families. Their land is beautiful, their homes lovely, their children more well behaved than I have seen anywhere, and their manner humble, gracious, and friendly.  Now each day when I wash and cut up all that beautiful produce they have harvested for me, I think of them, giving thanks for them, and praying that "my God will meet all of their needs" (Philippians 4:19).