Wrenshall News: Pick, eat and savor

The Friday morning “Backyard Almanac” segment on Duluth’s public radio station KUMD last week included a recipe for one of my favorite fruits — the strawberry.

Wild strawberries, while quite a bit smaller than their commercial cousin, are a fruit packed with sweetness. “Fragaria virginiana” is its scientific name, and they grow as a perennial in a variety of habitats — in dry open fields, woodland edges and along roadsides.

The recipe was this:

1. Pick the strawberry.

2. Put the strawberry in your mouth.

I tested it myself and I can attest that the recipe is perfect.

I was also able to try out domesticated strawberries this week at Uff-da Organics, a farm in Wrenshall run by Adam and Jackie Kemp, and at Spectrum Farm Strawberries in Carlton.

I tried the two-step recipe at both establishments (after paying for poundage of course) and it worked out again.

You can find good information on Carlton County berries today’s paper. Since my column focuses on the goings on in Wrenshall, I want to highlight Uff-da.

The Kemps started Uff-da in 2013 on a plot of land that had been used as a hayfield the previous three decades.

“It’s been a lot of hard work, but every year gets easier and it’s been endlessly gratifying to see the things we’ve been dreaming start to materialize, little by little, before us,” Adam said.

Their daughter Ruthie still won’t try strawberries after 5 years, and their 3-year-old son Morrie will pick them and put them in his mouth but refuses to bite down.

Despite their progeny’s ambivalence, the Kemps have been able to cultivate some of the sweetest and juiciest berries I’ve had the pleasure to taste. They schedule picking times making it a relaxing and intimate pick-your-own experience. Visit http://www.uffda organics.com for information.

And if you are late to the picking party you can sample some of Uff-da’s other fare at Whole Foods Co-op in Duluth and some local restaurants. They grow a wonderful variety of baby greens including arugula, spinach, kale, chard, lettuce, mizuna, pea shoots, beet greens and more that are mixed in 5-pound specialty variety packs. Uff-da also fills a niche for local organic herbs including basil, sage, thyme, oregano, savory and lavender.

As I’m writing this, I’ve just eaten the last of the berries I had saved from my picking time last Friday and caught myself uttering under my breath, “Uff-da, that’s good.”

Share Wrenshall-related news with Annie at [email protected] or 218-310-4703.