Delicious Red Berries!

Here on the farm, we love strawberries. They have always been my favorite fruit. Jorene loves them. Liam is following in his parents step. Even Hope likes strawberries. So, to have enough for the four of us and our guests, we grow a lot of strawberries. I have two 4' x 10' beds of Junebearers, and started 4 more beds last fall. Next week, I will be planting 3 beds of Everbearers (Ozark Beauty). Did I mention that we love strawberries?

Our two established beds started ripening on Monday. We had been snacking on them the past several days. Friday, it was time to do some serious picking. I picked 12 lbs. of beautiful red berries, leaving the pink ones to pick later this weekend.



What will I do with all of these strawberries? Well, I use some in the fruit salad for our guests at the lodge. Next, I made Strawberry Sorbet.

Strawberry Sorbet

1/2 cup sugar
1 cup water
4 cups fresh or thawed frozen strawberries
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Combine sugar and water in heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until all sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat, place in refrigerator and cool completely. Puree strawberries; add lemon juice and sugar water.

Start ice cream maker and pour mixture through hole in lid. Freeze until desired consistency or the unit stops.

4 cups of fresh strawberries, ready to be pureed.

Finished sorbet, ready to freeze.

I also like to freeze whole strawberries for baking later. I pick the best looking berries, wash and remove the stems, and lay them on a cookie sheet. I put them in the freezer until they are hard and won't stick together. Then, the berries can be put in a quart or gallon freezer bag.


Since I had the food processor out, I decided to mix up some batches of Strawberry Ice Cream.

Strawberry Ice Cream

1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup fresh strawberries
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup milk

Chop the strawberries in a food processor by pulsing a couple of times. This makes nice bite size bits of strawberry. If you want a smoother ice cream, continue pulsing until the fruit is pureed.


Combine sugar, lemon juice, and fruit. Stir until well mixed. Stir in cream and milk.

Start ice cream maker and pour mixture through hole in lid. Freeze until desired consistency or until the unit stops.

A smile on my son's face is all I ask for.