The sky turned a brilliant blue today … better than anything Crayola could imagine. And the temperatures were downright warm — along the lines of what we expect from early October, but certainly not November. It was just one of those gloriously beautiful Sundays.

A day like today should be spent outdoors, enjoying the weather and the land. So, the kids and I packed into the car and headed to Blue Jay Orchards in Bethel, Conn., for some apple picking. Honestly, I didn’t know that you could pick apples in November, but you can.

When we arrived, picking was in a different part of the orchard than I’ve picked in before. No matter, we paid for our bag and got to picking. There were only a handful of people there, so we had the place virtually to ourselves. I left go of Will and Paige’s hands and let them just walk around … free. They still stayed pretty closeby, but it was nice not to worry. Soon, Will and Paige both got down to business eating apples while I snapped braeburns, fuijis and granny smith’s off the branches.

I can’t say that picking conditions were perfect — this late in the season, there are many apples to discard do to inedible imperfections. But what was lost in efficiency was made up for in relaxation. I can’t say enough about the joys of picking in such peaceful solitude. I found similar enjoyment when we went blueberry picking at a new place this summer.

If you are in the area, you still have time to pick too. According to Blue Jay, picking will continue until mid-November, so there are at least a few more days to get out there and enjoy this requisite fall pastime … Gosh, I wish next weekend would be as nice as this one was.

One of my goals for this year is to extend our local eating for as long into the winter as we can. I’ve done this hear and there in the past, putting up jams and relishes and freezing pestos and sauces, but this year I want a more comprehensive effort. As fruits and vegetables hit their peak, the kids and I will be gathering them, making some for the family to eat now and processing the rest to be stored for the winter months. First up: strawberries.

After picking strawberries last weekend, I quickly set about to use all the berries we brought home. When you pick as much as I did (somewhere between 10-12 lbs of berries … mmmm!), you have to do something with them quickly so that they don’t go to waste.

I immediately started work on jam for the winter (and a little for the summer too), which is a two-day process for my favorite canned version. About 12 cups of strawberries went into jam making using two recipes — four half-pints of my favorite fresh strawberry jam recipe and about a cup of fresh strawberry jam using a Cooking Light recipe. The Cooking Light recipe cooked way faster than it was supposed to, so that came out much thicker than I anticipated. But it’s still very tasty.

Next came some strawberry sauce, which we’ve been eating on pancakes and waffles all week. In fact, the picture above is the kids eating waffles with strawberry sauce on the front porch. Mmm.

Finally, I froze about eight cups of berries for the winter months. Locally grown strawberries taste so much better than the ones you buy in the store, so freezing local berries means that we can have fantastic tasting berries all year wrong … and not settle for what’s available. At first blush, I questioned whether this would be enough berries to last through the winter — and truth be told, I am still playing with the idea of picking some more — but I realized that we will also be storing peaches, apples, raspberries, blueberries and more (if all goes according to plan!), so we will have a big variety to eat from and don’t necessarily need tons of one type of fruit.

What do you think? Would you store more than eight cups of strawberries, given the opportunity?

How to Freeze Fresh Strawberries

1. Wash and hull the strawberries.

2. Line a baking sheet with waxed paper, making sure that the waxy side is facing up. Place the strawberries hulled side down on the baking sheet in a single layer. Make sure that the berries don’t touch.

3. Place the baking sheet in the freezer and let freeze overnight. Transfer frozen berries to a resealable plastic bag and return to the freezer for storage. Make sure to label the bag with the date and contents.

Recipes for Fresh Strawberries

• Strawberries and Cream Whole Wheat Crepes at Sarah’s Cucina Bella
• Whipped Strawberry Cream at Sarah’s Cucina Bella
• Strawberry Kiwi Fool at Sarah’s Cucina Bella
• Strawberry Sauce at Sarah’s Cucina Bella
• Chocolate Covered Strawberries at Sarah’s Cucina Bella
• Strawberry Balsamic Vinaigrette at FitSugar
• Fresh Strawberry and Ricotta Tart at Serious Eats
• Joan Ohm’s Fresh Strawberry Pie at Culinate
• Lemon Cupcakes with Fresh Strawberry Centers at Coconut & Lime
• Fresh Strawberry Scones at The Way the Cookie Crumbles
• Fresh Strawberry Tartlets at The Providence Journal

The kids and I and two of my friends went strawberry picking yesterday afternoon. So what that it was raining? So what that the skies clued us in that this was a rain that wasn’t going to just pass … It just didn’t matter. We all wanted the berries and nothing was standing in our way.

In past years, the coming of rain would have  (and did) scared my friends and I away from the strawberry fields. But perhaps we are just older and wiser now. Or maybe we were just too fixated on our plans. Whatever the case, when two of my friends arrived from New York on Saturday afternoon, it didn’t matter a smidge that it was starting to drizzle. We packed into the car and headed to Jones Family Farm, a local pick-your-own farm.

When we arrived, we found that we weren’t the only crazy folks taking to the fields for some speed picking (seriously, how else would you do it in the rain?). I can’t tell you exactly how much we picked, but I can tell you that the big, red, rosy berries have the sweetest, juiciest, most luscious flesh … They are beauties.

Have you picked this year? If you are in the northeast, hurry to the fields! Strawberry picking has but a short, short season here of just a few weeks and we are about a week and a half into it already, so time is of the essence. And if you go, remember to pick enough berries to process into all sorts of delicious jams, pies, cakes and other delights. They are just too good to pass up (and seriously, nothing you will ever buy in a grocery store can compare.)

Fortunately, today also happened to be the day that Virtual Frolic and I had planned to go blueberry picking with Will. It wasn’t overwhelmingly hot. And while we did get quite toasty in the sun, we lasted about an hour before wanting to head back. Actually, the heat wave probably worked to our advantage in that respect – there were tons, and I mean TONS, of beautiful, big ripe blueberries on the bushes at Jones Family Farms in Shelton. It’s definitely a good time to go blueberry picking. Be aware that they are closed on Sundays and Mondays though. The season is also coming to a close soon, so call before you go to verify hours and that they are open.

Will had a blast from the time we arrived. (Did you notice that I color code his clothes to the fruit? Yea, it’s deliberate . . . he’s just a little boy after all and it saves us from unnecessary clothing changes due to fruit stains.) And, being the big two-year-old he is, he carried our basket for quite a bit. But there is nothing as cute as his squeal of “weee!” when we rode on the Berry Ferry out to the field and then back later. He ate quite a few berries and was kind enough to pick a few too. And, miracle of miracles, the ones he picked were mostly ripe.

VF and I have had a ton of fun doing the pick-your-own circuit this summer. Strawberry picking in June, blueberries in August . . . and maybe, just maybe, we’ll head off for peach and other fruit picking in the fall.

But for now, what to do with my 3+ pounds of blueberries . . .