snacks in the yard

We’ve just ended cherry and shell pea season, but blueberries, raspberries, and black raspberries are starting up.  And, mulberries, which seem to last nearly all summer, have just started up.  All these berries (and stone fruit and peas) mean that the kids can go out in the yard and snack whenever they want.  One of the favorite places to snack is at our large and flimsy-ish mulberry tree that leans over the rock wall where the blueberries are planted.  This means the kids can stand on the rock wall and pick mulberries to eat.  But, the more adventurous one(s) head up into the tree to snag the ripe berries and to shake branches so other ripe ones will fall on the ground for their siblings to eat.  It is a treat, and since the berries ripen individually, over time, rarely do any berries make it into the house.  They are all eaten “in the field”.  And, a tell-tale sign of the snacking are the purple stained fingers and hands.  They are such a treat – the berries and those precious hands!.