The Sweetest Part of Summer: Our Battle and Triumph with Strawberries
On our quiet homestead, our strawberry patch is a vibrant hub of activity, a daily theatre of the eternal struggle between growth and consumption. Slugs, with their leisurely pace and insatiable appetite, gnaw at our sun-ripened berries. To dissuade them, we've welcomed the company of the elegant Burgundy snails – not only do they keep the slug population in check but hold the potential of an escargot feast someday.
As for the birds, we’ve come to realize, it's impossible to outsmart their ultraviolet vision with our artful faux strawberries. Our efforts now are to shield our tender fruits with netting and find peace in the balance we share with the wildlife around us – after all, there’s plenty to go around.
The strawberries we savor today are a delightful mix of our local 'forest-earthberries' and their distant South American relatives. Our strawberries, interspersed with wild ones, bloom from midsummer to late summer in a medley of pink and white flowers, yielding fruits of varied shapes and sizes.
Harvesting becomes a twice-daily ritual in these months, to ensure we reach the fruit before our slimy competitors do. Our harvested treasure lends itself to a trio of preparations – fresh with cream, sugar, and vanilla; as a syrup enhancing drinks and sodas; and as a crowning jewel on our cakes. An abundant harvest finds its way to the freezer, awaiting a winter morning's porridge or another batch of syrup.
In our household, the favorite way to enjoy these berries is the simplest - washed, halved, and served with cream and a sprinkling of sugar. It's a beloved tradition for our children, a way to mark the end of the school year and the start of summer holidays, as they fill their baskets with berries and pour cream onto their hand-picked harvest. Such is the sweetness of summer encapsulated in our garden's red jewels.
If you're lucky enough to be flush with these sweet, red gems and you're thinking beyond the bowl, we've got some stellar recipes that truly honor the humble strawberry. Discover these delightful dishes where strawberries take center stage:
