Strawberries and Shivers.

Chicago.

It feels like this past weekend was all strawberries, all the time. In actuality, it was probably only about twelve hours of strawberry-intense activity. So, hey, not even half of my waking hours.

Saturday morning, we sold (if I heard right) sixty-three flats of strawberries. At ten pounds each - eight quarts in a flat - that's a lot of strawberries. Most went away in one- or two-quart sales, whittled down with frequent tastings. I was a little wary of the sampling berries early on, when folks would eat one and keep on walking. Then Paul arrived with a pallet, and things picked up. We were able to convince plenty of passers-by to buy some berries after tasting, in part because they tasted so good, in part because it was clear we were proud of what we had to sell.

It genuinely helped to have certified organic berries. Locally grown¹, too. People weren't concerned about eating them without washing, and there's no potential for a pesticide-influenced taste. Try some conventional berries alongside, and the difference is clear. Taste them against some conventional berries shipped unripe from California, and it's not hard to consider waiting until real berries are available again next year.

Even before tasting this year's crop ourselves, we knew that JenEhr would have great berries. Sharon and I picked five or six pounds last year, and I trust Kay and Paul for quality. We've tried their chickens and produce, visited the farm, and gotten some respectable backup from folks such as Tory Miller, Odessa Piper and Therese Allen. So, even though their hand-weeded organic strawberries may cost more than the average conventional U-pick, it's still our top choice. Besides, I don't think $2.25 per pound is at all unreasonable for organic berries.

Sunday, then, was strawberry U-pick time. Barely ahead of the rumbling thunderstorms - we could see them blackening the western horizon and marching closer - we made it through the patches with over thirteen pounds of berries, scattered rashes along our forearms, and a variety of red stains on hands and clothing.

The stains were only compounded by the jam-making session that directly followed. Ripe strawberries won't stay good through the week, and there's only so many one person can eat fresh.² And though strawberry shortcake is indeed wonderful, I adore strawberry jam. In addition to being a wonderfully concentrated version of pure strawberry that plays up the deep notes, it keeps forever (or until next June, assuming we don't eat it all first). It's great with pancakes, waffles and crepes. It's a quick and easy way to make sorbet. Or for sweetening iced tea. And when I need an occasional sugar fix, a spoonful of jam'll do it for me.

Not candy or chocolate or any of the usual suspects. I've got to go the Russian route.

So I stuck around long enough to get Sharon through the bulk of the jam-making process. In other words, I made a mess in the kitchen and left before cleanup time.³ By the end of it, I was thoroughly splattered with red juice. At first glance, you might think I'd spent the day butchering animals.⁴

Speaking of blood and gore: next weekend, the Orpheum (in conjunction with Four Star Video Heaven) will be showing Shivers⁵, David Cronenberg's first full-length feature. It's about parasites that turn people into killer sex-crazed zombies, full of really disturbing scenes and low-budget special effects. It's part of their "Summer Camp" series of films: "the under-appreciated, oft-forgotten, and wonderfully awful". I don't think I'll be able to catch it - neither showing happens to be at a time I can get there - but I'm dying to see it. I mean, what could there possibly be about a Cronenberg-zombie-sex-horror film produced by Ivan Reitman⁶ not to like?

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¹Everything at the DCFM is local, in that it's grown in the state of Wisconsin, and there's a limit to how far vendors can be from Madison and still consider the trip worthwhile. Some shoppers - tourists, I'm guessing - aren't aware of this.

²I hit that limit in the field, per rules one and three of the JenEhr U-pick system. Rule one: eat a berry before you pick any to take with you. That's the only way you know you'll be happy with them. Rule three: eat your fill while harvesting, so you won't be tempted to eat and drive at the same time. Little kids leave the farm looking like extras in a George Romero flick.

³I feel rather guilty about this, but I didn't have much choice.

⁴Except, of course, for the fact that strawberry juice dries bright red, whereas blood dries black. I realized this on Saturday, when different red splotches dried in different colors.

⁵Also called They Came From Within!, which is so much cheesier. But what would you expect for the American release in the '70s?

⁶Of Ghostbusters and Stripes fame, of course. Also Twins, which is why Cronenberg's masterpiece was re-named Dead Ringers.