Local strawberry season is upon us (well, local to Chez Siberia – depending on where y’all are located, it may already be past – or in the future) and we must attack it like Lance Armstrong on a hill at the Tour de France. Time IS of the essence.

I received a communique (it must be an all-French weekend too) after yesterday’s strawberry post asking, “Aunt Toby – I only know how to go to the grocery store, pick up a box of strawberries and pay for them. No one ever took me strawberry picking; I was deprived as a child.”

So, I apologize; Aunt Toby many times forgets that the rest of the world has not had the same ‘in the trenches’ experiences that she and the DH have had. So, this weekend, we are going ’strawberry commando’ – total strawberry immersion. If Steven Colbert shows up, he can have some strawberries too. This post is a review and some promises.

First: What are you going to do with the strawberries, anyway? What sort of strawberries should I be picking, anyway? Are you ready (yes, I’m ready)?

Second: Aunt Toby and the DH are going to take all our greedy little buggers along with us on a strawberry picking expedition. Think of this as “This Old Mouse” meets “We’re Not Martha”. It will just be you little buggers, Aunt Toby, the strawberry field and the DH with the camera. Nose to nose with strawberry plants. Aunt Toby has not figured out ’smell-o-vision’ yet but it will be everything else BUT the intoxicating fragrance of strawberries in their not-so-wild habitat.

Third: Get those babies home, boys! (sung to the tune of “Boil That Cabbage Down!”) What to do between the field, the kitchen counter, and the jar or bag so that you end up with What You Wanted ™. And, THE two most basic strawberry preservation methods that I know that will give you great tasting jam and fantastic straight-out-of-the-plastic-bag berries.

OK – un! Deux! Trois! Allez Vites!!

(Strawberry diving into the milk photo courtesy of tesKing)
For more in this series on strawberries: Planning for picking and preserving strawberries
Cheap and Good: Pick Your Own Strawberries!