strawberries – Windtree Bee

June 9, 2023

It’s Cherry Season!

Earlier this week, my awesome neighbor, Elizabeth, dropped by to say her sweet cherry tree was ready for picking — as in, right then, immediately. So, of course, I grabbed a bucket and followed her. She told me her tree doesn’t always reliably produce great cherries, but when it does, they’re amazing — and this year’s harvest was one of the best.

Black Forest Preserves

After picking, I needed to pit them. Admittedly, not my favorite part. I’ve tried a few different ways to pit cherries and have settled on the paperclip method. (If you’re new here, the backstory: How to Pit Cherries and Not Get Arrested for Bootlegging).

After poking around in my recipe books, I debated making cherry marmalade, because the recipe’s provenance was old and ancient (Cherry Marmalade from JP McMahon’s The Irish Cookbook, adapted from one of the oldest known collections of Irish recipes, written by a woman who was born in Castle Birr, County Offaly, in 1666) but then I found a much more contemporary recipe that sounded positively divine.

Ball Canning‘s recipe for cherry preserves uses cocoa powder and a hint of almond extract. Last night, my family sampled our jar by the spoonful and tonight we’re gonna put it on s’mores.

Maple Strawberry Jam

Just because cherry season is off to a rollicking start doesn’t mean strawberry season is over. We’re still getting strawberries out of our strawberry beds. They are small but tasty! I added some organic strawberries, maple syrup, and voila! This jam is the perfect spread for waffles or pancakes.

Come see us at the “Hats & Honey” table!

We’ll be at the Hereford Farm Market tomorrow, Saturday, June 10, from 9:00 a.m. to noon at the Hereford High School. In addition to the jam and preserves, we’re also bringing honey and Queen Scarlett and her retinue in the Observation Hive. Last week, we sold out of nearly everything, so don’t wait to come see us!!

July 1, 2022

Red, White & Blueberry!

We’ll be at the Hereford Farm Market tomorrow from 9:00 a.m. to noon. Two new jam batches this week: Blueberry & honey-sweetened strawberry. Either (or both) would make the perfect gift to bring to a neighbor’s backyard BBQ! Have a safe and happy holiday weekend, everyone! 🙂

June 9, 2022June 10, 2022

New Strawberry Preserve Flavors!

Have you ever noticed how much more sweet-smelling and flavorful local, hand-picked strawberries are? I often buy organic strawberries from the supermarkets and they are big and beautiful but, by far, my favorite strawberries are the ones I buy from local farmers. They are often smaller, but are so much richer in terms of taste and color.

For this week’s batch of jams, I bought a flat of strawberries from Foggy Bottom Farm in White Hall, Maryland. They were hand-picked by Krista that day and I made this week’s batches within 48 hours of buying them. My kitchen smelled awesome the entire time, reminding me constantly of why everyone calls strawberries “nature’s candy.”

What I’m bringing to the market this week

Honey-sweetened strawberry jam: No sugar, just organic honey + the fresh Foggy Bottom Farm berries, a few sprigs of thyme leaves and a splash of lemon juice. I’m offering these in little 4 oz jars. They are as precious as caviar – but not nearly as expensive! This was a very small batch, so I’ll likely sell out fast. Don’t wait to stop by our table if you want to buy!

Strawberry Cocoa Jam: same delicious strawberries, combined with cocoa, coconut sugar, and a whiff of vanilla. This jam would be perfect on waffles, croissants, or brioche (Wegman’s has it in the bread aisle). And amazing on s’mores!!

Strawberry lemonade mixer: only three ingredients – gorgeous, ripe, hand-picked local strawberries + organic lemon juice and sugar. That’s it! Use this to make the best strawberry lemonade you’ve ever had, as a mixer for a summer cocktail, or as an addition to your morning smoothie. To reconstitute this juice concentrate, mix one part water, tonic water, or ginger ale. Adjust to taste. Vodka optional. 🙂

Growing our own strawberries!

Craig and I are trying to grow our own strawberry patch. I ordered a bunch of live strawberry roots, which arrived in the mail a few months ago. They were adorable – little Baby Groots. I planted them in pots and stuck them under our grow lights in the basement. They thrived and were ready for planting sooner than we had anticipated. There was some mad scrambling on our end to get the raised beds ready, but we’re excited about this project and very hopeful we’ll have our own strawberries next summer.

We’ll be at the Hereford Farm Market, 17004 York Road, in Parkton, Maryland, from 9:00 a.m. until noon this Saturday. Look for us at the “Hats & Honey” table beside The Contented Rooster. (The farm market down at the Maryland Ag Center is not happening tomorrow. We’ll keep everyone posted about next week!)

June 4, 2021

Strawberries are in season!

The signs are everywhere — strawberry shortcake at the grocery store, plentiful containers of ripe berries at the farm market, and Pick Your Own open for business at nearby orchards.

Two of this week’s jam flavors feature hand-picked strawberries from Shaw’s. I drove out there earlier this week for berries and picked them myself right from the field. The orchards were beautiful and this year’s strawberry crop is terrific. I managed to pick about five and a half pounds in the time I had. I filled in the rest of the strawberries I needed for this week’s jam batches with berries from Oak Spring Farm. If you haven’t yet bought local berries, what are you waiting for??

Look for me tomorrow at the “Hats & Honey” table at the Hereford Farm Market!