Wisconsin strawberries are ready for harvesting. We headed to Hazeltine's to self pick. We collected two baskets and to be honest, there is no way we could have picked anymore. All of us broke out with itchy rashes on our arms. Quickly paying for our berries, the young man working had no idea what was used to spray the plants. I drove to the next town over, pulled into a Burger King, and we ran into the bathroom to scrub up.
The rashes thankfully went away, but I started to feel other symptoms of chemical sensitivity. I bought a Diet Coke and sat down to rest, hoping it would go away enough for me to drive home. My stomach started cramping up, feeling like knives were stabbing me. I called DH and continued to sip on the Diet Coke. After hearing his voice, I calmed down and felt well enough to make it home, where thankfully the pain stopped, but I'm fatigued.
I'm grateful we didn't consume any while picking! I can only imagine what my reaction would have been if I had eaten a few without washing them.
Next time, I will pay the extra money, make the longer drive and find an organic farm! (Or just stick to buying them in the store.)
I have such fond memories of strawberry picking throughout my childhood. This is the first time something like this has happened to me, and I'm a little freaked it happened to the boys as well. I'm usually the sensitive one and the fact we all broke out has me wondering what kind of toxin that farm used!
I soaked and rinsed the berries like crazy, and the first batch of jam is done. The rest are chilling in the freezer ready for future smoothie days.
