Strawberries and Memories

Strawberry Season is upon us in Southern Illinois, and it brings many sweet memories with it. Believe it or not strawberries were probably one of the few things that we did not grow on our family’s acre and three fourths in the country. (Gooseberries-check, rhubarb-check, asparagus-check, strawberries-uh, no?) So, we piled into the family car, Pacer or Granada, depending on the year, and went to a local u-pick farm. Often, this was a farm in the Farina, Dix, Kell, or Centralia area. The one by Farina was especially fun because we would stop at Frontier Village for a restroom break and to cool off. My brother and I looked forward to getting those those huge, old-fashioned colorful lollipops.

Once home with our berries, my parents and sometimes my grandma would prep and freeze them by the pint. As a special dessert, my mom would make some wonderful strawberry shortcake.

As unique as it may sound, our kitchen walls actually were covered in strawberry wallpaper. To top it off, a local grocery store sold Strawberry Shortcake (remember her and the dessert squad?) glasses that we would collect to use and display.

Seeing melting chocolate for fruits in grocery stores triggers memories of making chocolate covered strawberries in my dorm room at the Baptist Student Center at SIU-Carbondale. We had potable water, microwaves, and mini fridges. Life was good. My co-ed music fraternity often catered events on campus, and from what I recall, there was sometimes a need for chocolate covered strawberries… I continued making these in grad school too, when I lived in Lewis Park and had an actual kitchenette.

If you have an opportunity to get out and pick your own strawberries, especially as a family, try it at least once just to have that experience. It’s also nice for kids to be able to connect in their heads the process of food growing and making its way to the table. More importantly, family memories you create will last much longer than strawberry season.

Here are some places to contact about U-pick strawberries in Southern Illinois:

ALAHAMBRA

Reinhardt’s Berry Patch, 618-633-2888

BELLEVILLE

Eckert’s Country Store & Farm,

https://www.eckerts.com/belleville-farm

BUMCOMBE

Hallsberry Farms

https://www.facebook.com/Hallsberry-Farms-607311662746573/

CARLYLE

McConauchie Manor Farm

http://mcmanor.com/