Now is ' ripe ' time of the year for cherries & berries, even peaches & apricots. Last year we missed the cherries & strawberries. They seem to be a favourite among fruit lovers and disappear faster than the rest! And maybe because they don't hold well when the weather gets warmer. Jenis buah cepat rosak. I guess that's where the farmers got the idea of U-Pick or Pick-your-Own .... besides the zero labor cost, of course! We only managed blueberry picking last year when we were 
in Boston. And, when Rusminah & family were here in November there were only 'picked' citrus fruits at Brentwood. So, her children did not have fun picking them off the trees. I hope the pictures in this posting can entice them to come and visit us in June pulak. :-) Itu pun, if we are still staying here.. There are cherry farms at almost every corner in Brentwood.
This year we don't want to miss the boat. Cherry picking
starts early June and like Pak Mat said, within 2 weeks they'll be gone! We couldn't go picking with his family during the Memorial Day long weekend as we had something on then. Kena pergi ramai2 ke kebun buah nie.. kalau boleh 'picnic' lagi la seronok. Teringat pulak zaman2 tunggu buah durian ( kami sebut..deghian ). Siap dengan nasi, or pulut with santan and air garam... of course with gula sikit to be sprinkled on top. Kalau dapat isi warna kuning pekat and tak der biji tu lagiii 
seghonok! Yummiee..... Kait buah rambutan pun best jugak ...ANnyway, we were glad when Marcus wanted to arrange a trip to Brentwood with Shahril & Amida as well. Marcus is a Malaysian from Sabah & his wife Cynthia from Taiping - near my old kampung Selama - tempat banyak deghian! :-) There's Cynthia on the left putting suntan lotion on Mathew. Yes, it was exceptionally hot that day.
We also met their friend On and his family. They are from Johor. Both Marcus & On have been living in US almost 20 years .. so they are already pros at fruit picking. Like us,.. Shahril & Amida will leave when due, or bila di- arahkan and like me, Amida doesn't have a clue the difference between pokok peach and pokok cherry from afar! ;-) Cynthia says : Pick the big2 blackberries yang warna hitam. Kalau yang merah tu.. masam! True enough, the black ones are sweeet
walaupun kecik. Next stop the cherrieees! I love them even though they give me gas and cleanse my bowels ever so often. Tak sangka pulak there are many types: Bing Cherries(merah), Rainier ( a bit yellowish ), Black Tart ( hitam, rasa macam kismis ) and Stark Rimson, to name a few. The trick in fruit picking is, when you get to a good tree with the fruits that you like, stick to it! So, pokok yang dah togel2 tu buahnya surely sweet & sedap. And, you can also know the good ones if 
squirrels or birds got them earlier than you. Makan lah sepuas2nya until your tummy can hold, then you pay for the balance. Most of the fruits are claimed to be pesticide free but bawa jer la botol air untuk basuh, just in-case. And, yang mana suka menyicah tuu you can bring 'salt' if you like. Nobody can stop you! As done by a Filipino man I saw at the cherry farm. Tak terfikir langsung nak bawa garam. Real veteran! Cherries on the farm cost 2 dollars per pound. These 
days fruit farmers are getting smarter, they have a limit on the minimum weight and charge for the box! Like this strawberry farm which is currently owned by a China-man. You can't help smiling reading their ground rules... I don't quite fancy petik buah strawberry sebab kena bongkok2 - oghang lamaa! So I just leave the picking to my children & hubby. Even the small strawberries at this farm is sweet. My hubby says strawberry memang banyak antioxidant and according to Pak Ngah (his tukang urut 
back home), the fruit will be masam once it leaves the farm. No wonder we never get sweet strawberries from the kedai... mahal pulak tu! Senang jer jawapan nya kalau buah dah benyek2...buat ais krim! Yes... I have done that! I tried with the strawberries we brought home. Jadii......... Macam ais krim Ben & Jerry's. Once I get the measurements right, I will post it... sedap! Tak payah guna mesin ais krim ... your old faithful cake mixer or blender will do ! And, the ingredients are easily available. Dah tentu halalan toiyiban..On the left above: Message loud and clear..!
If possible go fruit picking on a Saturday because mostly everybody will go on that day. The trees
will need time to ripen the remainder of the fruits. We went on Sunday because we couldn't make it the day before... since it is early in the season, the 'catch' was still good. Another fruit picking tip to remember : Wear a hat or cap especially at the strawberry patch. Teringat pulak strawberry2 kat Cameron Highlands! My fruit - pickers taking a break to pose
Dah terlampau banyak makan buah! :-)
Ayam kampung yang gemuk2...
You can only see this type of
vintage car at the farms...
Last stop was at the Peach
farm... kalau betul2 dapat yang manis, memang sedap!
Finally... resting after a hard days work under a donno what tree!
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