{into nature}

{into nature} is a weekly Monday post inspiring the exploration of nature. It is a grassroots effort to combat the nature deficit disorder in our current generations. Please join me in this movement back into nature by sharing your own nature inspiration, whether shared through photographs, words, poetry…. leave a link here in the day's comments for all to enjoy.


“For children, nature comes in many forms. A newborn calf; a pet that lives and dies; a worn path through the woods; a fort nested in stinging nettles; a damp, mysterious edge of a vacant lot- whatever shape nature takes, it offers each child an older, larger world… nature does not steal time; it amplifies it.” -Richard Louv

*****

i can hardly believe blueberry picking season is upon us.  the abnormal heat of the spring has so many crops arriving weeks earlier than the norm here in connecticut.  i'm crossing my fingers that blueberry picking somehow lasts to the first days of september like it usually does- two whole months to pick blueberries is enough to swoon over!  after all, blueberry picking is one of our sweetest summer activities.  for connecticut locals, i cannot recommend evergreen berry farm in watertown enough!  such a beautiful farm, with my favorite part being they are open until 8pm every day.  we usually go in the evening, and thy are honestly some of the most beautiful summer memories i have from the past few years.  picking blueberries as dusk falls. 

this summer we made our first day time trip into the fields.  it was a last minute decision to go, and i wanted to beat the forcasted 92 degrees.  we lasted nearly two hours before we all started to melt.  and collected enough berries to last us until our next picking in the upcoming weeks.  we like to go at least four or five times each summer, stocking up for the entire year on our favorite summer gems. 

a little treasure peeking out from a blueberry branch- abandoned but happily reoccupied by blueberries :)

tanner really amazed me this year.  all of the past years he plunked a few berries in his pail, ate more than enough of his fill, then spent the rest of the time cruising the aisles.  but this year he is a determined little picker.  and a good one.  he insisted that we could not leave until he filled his neck pail to the very top.  and he did it, one berry at a time.  one perfect berry at a time.  as i examined his pail prior to paying, i found not one green berry or one squished/over ripe berry.  and my that boy was proud of his berries!

 

a few more berries made it into noah's pail for his second summer of picking.  it also amazed me how quickly he picked up on picking blueberries by watching his big brother. 

my very proud blueberry picker showing his perfectly picked full pail of berries.

ps- if you haven't already done so, head on over to my giveaway for a chance to win a cute wristlet that i stitched up.  i'll be drawing the winner tonight!