I’m surprising myself here by labeling something with the word “Amish” ( growing up Amish, myself, that used to annoy me) but I feel the strawberries we hunted down a few weeks ago deserve the title. Big, juicy, red berries for a great price.
Mom and I decided we want around thirty quart strawberries to make jam with or mash and put in the freezer for later use, so without having placed any orders for them, we set out.
We hit an area where there are settlements of what we call “Swartzentruber Amish.” They live a very primitive life, with no electricity or running water. Everything is so simplified, down to no gravel on their driveways. A lot of these people raise produce so that is why we chose this area to look. Thankfully, it was dry so we cud travel on these dirt lanes without getting stuck. (although, we did bottom out once
)
The above picture is the longest lane I have ever seen! Those buildings you see in the distance is their farm. We had even gone a fourth mile already before I took the picture! It must have been almost over a mile long!
I had the fun part. I drove and sent mom in to ask if they have any berries. Then while she chatted with the people, I got to put my new Canon powershot 50x optical zoom camera to test! I’m still trying to decide if I feel a little guilty about snapping numerous pictures of these private people’s children. Maybe if they weren’t so cute, it wouldn’t have been so tempting so maybe it’s really not my fault…Anyway, I do remember though, how that used to irritate me when tourists did that. When I took the pictures, I made sure they didn’t see me do it. I think that’s probably the difference.
Thankfully, with the great zoom this new Canon has, I could take half decent pictures being far off. Of course, they were taken through the windshield or side window, making them a little less clear.
I know I’m rambling more about these adorable kids than the strawberries but I must say, I was a bit more intrigued with this simplified country life than the berries and I want to share some of the pictures with you.
I saved my favorites for last. First, three children stood on the porch curiously watching while my mom talked with the mom outside…
A fourth appeared…
While they stood there, a baby (the fifth child, I figured) was crying in the house! These Amish are known for their large families. With kids this cute, one a year would be great, maybe? I’m kidding, though!
After visiting a half a dozen farms we did end up getting our berries…
We had fun washing and mashing them. It’s so much more fun if they are nice and big!
What a great feeling of knowing we can be enjoying these delicious berries next winter!
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