Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Boxed In


Clearly the idea that I could keep up with my little blog here whilst waist deep in moving house, has been a tremendous fail.  So, I thinks it's best to admit when one is beat and politely tip one's hat to the day and say, "See you on the other side friends!"

I shall return in a couple weeks time. Until then, I wish you all the best!

Monday, July 8, 2013

Blue Bee Farm


Have you ever come across a place that is so great that you can't wait to tell people about it? A place that is truly special - so that a tiny part of you sort of wants to keep it a secret too? Well, we have found such a place and it just wouldn't be fair to keep it all to ourselves.  That place is Blue Bee Farm.


The last weekend in June we had a bit of a heat wave here in the Northwest. We had also seen a house that we fell in love with and on Friday, we put in our offer. This is a bit nerve wracking as the last place we put an offer on, we were outbid. To keep our minds off the whole business, we decided to pack up the car and take a drive out to Sauvie Island. Now, Sauvie Island is just a 20 minute drive from our place and is a magical spot. It's landscape is stunning, dotted with farms and wetlands. There are plenty of U-Pick farms to choose from, some of which can get down right crowded on a sunny weekend day.


The Engineer happens to work with a fellow who's family has opened a Blueberry farm on a beautiful piece of land. We made our way to the farm ready to pick some berries in the sun.


Blue Bee Farm is family owned, and the family is truly ace, really the nicest folks you could imagine. No sprays or chemicals are used on the fruit, they practice natural and sustainable farming, and the surroundings are lovely. The scene was so peaceful, we nearly had the place to ourselves. We headed out to the fields with our buckets looking for blueberry gold,
and boy did we ever find it!


Though the bushes may have looked small, they were literally bowing under the weight of masses of big, juicy, ripe and incredibly sweet berries. Every bush was a treasure. Every few minutes Pony Girl would yell, "Jackpot!"



Blue Bee Farm grows several varieties of blueberries, all of them delicious.  In the short time we were there (not much over an hour) we picked an incredible 16 pounds of blueberries without even realizing it!!


It made for an awesome family outing in beautiful surroundings, we had such a fun time. If you live anywhere near the area, I can not recommend Blue Bee Farm enough. Just click on the link to get info, hours and directions. I happen to know that there are plenty more blueberries coming on at the farm, so go get some now! You can also follow them on Instagram HERE and see their beautiful farm and berries!

I know for a fact that Blue Bee Farm will become a family tradition for years to come!  Thank you so much Shanna, John and family for a great experience!


While we froze a good amount of the berries, we ate quite a few fresh. I also made a batch of blueberry syrup, oh man that stuff is good! Here is a basic simple recipe, much like how I made mine if you care to give it a try. It's easy peasy. It is good on everything from ice cream to pancakes and it makes my new favorite summer refresher: Blueberry Soda with Lime and Mint!


Oh I almost forgot to tell you...
We got the house!!!

Happy Monday all!