For a recent breakfast, I enjoyed strawberry jam made from fully ripened strawberries picked last June. What a treat in the winter! I'm now looking forward to the seasons ahead for more strawberries, peaches, pears, and apples.

        There are farms and orchards throughout the Treasure Valley. Most are around Emmett and the Sunnyslope area, which is between Caldwell and Marsing. Take the family for a fun learning experience and pick enough to can.

        One of our first summer outings is picking strawberries at The Berry Ranch in Nampa. Pigs, sheep, and a few other animals make this a fun outing for children. If you pick a lot of strawberries, be prepared to freeze or can them within a day or two. They are tasty ripened on the plant but they don't last long.

        Last year at the end of August I picked Elberta peaches and Bartlett pears at Stoehr Orchard, which is past Greenleaf. The peaches were juicy and ripe, but I should have picked them a little hard so they wouldn't bruise so much. The pears ripened a week and a half afterwards. Take buckets along to transport your fruit. A five-gallon bucket holds half a bushel, which fills about 14 quart jars.

        In the middle of October, I picked Rome apples to make into applesauce at an orchard near Wilder. The apples were a beautiful red, crisp, and good for eating. Then after a couple of weeks they ripened and were soft and sweet, ideal for a light pink applesauce. A half bushel makes about seven quarts of applesauce.

        Get a basket, get a bucket, and get your family to a U-Pick farm for fun and produce.

Docena Holm is a local writer and mother of five children who love to eat home canned fruit and jam but not green beans.

A good resource for pick your own orchards, farms, and pumpkin patches can be found at www.pickyourown.org.

There you'll find a seasonal and detailed list of orchards and farms.

Here is a general timeline for when produce is available throughout the year.

       Strawberries, Cherries:     late May, early June

        Rocky Mt. Blueberries:     mid-June

                       Raspberries:     late June after strawberries

                     Corn, Melons:     July

                      Blackberries:     mid-August

                             Peaches:     late August, early September

                                  Pears:     late August

                                 Plums:     August, September

                                Apples:     September, October

                                Grapes:     September, October

                             Pumpkins:   late September, October