I headed out to Thistledown Farm in Junction City yesterday to get our second batch of strawberries for the season. It was an interesting drive out River Road to the farm. The farm is about 10 miles from downtown Eugene and River Road is a main artery from downtown to Junction City. About 5 miles out, in Santa Clara, the buildings start to thin and I noticed old fruit trees, mostly apples, growing in front lawns. Probably remnants of old orchards. There were a few smaller farms along the way with hazelnuts, berries and some small scale market farming. All not long for the world though as development pushes up against them. There were signs for other strawberry u-pick operations along the way. I stayed the course for Thistledown based on the evidence from earlier in the week when my youngest son had gone picking with a friend and her mother – large, sweet berries.
Back home, I had to soak the berries to remove the dust and dirt. Since many were very ripe I separated them out as I hulled to have as fresh strawberry sauce for morning pancakes. The rest I packed in quart freezer bags (without sugar) and put them to freeze. I got about 10 quarts of frozen and 2 quarts of sauce. Here is the pancake recipe, it is an excellent whole grain (wheat alternative if desired) recipe that is easy to prepare if a little noisy with the blender time:
Sue Gregg’s Blender Batter for Waffles or Pancakes
Take care ’til next time,
Daniel
