Strawberry Fields Forever: Chesterfield Farm Strawberry Fest

This is our 3rd year trekking out to Chesterfield (about a 45 minute drive) to attend this year's Strawberry Fest weekend. Our first year was the weekend I found out I had a miscarriage, and last year I was 9 months pregnant, and now this year Max joined us. Rob and I remarked how significant late April/early May has been for us in recent years. Despite the yucky weather this year held for us... I am so happy to have had a weekend like this with the family that I have.

The weather for the weekend was forecasted to be cold and rainy both Saturday and Sunday. We decided on Saturday morning hoping the rains would hold out. Hold out they did but, only long enough for us to get berries and a quick lunch... no petting farm or moon bounce to be had this year.




I had picked up sub sandwiches on the way out to the fields and we hatched a plan to pick strawberries first just in case Max had a meltdown. It's so funny to think that we still plan like this because this is how it is with Evie - have a plan and stick to it before she wears out early into any adventure. For Max, the adventure IS an adventure.... he loved the hay ride out to the fields, didn't mind hanging off me in his Baby Bjorn (he'd reach out and grab any plant he could when I bent to get a berry), he ate any berry I would allow him to eat, and was patient during our feeding frenzy (the frenzy was trying to beat the rains in the bitter cold - it was upper 50's/lower 60's but not everyone planned on the wind!).

So this trip was also a milestone for Max - his first strawberry (!). One is not supposed to let kids eat nuts or eggs or peanut butter until they are one year old. But, after Rob caught Max eating peanuts off the kitchen floor (while in Ohio the nieces accidentally dropped chopped peanuts off their Drumstick ice cream cones)... we figured he didn't have a nut allergy and we'd be OK to let him indulge in a strawberry a few weeks before his official birthdate. He. Loved. Them. Thank goodness I also packed some cheesy crackers for him to munch on because then I began fearing all those berries would lead to a potential messy diaper (they didn't).

Being out in the fields was a little more work this year due to the terrible crop. We had unseasonably hot (I mean HOT) weather early this April. Reports actually said the strawberry season was much earlier as a result... but we still waited for the big Fest date planned in late April. Unfortunately, the weather became very rainy and then very cold by late April. Result? Mushy berries. They were so deceptive. Big, red, juicy berries that were either rotted from the inside out or were like slime the moment you touched them - ugh! We really had to work to find sturdy berries and the ones we did find were both smaller than years past and less sweet. We still ate our weight in them... but still not as good as years past ;-)

Our total trip lasted less than an hour and a half and costed more than $60 (entrance fee, sandwiches, 10lbs of berries picked this year, and two fresh strawberry milkshakes). But, all-in-all... worth it. This tradition shall march on next year, too...