Saturday 25 July 2015

Adventure Day - Parks Blueberries

This week we went on an adventure to Parks Blueberries, a blueberry farm about an hour from our home. Luke is loving blueberries, I cut them in half for him and he just swallows those little bites right down. Anyways, its blueberry season, I wanted to stock up and I have been wanting to visit Parks for awhile now.

They have a cafe, bakeshop, country store and an amazing, beautiful farm where you can pick a variety of blueberries (I didn't even know there was more than one kind of blueberry until this trip). Luke and I went with my sisters and our friends Marie and Mya.

Can I just side track for a minute and say, thank you, to all the aunts and friends without children who choose to hang out with their friends who have children, on their days off. You are life enhancers, you allow us to do extra cool things, that without you, would not be as fun!

Ok, back to our blueberry trip. We of course tried to time naps with our drive which kind of worked out. Both children fell asleep about 15 minutes before we arrived at our destination so we drove around Bothwell for a little while to let the babes sleep. Bothwell is a pretty little town and is also where we go to cut down our Christmas tree, in the winter.

When we got there we had lunch. I enjoyed a fresh salad with a blueberry dressing which you can pick up in their store so you can enjoy it at home. I had blueberries on my salad but if you ordered a meal like a sandwich, you got a big pile of blueberries on the side, who doesn't love that? Everyone enjoyed their meals and Luke entertained the crowd by waving at everyone the whole time we ate (waving is currently his favourite thing to do and its just the cutest).

After lunch, we headed outside to pick some berries. Before we started picking, we were able to sample the four kinds of berries that were currently fresh and available. The young man working gave us the run down on which berries were best for baking, eating, freezing and so on, we picked the Reka variety.

Compared to strawberry picking (which is the only other kind of berry picking I have done) I would say that blueberry picking is really easy. The bushes are tall so you don't have to bend down if you don't want to and the berries come off the branches really easily. We filled our buckets pretty quickly but not without snapping some picks of the marvellous landscape. As I picked, I couldn't help but think how blessed I am to live so close to a place where I can pick fresh fruit, our little corner of Ontario is pretty great. I was so happy, I did a little singing while I picked, which was enjoyed by others blueberry picking near by.

I picked two buckets full of berries and Luke ate two buckets full of berries of the ground, just kidding:). On our way out, we all grabbed some baked goods from the bakeshop. Not only do they have delicious treats made with blueberries but they also have brownies and cookies. Tyler and I have been enjoying a classic blueberry pie for dessert all week and now I need to learn how to make pie.

I would say that our Parks Blueberries adventure day was a huge success! I froze a bunch of my berries for baking and smoothies. When the colder weather rolls in and I am enjoying blueberries, I will be dreaming of the sun on my face in the blueberry field and our day at Parks Blueberries.
























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