We were all very excited about our trip to Gallrein Farms for blackberry picking. The children were equipped with sunhats, sun screen, and little buckets for picking. The joke was on us. Although Gallrein is entered into several online Upick websites, and even their own website lists all the yummy things they have to pick, they're not really a Upick place. In fact, they didn't even have blackberries for sale in their market. They had lots of corn and some decidedly non-local items like bananas and other tropical fruits. In short, they're more of a market. 

To be fair, they do grow their own corn. I bought a big bag of delicious sweet white corn (10 ears for $5.00). And the rumor is that they do have strawberries for picking in the spring. The cashier at the market said they also have pumpkin picking in the fall. It was a nice drive out there, so I could see how it would be a lovely fall destination for pumpkin picking. In fact, it felt like a fall day in the middle of July.

In spite of our disappointment, we had a good time. We decided to picnic under a big shade tree in the petting zoo enclosure. The animals were all in pens except for a few free range rabbits. My beautiful and talented friend, Amy, quickly shrugged off her disappointment and said, "That's okay. I'll just spend the day taking pictures of all your beautiful children." So the pictures from this day are thanks to her.