Strawberry Season

So, a few days ago we discovered that one of the great things about summer in Kent was here again -- i.e., that the strawberry place along the Green River is open again for business. There's nothing like fresh-picked fruit and vegetables, food grown to be picked when ripe and eaten right away, and the Al Duris Strawberry Farm on the Frager Road, which hugs the far bank of the Green River, is one of the last places in the Green River Valley still devoted to farming.

Most years you can pick-your-own, but this year because of the too-long winter and too-dry summer the season, which normally lasts about six weeks, is less than three. We've already made three visits, two of which were to get half-flats (six pint containers) for freezing, so we can have fresh frozen strawberries throughout the year. From what they said today, they'll only have strawberries through this weekend (and yes, they are open on the Fourth, though they'll close early).

So, if you like strawberries and want to taste fresh, local-grown, picked-ripe ones, pay them a visit while you can and also help out a local farmer in a year that's not treating the farmers or their crops kindly.

--John R.


P.S.: For a little more on the Al Duris farm, the main part of which seems to be down in Auburn, check out the following link:

http://www.zoominfo.com/people/Duris_Al_185645343.aspx


and also this one (read down to find the part about the Duris farm):

http://www.puyallupherald.com/100/story/4027.html

--JDR

current reading: JUMBEE AND OTHER UNCANNY TALES by Henry S. Whitehead [Arkham House, 1944]