A Sweet Sunday Morning at the Strawberry Farm

Every summer, the strawberry farms near us open their doors for strawberry picking… and every summer slips by without us going.

Last Sunday, the fruit-picking gods aligned, and we finally went to collect a delicious haul of strawberries.

Our son, who is fast becoming a fussy toddler, hasn’t been much of a fan of strawberries. We’ve offered them to him on several occasions; he’ll put one to his lips, pull a funny face, and put it back down again. We were hoping this might be a fun way to get him into eating strawberries.

We packed the car and drove the seven minutes down the road to Minh Tran’s Strawberry Farm, where our adventure would begin.

We arrived at a rustic farm shed surrounded by tractors and other farming equipment, absolute heaven for a little boy. The friendly staff waiting in the shed greeted us and told us we were in luck. The strawberries were beautiful and there were plenty ripe for the picking.

We had the option to buy a pre-packed tray, or go out into the field and pick our own. Of course, we wanted to pick our own as that’s half the fun. It’s also all-you-can-eat while you’re out picking, so need I say more?

We grabbed our box and headed out to the fields.

As a mum who is constantly running around after a toddler, the first thing I noticed was that the strawberry patches are in rows. We could pick a row that didn’t have anyone else in it, put our son in the middle and, with each one of us standing on either side, he could run back and forth between us without getting into too much trouble. Total game changer!

We didn’t waste any time. The welcoming team had directed us to the smaller strawberries for our son. We started hunting for some bite-sized strawberries he could pop straight in his mouth. We picked one, handed it to him, and without hesitation, he gobbled it up and rubbed his tummy with delight as he said, “Yummy.”

Who could blame him? These strawberries were such a brilliant, scarlet red and plump with sweet, succulent flavour. Once we started, we couldn’t stop, and it didn’t come with that guilty feeling of eating one too many chocolates.

After that, he was on a mission. He was helping collect strawberries, and putting them in the box with enthusiasm… we just had to double-check, as some of them were half-trodden-on ones he’d found on the ground.

He kept saying, “More please,” indicating for us to find him another one he could eat.

We had such a fun time wandering up and down the fields, trying different varieties of strawberries and collecting them to take with us. My mind was going crazy with what I could make with all the strawberries when we got home.

Once our box was full, we trudged back through the dirt to our car. We were feeling happy, a little dusty, and so full of sweet strawberry goodness.

Our little toddler’s cheeks were flushed with strawberry juice and soil, but he was loving being able to do so much walking as we obviously couldn’t take the pram with us. He was absolutely exhausted by the time we got home and we ended up putting him down for an early nap. Another victory for the parents!

When he woke, he still had his love for strawberries, but things didn’t quite go as we’d hoped.

He asked for more almost immediately, but as we had bigger strawberries, we had to cut them. He looked at the cut strawberry with disgust and refused to eat it. We hunted around for a strawberry that was smaller so he could eat it whole. We found one and handed it to him… he then said, “Cut.”

Puzzled, I said, “Do you want me to cut it?” When he nodded, I took it back to the kitchen, cut it in half, handed it to him, and he looked at it in disgust again.

We went around in a never-ending circle of strawberry madness. To cut or not to cut? It didn’t matter. He wouldn’t eat.

I even tried giving them to him in a strawberry and cream cheese sandwich. He just opened it and removed the strawberries before eating it.

I’ve now had to hide the strawberries because he sees them and says, “More strawberries,” but I just can’t get him to eat them and he ends up getting upset that the strawberries aren’t doing whatever it is he wants them to do.

We did have a win when I blended the strawberries and made strawberry ice cream and strawberry overnight oats. He loved both. He even said, “Very happy,” as he was eating his oats for breakfast this morning.

Proof that he does still love strawberries.

Oh well, I guess this all just means we will have to go strawberry picking again in a few weeks.

Despite the madness that ensued, this day was so much fun and will be one of the sweet memories I cherish for many years to come.

A little extra: I’ve also made a strawberry-themed Christmas card design on Redbubble, just something fun I created with some photos I took on our day. 🍓