Sunday, July 01, 2007

Olallieberry U-Pick

"Live each season as it passes - breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit". You have heard this before, and now you are hearing it again. But I can't emphasize it enough. I've gone to pick berries again. I thought it would be my last time but the fever seems to have spread from here to there and back here again.

Berry nice! Berry fun ! Berry Berry! Gone ~berry berry~ picking. “Olallie” is a word for berry that was used by the Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest. Berry Berry U-Pick! Olallieberries U-Pick! (oops, tigerfish gone berry crazy!).

Olallieberry (pronounced oh-la-leh). My first encounter with olallieberry was almost a year ago, after tasting an olallieberry pie in Duarte Tavern and blogging about the fruit.

Olallieberry certainly has a complicated heritage - a cross between the loganberry (itself a cross between blackberry and raspberry) and the youngberry (itself a cross between blackberry and dewberry). Berry complicated. As the olallieberry has blackberry on both sides of its parentage, it exhibits many similar characteristics of the blackberry.

Looking alike some special vineyard variety


Berry speaks: I'm just here for a short while for you...1st three weeks in June


Most berries have high antioxidants levels


From here...


To here...


What's best - at $2/lb, these olallieberries are organically certified

With four punnets, I paid 6 bucks (hey, $6 for these organic berries is relatively inexpensive, ok?), and I'm not going to make any pies or bakes out of them, for reasons you know why. It'll just be berries as-is, with yogurt, with breakfast cereals, smoothies...hey, that's soooooo berry boring. Ok then, berries anything else ?

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Friday, May 18, 2007

Strawberries U-Pick

We picked Swanton Berry Farm as our U-pick destination, a morning getaway. I want my organic strawberries. I want it NOW! I want it CHEAP! And I want it SWEET! Swanton Berry Farm has it all. You just have to turn laborious , do some legwork and you can have it NOW, CHEAP, and SWEET. Organic too! Nothing is free in this world, right? If you want it, work for it!

Currently, the strawberry field is opened for U-pick and strawberries are at $2/lb. Are you ready to join the fun ? Find a nearby U-pick location near you. Just make sure to call any location you have chosen to make sure the fields are ready for U-pick.

More about Swanton Berry Farm:
Swanton Berry Farm has two ranches that are open seasonally to the public. The Farm Stand is open year round selling baked goods and organic strawberries. It is also the site of our u-pick strawberry fields. Located approximately 1.5hrs south of San Francisco. The Farm Stand is approximately 10mins north of Santa Cruz.


More information found here

Friday, May 11, 2007

Alcatraz Island by the cruise


















If you come to San Francisco and wish to take a history lesson, take a cruise to Alcatraz Island .

See that seagull ? The worst time to visit is early summer (late June-ish) when nesting seagulls create a stink! Spring and fall will be nice.

Coming Fall 2008, Alcatraz Cruises will feature an air, wind diesel-powered ferry for visitors visiting the island. This 600-passenger trimaran will emit about half of the pollutants of similarly sized conventional boats.

Cheap and Good Eat, go to New Hai Ky. Review found here

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

First day of Spring

Winter is finally over. It's Spring time!


Winter's outcome: You see less greenery and blooms


Spring is here!



Sunnyvale Baylands
November through April there are no parking fees (off-season)
May through October there is a single car entry fee of $5.00