So when the mercury starts climbing towards triple digits (the car thermometer hit 99 at one point today), what do you do to keep cool?

You go pick strawberries.

We made an impromptu stop at Russell Orchards in Ipswich while taking a drive to nowhere. I'd not been there in roughly 30 years and one owner ago, going back to a kindergarten or first grade field trip of scant memory. I didn't even know they did strawberries there, though as you can tell from the website they grow quite a variety of produce. I don't think they did back in the day.

In any case, the wife has fond strawberry picking memories (as opposed to the forced labor of blueberry raking), so we decided to stop in. It was a bit warm for the walk out to the fields (for some reason we bypassed the tractor ride out), but we did get a couple of nice quarts. Much better than the agribusiness-developed berries, and you get the chance for some pre-sale sampling.

Not that I did that. No siree.

In any event, if you're ever in the neighborhood it's worth a stop. Though you may want to wait for cooler temps.