Putting the 'Straw' on the 'Strawberries'!!







Today was 'straw' on 'strawberry' day! We wait until the field is nice and frozen, get out the wagon, load the straw and then spread it over our 'berries for next season! This is simply done so that you have 'clean' strawberries. If you don't do this key step, you will have 'sandberries'! The straw we use is oat straw, from our own certified organic oat crop this past season. It was the perfect day to do it: no wind and the berry plants still showing nicely. It took Ben, his mother and I until 2pm today to get it all done by hand! Excellent workout I must say and totally necessary now that the lazy winter months have hit and comfort foods are all about! Ben's parents grew strawberries in the '70's, so it brought back alot of memories for Ben's mom today. She even told me about Ben's grandmother Elizabeth spreading straw by hand for her own strawberries in the 1960's in almost the exact spot where we have the new patch! It's a proud feeling to be the third Sosnicki wife working the land here! I've included some nice pictures of Ben and his mom today. We are already talking about making strawberry jam....

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