The Strawberry and Weeds

Since Spring sprang I have been trying to take care of the yard. I have done alot of wedding and I kept coming across this one “weed” that seemed to be trying to mate witht he roase bush. It also started climbing the fence line in various places. It looked very weed like. It was a tall climby thing and did not appear to have any spots that looked like flower buds. They were very easy to yank so I just got in the habit of pulling them any time I passed by where they grew.

Last week one day when I was in the back yard, my neighbor Anne was working in her back yard too. I showed the “weed” to her and asked her if she had any idea what it was. She didnt but suggested I leave some alone a bit and see what it did. I followed her advice and last night I noticed that the largest/tallest shoot had suddenly turned into a pink cascade of snapdragon blossoms. I had seen the flower before but always on smaller, closer to the ground, plants. Anne noticed it too and she (she is a big plant person) siad she had never seen any grow that tall. The shoots that have bloomed are all over 5 1/2 feet tall. So now I feel bad for pulling all those future flowers from the back yard.

I also spent some time last night (while baby back ribs were slowly grilling) watering the berry bushes – I found out from Anne who speaks with our housee’s prior owners often – that we have a bunch of fairly large and established blackberry bushes along the side. they are starting to show berries but they are still little green nubs. We also have small semicircle shaped patch of strawberries that I have been watching bloom with small white flowers. In the course of watering the spray pushed aside the big strawberry leaves and I spotted ripe red berries beneath them down near the ground. I got down on my knees and picked a couple of the ripest ones and popped them right into my mouth. They were delicious – both sweet and tart at once, and soft and almost melt in your mouth tender. I have had so many years of store bought HUGE strawberries that are very hard when you get them home and not very juicy. This was a total change – they were delicious.

Here is where I need advice.

I would like to have Brian’s mom make us a jar of strawberry preserves from our own strawberries. I’m sure she’ll do it if we ask. BUT, there is no way this small patch will produce enough berries at one time to make preserves. Can the fruit be picked and frozen as they ripen and then later used to make preserves? If so, will it seriously damage the flavor? I know the texture will change drastically when they are frozen and thawed but if the taste remains I will be happy.