May Daze -- U-Pick Blueberries, Chaw'se, and Memorial Weekend

Early in my involvement with the Master Food Preserver program I attended a continuing education class on local food sourcing. It’s funny how terms like local food sourcing, locally grown, sustainably grown, organic and others start out by being cool and trendy and then at some point become commonplace and accepted. That is, they are not questioned. I remember asking a grocer about ‘local’ fresh corn that was being sold (out of season) and it turned out it was from SoCal, as much as 600+ miles away. Some terms, like organic, are regulated by the USDA. Others, like locally-grown, are not regulated and while these terms have some consumer-appeal, they can mean anything. Anyway, that 30-minute continuing education class back in 2014 made a lasting impression on me. Over the past two years we’ve established sources for most of our produce. The word “source” sounds so impersonal. Actually, I like to think that we have developed relationships with local farmers, like ScottOneto and his honor-system stand on Highway 88 and Chris Strutz and his citrusfarm (and pomegranates) on Highway 16 and Lianne Faine and her blueberry farm in Valley Springs, our latest addition to a long list of local food sources.

Earlier in May, one of my MFP friends told me about a u-pick blueberry farm in her area and she signed me up to receive emails. Near the end of the month I was notified that the berries at Blue Sky Farm in Valley Springs (about 40-50 miles from home) were ripe and to call for an appointment to pick. I did. Verne and I set out on the adventure and with some difficulty managed to find the well-hidden farm on a 5-acre parcel in Valley Springs. We were greeted by about a dozen little mutts that surrounded the car threatening to attack, if necessary. The owner (of the farm as well as the dogs) told us where to park and assured Verne that if he ran over a few of the dogs it was okay, she had more up at the house. That was the beginning of a day to remember. We’re already planning a trip to Lianne’s farm next year…this time we’ll bring others to join in the fun. We picked for 1-1/2 hours all the while chatting with Lianne and getting to know her and her little rescued friends. According to her, she owned as many as 50-60 rescue dogs (some very large breeds) before buying the blueberry farm a few years ago and is currently down to under twenty. Of course, with the additional acreage, she now owns two rescue horses, too.  When we had picked more berries than we needed (almost 11 pounds), paid ($3.50 per pound…quite the deal), and were ready to leave, we said our goodbyes, walked to the car and inside we found two of her dogs sitting on the back seat and one in the cargo area, all with a wistful look as if to say, “Please take us home and be our “forever” family (that’s Lianne’s term)…”  It was heart-wrenching to throw the little rascals out of the car (Verne did the throwing, I only watched). I think he was right, though, when he accused Lianne of training her dogs to do that. It’s quite effective. I haven’t been able to forget little Winston and find myself going back to the picture I took and wondering if he’s found his “forever” mommy yet. Anybody interested?

A few days later, Lauren joined us for the long weekend. I hadn’t planned anything for the Memorial holiday (except to make blueberry jam), but then Lauren is always happy to just stay home and have quality time with “the Parents.” On our way home from picking her up at the airport we noticed a big to-do at Chaw’se Indian Grinding Rock Park (located a few miles from home). Verne knew exactly what was going on as he’d read about it in our local paper, the Ledger Dispatch. It was Chaw’se Weekend, the annual fundraiser for the park sponsored by the Jackson Rancheria, our local Indian casino. We decided to check it out Saturday afternoon. One of the things I love about a small town (I sometimes hate it too), you don’t go out without running into people you know. We no sooner arrived at Chaw’se and we ran into our former neighbors and friends, the Lairds, as they were just leaving. Actually, it was great timing because Lauren hadn’t seen them in years and they have always taken an interest in the girls. It was a perfect reunion. They gave us a heads-up on the free food and we were off to lunch on Indian tacos and fry bread. We walked through the vendor area and then made plans to return the next morning for a hike around the south trail of the park. 

The balance of our weekend was spent at the cabin quilting. Our goal was to make a quilt top in a day. Sounds ambitious, but anything is possible with the A-Team. That’s what we call ourselves. The “A” meaning excellence. It means something quite different when we make that reference at one of our quilting retreats. I cut for four hours the following day and Lauren sewed.  One additional hour on Sunday morning and we had completed the project and it’s now one more in my cupboard of a couple dozen quilt tops that need to be quilted.

That’s it for the month of May. I’m already a few days into June and the El Dorado County Fair and the Basic Sausage Making at Home class are looming over me. Yikes! On a positive note, I’m current on my blogging. J