When?  When will those berries turn red?  You can't wonder more than we do.    When will the rain that has been blessedly pouring down enter the strawberry cells and swell them to juicy plumpness?  When will be that magic moment when just enough heat units have warmed the berries to cause them to change color and develop that deep sweetness we are longing for?

For the first time in 4 years, we haven't had a late frost, and so we'll get to taste the early season fruits.  Even I can hardly remember what an Annapolis or Sable taste like.  I've become more familiar with the wine-sweet Cavendish, a mid-season berry, and the peach-sweet Winona, a late-season berry.  Any day now, I'll get to taste the early season berries.  

For the first time in 4 years, we haven't had an infestation of thrips, a nasty bug that destroys our strawberry blossoms.  The pessimist in me wonders what nature will hurl at us next, since we've managed to dodge the frost and the thrips.  What challenges will this harvest bring? 

Then, there's the baby.  He's a blessing and a delight, but will I be able to keep nursing him throughout the busy strawberry season?  Nursing is such a pleasure and a joy.  It represents for me everything about eating local that I treasure.  No packaging.  No carbon foot print.  No preservatives or additives.  A relational activity rather than an impersonal one.  Everything that we want our farm to be for every person who drives into the yard.  

Which brings me back to that question -- when will you be driving into our yard? 

Hello all you strawberry lovers!  Hasn't it been a wonderful spring?  The sunshine and timely rains have been just splendid here on the strawberry farm.  I took a walk through the fields this morning and was astonished to see thousands, if not millions, of blossoms and green berries.  There were even green berries the size of a dime.  Just for some perspective, I pulled up my records for our years of strawberry growing:

Year	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Start Date	June 1	June 7	June 14	June 17	June 17	June 19	June 16	June 5	June 16	June 27	June 19	June 9	June 20

Do you think we'll match or beat 1999's start date of June 1?  Right now, it looks very possible.

That means we'll get to welcome many of you to our farm very soon.  Yes -- our farm! Dan and I bought it this spring.   Our children think they've moved to heaven on earth, and I'm just about ready to agree with them.  The flower gardens are growing, there are five new baby kitties, four ducks waddle around eating the weeds for us, and the Banty chickens strut around the yard as if they own it.  Are you as excited to come as we are to greet you? 

We would love for you to pass on this message of welcome to others on your e-mail list.

Looking forward to seeing you soon,

Sarah