Raspberry Picking

I have to admit - I got blog envy sometimes. Well, maybe not envying blogs but the content of blogs.  Some people just look like they are always doing stuff. Or maybe they are just really good at documenting the stuff they do. My sisters are some of those people. They're really consistent about updating their blogs and also really good at planning stuff to do. One is pretty lucky to live in Washington DC where there is lots of stuff to do. But Utah has lots of stuff to do too.

One of the things I have been wanting to do for forever is to go berry picking. And Utah just happens to have great raspberry picking (blackberries - not so much). So Emily and I planned our excursion with the kids (Emily documented on her blog HERE already - I'm so jealous of her camera and the pictures it takes. ). We went to McBride Briar Patch down in Mapleton, UT after reading about it on another local blog how the owners were super nice and we were not disappointed. What a charming place!!

I can't remember exactly when we did this - some time in September? But I do remember that it was still super hot but we just happened to go on perfect day when it was overcast and a lovely temperature.

These girls didn't do a whole lot of raspberry picking. But they did enjoy the fruits of their moms' labor. We were provided with buckets (and the girls got little ones) as well as rope to tie the buckets around our waists for easier picking, boxes to put the berries in when we were done, and cups for the girls to start eating right away.

The raspberries weren't organic or anything but at only $3/lb, it was such a bargain! We each picked just over 3 lbs so only spent about $10 for all that (and I'm sure we and the girls ate our fair share of berries as we were picking). Emily picked up some local honey as well.

The owner of the raspberry patch had the cutest dog who was so gentle and the girls just loved him.

I was glad to have remembered to wear pants so the prickly bushes didn't bother my legs. I was especially grateful because I spent a lot of time just kneeling on the ground and my pants got all stained! A long sleeve shirt would have been a good idea because I had lots of little scratches on my arms.

I wish I could say that I did something fun with my raspberries but I just ended up eating them everyday plain. I even threw some away (but not much) after several days because they were getting kinda slimy and gross. Next time, I'll make some raspberry jam or fancy desserts with raspberries.

There was free flower picking on the way out which the girls loved as well - I think the flowers were zinnias. And getting home was an adventure as we were stuck in stand-still traffic for one hour. Fortunately, we had plenty of raspberries to snack on in the car. But it wasn't long before the girls had to go to the bathroom so we did a little nature potty on the side of the freeway. Always an adventure being a mom!