Oregon Summers

Once when asked to make a list of my abilities I wrote down "rapid consumption of fruits and vegetables in large quantities" as one of them. It is not unusual for me to eat an entire pineapple in one sitting, and I have been known to peel and eat oranges in under 30 seconds. I usually have carrots or bell peppers in my purse, and when I make salad for myself it is always in a "family-size" bowl. While I wouldn't necessarily consider this a talent - it gets expensive and can be rather inconvenient - it is a fact and (in part) explains why I love Oregon summers so much.

For those who have never been to northwest Oregon, it is like growing up in a garden. Everything is green, and edibles are so easy to grow that they often spring up without being planted. All of my running/biking routes are planned with second breakfast in mind, and depending on the time of year I can find strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, apples, pears and plums along the public paths. In addition to those, there are always the farms up in the beautiful hill country near my home where you can pick your own produce and pay for it by the pound at a significantly lower price than in a grocery store.

It was to one such farm that I made my way this morning, thinking that I would enjoy the beautiful weather and at the same time harvest enough blueberries to last me through the week. I started out with two empty 1-gallon buckets, and began picking. And eating. And picking. And eating. I realized that I hadn't eaten breakfast before heading out - a rare mistake - and after 15 minutes of frantic picking (and eating) I looked down to find only a thin covering over the bottom of the container. The berry farms usually advertise that you can eat all you want for free while you are picking, but for me that is like a Tongan at an all-you-can-eat restaurant, and I always come out feeling like I have cheated someone. Anyhow, I wanted to be able to take something home, so I decided to limit myself to eating only the small-ish blueberries. And the slightly under-ripe ones. And the ones that I picked with my left hand.

It took me over an hour, but eventually both buckets were full, and so was I. I went to the farm store to pay for my produce and it turned out to be 11.75 pounds of blueberries! I did some quick mental calculations: if I ate one out of every four handfuls (which was being overly generous on the bucket side of things) then I probably consumed about 3 pounds while picking... My conscience pricked me and I felt like I should leave a tip or something, but when I smiled at the girl at the counter she looked at me strangely and I wasn't sure what to do, so I left. On the way back to my car I ran my tongue across the front line of my teeth. Sure enough, more than one blueberry skin had made a temporary home there. Smooth, Kiera.

At least now I have enough berries for a few days, and after that I might go pick again, but at a different farm. :) And in another week or two the first of the blackberries will come in... Mmm, I love Oregon summers!