First Fruits....

The sun is shining, the birds are singing and the nights are getting warmer...yes it is almost time for the harvest that initiates summer.  The season will start off with strawberries, by now your strawberry plants should have flowered...by the end of May, first of June that juicy red fruit will be ready to pick.  Strawberries are their sweetest when fully ripened on the plants.  For most varieties this means leaving the berries on the plant for a day or two after they are fully colored.  The only way to know for sure is by sight and a taste test.


So, if you love strawberries like I do, you will not ever get enough.  Strawberry jam will need to be made for the season, a few strawberry pies and oh, how about the strawberries and shortcake or pound cake topped with whipped cream... 


Which brings me to the next sweet thought...where I read  in Matthew 7:16-20 By their fruit you will recognize them.  Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistle?  Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.


What kind of fruit is your tree bearing this season?  Will your friends, family and neighbors recognize your fruit this summer?