Elderkin’s U-Pick: Strawberry fields forever

“Let me take you down, ’cause I’m going to Strawberry Fields. Nothing is real and nothing to get hung about. Strawberry Fields forever.”
The Beatles.

I was told it was too late in the season for picking strawberries.

I never was all that good at listening.

So my foodie friend Kristen (of With Bite) and I went to Wolfville for the day anyway. After a visit to the Farmers Market, we stopped at one of three u-picks open that day. Our u-pick pick was Elderkins. We went to the store, grabbed our crate and wooden quart-sized boxes and made for the field across the way.

The occasional rain shower was a reprieve from the 30C hot and humid day. Not that it mattered much, those red dots peeking out of the bushes were beckoning.

We picked along, turning back leaves to reveal plump red juicy strawberries. The bigger berries could be found at the bottom due to their weight.

Row upon row…roaming from patch to patch, it didn’t take long before Kristen and I were at opposite ends of the field. Once in a while we’d shout out to one another, “oh boy, hit the jackpot here!” or “hello over-sized strawberry, of course you can come home with me!”

I was a good girl, I only popped three in my mouth (sorry Mr. Elderkin).

It was hard to pull away but one hour got us our bounty and the clouds looked like they were going to burst again.

There were still lots of unripe strawberries everywhere and Kristen and I figured there was still at least one week left of picking.

Glad I didn’t listen.

See more photos on The Right Coast NS’ Flickr page