The saga of the berries:

I've seen it written that there are young people today who have no idea that food comes from anywhere other than a grocery store. This seems extremely unhealthy both mentally and physically to me (to say nothing of the spiritual effect), so here is an example of picking and preserving food for yourself as demonstrated by my wife and me.

I've told you that the berries were looking very plentiful this year, and they have been. Today was warm and sunny, so we cruised around our backyard and along our lane and harvested a bit of nature's bounty. In just a short time we had a couple of bowlfuls. My wife's finger's are not bleeding, but rather show the aftereffect of picking some very fat, juicy berries! Of course, if they burst you must eat them immediately. Those are the rules in berry picking, at least in my house.

She spreads them on a jelly roll sheet, and prepares to put them in the freezer for preservation. No cooking necessary at this point.

Once frozen, they go into bags, along with blueberries and raspberries from the store, and we get to use them throughout the winter when such goodies are rare. When we use some in a treat, I'll try and post a picture of that so you can get the full cycle.