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WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24e,1987, PAGE 13- Whatever happened to the picnic? Don't look now, but when you get a chance, saunter out onto the flagstone, or interlocking brick,ý or plain old con- crete patio, sit ini one of- thosa'-folding chairs and watchk what is going on at the gas barbecue. That is what hap-. paned. Remember the picnic basket of your youth? Packed with fried chicken, the jars of potato salgd and coleslaw and pickles, with hard-boiled eggs and thin-sliced ham sandwiches, with spice cookies and angle food cake. Remembar the vacuum jug full of ice tea spiked with lemon, the "vacuum bottle filled with something else for the grown-ups (spiked, period)? And the few botties of Molson that always got a preferential place by the hunk of ice because that's the only thing dad liked to drink on a hot day? Remembar the saît and pepper that inevitably got sand mixed in even if the picnic spot was in the woods 20, miles from the nearest beach? Remembar the flies that appeared out of nowhere and kept averyone busy swooshing their amis to and fro as mom placed everything out on the blanket? Rember the ants? Picmce ants were a classic joke, but. they were real nevertheless. And best of all, after the food was devoured, and ail the sunfish ini any given lake Lcaught, and the Noxema plastered on the reddened skin, 6-VIEWPOINT by ROXANNE REVELER Pic fic of old everything was.piled into the already stuffed trunk of the car and positions ini the back seat jockeyed for the ride home. And as dusk turned to darkness, the Sandman always found his way into the back seat and eyes started to nod closed as the murmuring of Lux Rtadio Theatre drifted through the air. It is difficult to remembar if I every heard the end of any of those stories, but the cast of characters were so real to me as a smail child. Cook-oit. That's what they caîl it now - with grilled steak, properly flavored with hickory or apple wood, charcoal or more than likely the good -old gas. barbecu e fumes. Always smothered in bottled barbaque sauce and ap- propriately either burned to a crisp or senmi-raw. With dainty littie bread-and-butter sandwiches, fresh fromn the kitchen. With potato salad fresh from the refrigerator so the mayonnaise can't possibly have succumbed to heat prostration. With -a chilled dessert directly from the freezer. With drinks similarly chilled. And backed up with a neyer ending supply of littie round ice cubes, the type with the unfathomably hole in the mi- dle, just in case. Without ants, usually, because the patio was properi; sprayed just that morning. With no blanket, no wall-to-wall crumbs from eating out of your hand. No sunfish caught with a string and worm. No Noxema because everyone coats themselves with suncreened lotion, complete with Paba.- No long ride home and certainly' no murder mystery- to listen to as you head for dreamland. That, since you are wondering, is what happened to the picnic. Local growers get early start to strawberry season Possibly the shortest season of the yen r - strawberry season.> Yet local residents manage- to cram their jam cupboards, freezers and even themselves with as much of the delectable fruit as is humanly posible during that time frame. This year, everyone has received a bonus thanks to an early spring, with the season opening about 10 days ahead of schedule. According to Lois Daw, who has overseen the U-pick operations at Green Brae Orchards on Lake Ridge Road near Ashburn for the Death family for many years, strawberries are normally ready to pick around June 22. The earliest the patch has been opened to the public in previous years was June 17, but this year has broken the record. It takes 21 days from.flower to ripe fruit and although hundreds of people have already taken advan- tage of the U-pick system, the vines are still loaded with bernies and flowers ensuring an ample supply for some time to come. Daw indicated the season usually lasts about 24 days, not that the bernies run out, but simply because customers lose interest after that period of time. 1 "'There are always lots of barries still left to pick, but after 24 days, the raspbarries are usually ready forý picking and as most customers have already fiiled their freezer or what have you, the interest dies down," says Daw, addmng: "It isn't worth keeping a staff on for the few people you get. " Green Brae has a summar staff of batween 40 and 45, many of them students who do everything from making boxes and flat-trays to in- tructing the public where is the best place to pick. They utilize 35 em- ployees as pickers for their com- mercial trade. Daw herself over- sees five young people in the U-pick section. Green Brae uses a unique system~ to ensure ail théir customers can find an ample. supply of barries without having to search. She and her. employees use white stakes to mark the rows where there are a large number of ripe bernies. The customers are taken to their section to pick and when finished their part of the row, the stakes are moved to where they lef t off, ini- dicating the exact location for the next person to start. "It's a great way to control the patch," commented Daw. "It's simple and very effective guaran- teeing people barries, but it takes the co-operation of all pickers. " Green Brae has about five pick- your-own acres and another 3% acres used by commercial pickers. But Daw said the second patch is often opened to the public on weekend because there are so many people wanting to pick their own. Open seven days a week from 8 am to 8 pm, there is ample time for everyone. Ron Death presently has Red Coat and V-Star strawberries on his farm and is experimenting with three new types: Honey Eye, Kent and Mic Mac. So far, two of the three are responding to our climatic and, soil conditions. However, the Kent has proved to ba SEE PAGE 15. STRAWBERRY SEASON is a favorite for many residents sueh as Dianne Randail who helps piekers at Green Brae Orchards find just the right row of fruit. Free Press photo STRAWBERRIES ~ Pick Tour Own Every Day y ~ (Ready picked available) "ALSO AVAILABLE GREEN & SNOWPEAS" Zdanowie z Farta 8 A.M. Hwy. 7 BOKI 8 P. . RD.4ORTAUNTON ci N. a, 1 ROSSIANO I WHITBY AJAX HWY2 N.W.CO R NER ATTAU NTO NAN D CORONATION ROADS Bring Containers or purchase at Farmn cal6850 for more information w. w. w. w. ~, v w w. -~ v. ~. ~ STRAWBERRY BROOKLIN 0ol -:& - TAUNTON RD o TIME wz Corne and pick your own o Please bring your own containers - -_ _ _ Open every daY - weather permiling WHITBY* ROSSLAND RD. RUDOLFJ-UNKER (off Taunton Rd.) R.R. 1, Whitby ,8t CocOrchards For daily Spicking conditions * 655-4501 7th Coc. r0or I:rJl B rffuga No. Y Hwy. 9 .Whltby 655-3217 HOURS: 8a.mau8pome L PICKING SUBJECT TO WEATHEà-& SUPPLIESE BRING CONTAINERS MEASURED IN QUARTS (eg. 6qt. basket) 5 PLAYGROUND PRO VIDED FOR CHILDREN UNDER 12 YRS. OLD. 'D ? CD -m -a - o 0o -r 0 Cd D1 ro~. ____ oo O>'c =3 0 0 OZaLIVFR RS POV RZ. OlaVIL A¾#ji A ~ *-~ ~ ~ L lýý l ooklinori -9r- r "Tl 'Ir 'Tl 'Tl 7r, Ir -- z Z. Zý zl ýz zl ýL .L ý& 'z z Z. 1 ÀMLý ý m