We’ve been getting our berry fix, now that summer has decided to begin in the Pacific Northwest. First some fabulous and HUGE Hood strawberries, and now, phase 2: raspberries!

Nothing beats farm-to-table like skipping the table part——like when the food goes straight from the farm and into your mouth!

Last year, I chided the kids for eating too many; I mean, we had plenty of them in the bucket. But this year, with all the berries on the verge of rotting on the bushes, we’ve abandoned our consumer ethics. It’s rained…a lot. We’ve been blue. And now, we’re red. Berry juice stains.

And anyway, don’t the U-pick people kind of assume that people will nibble some as they fill their buckets? Isn’t the “gatherer” part of hunter/gatherer still very much a part of our genetic residue?

It is for me, at least. Being on berry farms brings forth my inner hominid.

We also saw some gorgeous purple-blue wildflowers in a nearby field.

And that’s no cloud in the background…that’s Mount St. Helens. This area has views of Mt. Adams and Mt. Hood, too. There are many spots in this area where you can see all three snowy peaks on a clear day.

We’re heading back there tomorrow, but for now, it’s smoothie making time.