Strawberry Fields Forever

With my daughter, Bunny, growing up in a city, it’s important for us to make sure that she is exposed to nature. Both my husband and I have wonderful memories from camping and hiking in our younger years before we met. However, we’ve fallen in a pattern where we now typically choose urban adventures and concrete fields over the wilderness. So when our friends invited us to go strawberry picking at Alstede Farms in New Jersey, we jumped at the experience.

After a long wait in line to ride a horsey, Bunny tired and opted out of picking. She hung back at the farm with her aba and our friends Noam and baby Niv, while I set out to meet up with Sharon and Jax-man in the unpicked fields over a mile away. The adventure kicked-off with a relaxing hayride, which gave me time to chat with my fellow pickers and ask for tips. They unanimously offered up that you have to lift the leaves and look underneath for the good ones. Seemed simple enough so I set off to fill my carton.

Studies have shown that having exposure to nature improves your happiness. And, I have to agree. Being surrounded by beautiful landscapes, fresh kale, strawberries and clean air, I felt the heaviness that rests on my shoulders from day-to-day city living temporarily lift away. Let me tell you, it may not be that hard to pick for an hour, however, the experience made me have a much greater appreciation for people who work the fields daily. By the time I filled up my carton below I had enough and was ready to start sampling the goods.