Tayberries and Pedicures

~Hello Tayberry~

It's difficult to remember the which day it is during my summer vacation. (I know, I know...the thought makes you feel sick.  But I'm not going to lie...it's true!)  I track the summer days by which berries are ready to pick.  Strawberries, then raspberries, marionberries, blueberries, etc. Growing up around farms and snatching as many berries as I could shove in my mouth, I really thought that I have tried them all.  But what in the world is a tayberry?

Picking berries I wanted something new, shocking, I know. :0)  My niece Leanna and I went to the first farm, though delicious, they didn't have anything that I hadn't used before.  So we travelled a little farther down the road to Smith Farm.

Smith BerryBarn
24500 SW Scholls Ferry Road
Hillsboro
OR 97123
USA
http://www.smithberrybarn.com
(503) 628-2172

It's a spray-free, smoke-free, and pet-free farm.  I sure love the first two things, and I definitely understand the third! (No one wants a dog going potty on your berries! Though Murphy would NOT do that.) Plus they have goats and chickens to feed...bonus!

They had many berries ready to pick, raspberries, blackberries, but also on the list were loganberries and tayberries.  Now, we tried loganberries, and, well, to us, as Leanna accurately describe, they taste like shampoo.  So it was off to the tayberries aisle and me crossing my fingers that they were good. 

Not surprising, since I'm a teacher, I had to know a little more about the berry.  Thank goodness for the information tags located at the end of the row! (Love it!)  The tayberry was originally created in Scotland (Bonus! My mom will love that!) It's a cross between raspberries and blackberries, which are both berries that I love, so they can't be that bad!

The result: good, different, but good....less shampoo like. :0)

So, we picked, and picked...

These berries were a bit difficult to pluck off because of the VERY prickly vines.  My arms are still recovering.  I'm allergic to EVERYTHING...no really....every plant tree or weed in Oregon.  Aren't I lucky?  But it doesn't stop me from doing the things that I love and taking pictures of my niece and her rope bucket.

Awesome huh?  I think she should use it in her senior photo some day.  ;0)

After working our fingers to the bone, in the hot, hot sun (Oregon hot), we deserved a bit of pampering.  So it was off to the nail salon...

Our feet were gross!  I had Leanna picked out the color, which was very mild actually.  I was expecting something a bit more crazy when I gave her the choice.

I recommend that everyone end a berry-picking day like this...