Pick-your-own strawberries

We've started making friends here (yay!) and last week one of them suggested we go pick some strawberries and make jam!  

They're fairly inexpensive with the added benefit that you can eat as many berries as you want while you're picking, which happens to be perfect cause Niko has been known to eat nearly a pound of strawberries on his own from time to time. 

Nikolai really liked being able to pick the berries and eat them, although he did get a little confused about whether the green berries were ready to eat or not. 

The only drawback is a side-effect from being able to eat the berries straight off the plant--they don't use weed killer so there were weeds as tall as Niko interspersed with the berry plants.  It really wasn't too bothersome to me but Niko eventually got stressed out by being smacked in the face by them. 

But let me tell you, he really liked those berries! His face and hands were a wonderful mess of berry juice and dirt afterwards as evidence of the deliciousness :)

And here's our bounty! 

Quick plug: if you ever get the chance to go pick your own berries, do it! They are so much juicier and more flavorful than the several-days-old berries from the store, and MAN did they make some good jam!