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As I leaned over to pick a clump of raspberries, I felt a weight bear down on the bucket tied around my waist. It was the toddler, shoving in her hand to grab another snack.
"Don't eat them all now," I said. "We won't have any to put on our ice cream. We need to save some."
But I didn't scold too much. There were plenty of raspberries for the picking. And I remembered what Juanita Arco had said when she sent out us into her fields.
"If they don't have a red face when they get back," she said, "I'll be very disappointed."
Afton Raspberry Co. has been inviting people to pick raspberries for more than 20 years. Arco lets kids nibble. She has been known to give away her double-crust raspberry pies. And she's just as generous with her stories, sharing tales as she passes out buckets in the shade in front of her century-old farmhouse.
Arco and her husband, John, bought their six acres near Afton in 1970 after tiring of city life in St. Paul. They planted two acres in raspberries 25 years ago, after John lost his job with the railroad.
"Here we were with four kids and no job," recalled Arco. "John looked at that field and said, 'We should do something profitable.' "
John started a home-based mechanical engineering business, and Juanita took care of the berries. She said she does not use pesticides and uses only one application of weed killer in the spring.
"These are fall raspberries," she said. "A lot of people don't realize there are
Arco's berries were just coming on strong when we showed up to pick last weekend, and the berries will peak in early September, making it possible to squeeze a summery outing into the start of school season.
My mother and I received plastic buckets to tie around our waists with rope. Arco handed my toddler and my two boys green plastic pint baskets and then pointed us to row No. 7.
I had pulled my 8-year-old away from watching the Olympics to go raspberry picking, but he ended up enjoying himself. He crouched to peer under leaves for overlooked berries and competed with his 6-year-old brother to see who could fill his pint first.
After a half-hour, they got antsy and ran races up and down the dusty rows while we grown-ups finished picking. It was easy and satisfying work, even in the full sun of midmorning.
Just as we were leaving, two other families pulled up the gravel drive — Ann Hempel of Vadnais Heights and Julie Thelen of Woodbury. I called them later in the afternoon to ask how the outing had gone.
"It was lots of fun," Hempel said. "It was nice to have the quiet and the natural banter that happens when you're just doing something together."
Thelen's 7-year-old son, Ryan, initially the "reluctant picker," had filled an entire bucket. Maddie Thelen and Hempel's daughter, Gwen Allison, both 5, didn't want to leave. They were excited to eat fresh berries on pancakes the next morning and to make a freezer jam.
We ended up giving away a couple of our pints to friends. That night for dessert, we had vanilla ice cream smothered with chocolate sauce and as many raspberries as the kids wanted to pile on top.
We also had a handful of raspberries we had bought the day before from a store. The store-bought berries were larger and more perfectly pink. But our fresh-picked ones had more flavor and the added sweetness that came from being the fruit of our own labor.
FAMILY OUTINGS / THE SCOOP
What: Afton Raspberry Co.
Where: 1421 Neal Ave. S., Afton
Information: 651-436-7631
Hours: 8 a.m. to dusk daily, through first frost in early October
Cost: $3 per pint
Target audience: Preschoolers and older
Crowd pleaser: Eating the fruit of your labor
Avoid: Picked-over bushes. Berries ripen daily, so there are usually plenty to be had. But call ahead to make sure a crowd hasn't just picked the field clean.
Tips: Bring a snack to enjoy on the picnic bench. Picking buckets, pint baskets and cardboard flats are provided. Refrigerate berries immediately and plan to use within one to three days.
More info: For more pick-your-own excursions, search "raspberries" or "fall raspberries" in the Minnesota Grown directory on the Minnesota Department of Agriculture Web site, www.mda.state.mn.us.
