First Fruits

I have a lovely strawberry bed that is now in it's second season. Last year, my mom loaded up an old tractor tire that had been lying around their yard since...well...forever (that's a bit of good ol' country livin' for ya) and brought it over with a good bit of dirt and some strawberry plants. I believe it was for mother's day but I can't really remember for certain. They went nuts of course and outgrew their barrier into the ground around it. I got about five strawberries off of it last year. This year, The plants aren't quite going nuts yet and I've already gotten about thirty or so. Granted, about half of them have slug eaten holes and ant nibbles out of them, but I just cut them off and we're good to go. I'm also not counting the casualties from squirrels and birds. There is always the tell-tale white bird poop stains on my black tire where the guilty party sat and reaped the benefits of my hard work. Stupid birds. Why they don't eat the million mulberries that litter my yard is beyond me. Oh well. The kids are loving it. Every day we go outside and they want to check if we have anymore strawberries to pick. Of course, they also pick the green ones before I have a chance to stop them half the time, but still...it's fun regardless. While still hopeful that this isn't the house we are stuck in the rest of our lives, I am excited to have an even bigger strawberry garden in the future. It's kind of sad to think that I can't take it with me when/if we move one day. Guess I'll just have to keep my eye out for another big ol' tractor tire. Sure, it looks a bit white-trashy with a giant tire in your yard, but I love it. It reminds me of the country life I miss so much.

This is the kiddos enjoying the first fruits of the season. It was all I could do to stop them from eating them before I took the picture.