For over 20 years I’d had a nice little doable raspberry patch on the farm. It was ever-bearing and in turn, produced raspberries early summer and again in the fall, until a heavy frost put them to sleep for the winter.
Every year, the latter harvest was more abundant than the first. I’d have to pick every other day just to keep up. The bees and I shared the patch. There were more than enough for all of us, I’d remind them occasionally.
This year, I was sorely disappointed in my little patch. After the first green shoots were spotted, I’d cut back stalks like I do every year, and clean up dead sticks and dig out nasty thistles trying to run the roost — just general housekeeping.
For some reason, my raspberries decided to simply not participate. We surmised I might have been too boisterous or perhaps I got at it too early in the season, or uncooperative weather. For reasons unknown, they went nowhere. We have no fledgling berries — nary a one.
I was disappointed, but my husband was despondent.
“What about my vudkas?” he bemoaned.
Vudka is an easy dessert I make that requires two cups of fresh or frozen raspberries. It’s a staple at our house, believe me.
About then, a long-time acquaintance advertised she had raspberries for sale, $7 per quart, just picked and ready to go. Immediately, my husband contacted her, inquiring if we could buy three quarts. They live close by.
“Come on over,” she responded.
Getting there, she pushed my money away and handed over our berries. Last year, my husband had moved some dirt around for them with our skidder at their newly-built house and had refused payment.
“We’re old friends and now neighbors. I don’t need anything,” he’d told them at the time.
People are thoughtful. They remembered my husband’s kindness and returned the favor.
Needless to say, he was ecstatic. He’d get his vudkas — with or without our raspberries.
In June, he resolutely went picking strawberries at Glendale Farms in Clintonville, bringing two flats of delicious, sweet red strawberries home. This assures he’ll have strawberry shortcake — made with his dear late mother’s recipe — all winter long.
“I’ll pick if you bake me shortcakes,” says he.
Deal.
Mid-July on a hot scorcher of a day, we took advantage of a very short cherry-picking season, finding ourselves on the road to Door County bright and early. We were heading for our favorite place to pick cherries, Meleddy Cherry Farm, 15 minutes southwest of Sturgeon Bay. It’s a beautiful orchard. We go every year.
Why every year, you may ask?
Because my husband needs his fix of cherry pies.
Getting there right at 9 a.m., we beat the heat of the day and in less than one-half hour had picked two full pails of beautiful, tart cherries. At the checkout counter, I had inquired of the owner how do they keep birds away from making mincemeat of the fruit?
“We run distress calls, which ward off the birds and then shut the speakers off before our guests arrive,” was the answer.
What a wonderful, natural way to take care of potential devastating losses. The cherries hang so low and lush that one need only to pick eye-level. No stretching required. They have a station next door and for an extra $5 per pail they offer washing and pitting. Totally worth it.
Raspberries, strawberries and cherries are frozen in freezer bags in two-cup portions. We do share with our boys as they both make fruit smoothies, but for the most part, my husband is the one that reaps the rewards of our labor.
(“Then God said, ‘I will give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.’” Genesis 1:29, New International Version)
Kay Reminger was born and raised on a dairy farm, and she married her high school sweetheart, who happened to farm for a living in Leopolis. Writing for quite a few years, she remains focused on the blessings of living the ups and downs of rural life from a farm wife’s perspective.
RASPBERRY VUDKA
2 cups flour
2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries
2 cups milk
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
Grease a 9x13 pan. Mix flour, milk and eggs, much like pancake batter consistency. Pour into prepared pan. Add raspberries. Sprinkle sugar on top. Bake 45 minutes in a pre-heated 350 degree oven. Serve warm.
JOYCE’S STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE
3 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
5 tablespoons milk
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Grease a 9X13 pan. Mix ingredients by hand until well-blended. Fold in three egg whites, beaten stiff. Bake for 20-25 minutes in a pre-heated 350-degree oven. Serve with sweetened pureed strawberries and ice cream.
DOOR COUNTY FRESH CHERRY PIE
Filling:
2 cups cherries
½ cup water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
¾ cup sugar
4 tablespoons cornstarch
Crumb crust:
1½ cups flour
½ cup sugar
½ cup butter
Add ingredients together. Bring to a boil, cooking 10 minutes. Stir frequently. Mix together crumb crust ingredients until crumbly. Firmly pat crumb crust in a pie plate, saving a little for the topping. Bake 45 minutes in a pre-heated 350-degree oven. Serve warm with ice cream.
Eye-level Door County cherries hang from the trees in abundance. Distress calls broadcasting over the grove protect the fruit from natural predators. (Kay Reminger)
