Thursday Doors is a weekly feature allowing door lovers to come together to admire and share their favorite door photos from around the world. Feel free to join in on the fun by creating your own Thursday Doors post each week and then sharing it, between Thursday morning and Saturday noon (North American eastern time), by using the blue link-up button below.
We Went for the Strawberries and Stayed for the Doors
Around here late June is strawberry season and the Lanaudière region where we live north of Montréal has quite a few farms that produce some of the best berries you’ll find.
Whenever possible we’ll avoid the big supermarket chains and visit local farmers who offer either a pick-your-own option, or at very least a roadside stand offering produce that’s picked fresh onsite.
It’s not always cheaper but it’s ALWAYS fresher, almost always tastier and more nutritious, and often the same price as the supermarket or at worst, not a lot more expensive.
Last weekend we visited a family-run farm called Ferme Entre Ciel et Terre in Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines, about a 15 minute drive from where we live and about a 35-40 minute drive from the city.
There had been some heavy rains the night before so unfortunately the fields were too muddy for those who wanted to pick their own.
Despite not being able to crawl around in the fields to fill our baskets ourselves, we were not going to leave empty-handed because they had plenty of already-picked 3 liter baskets to choose from at their roadside stand.
As we selected a couple of baskets and a nice bundle of garlic scapes to take home we chatted with the owners about the different vegetables they grow and offer for sale throughout the summer, and I got some helpful cooking tips for my garlic scapes as well.
While looking around I noticed some really nice weathered doors on their big old barn.
Since I had the camera with me in the trunk of the car, I just had to ask if it was okay to walk around a bit before we left so I could take some pictures of the doors.
As my wife was explaining the story about my fetish for doors, not only did they wave us in to look around outside, but one of the nice ladies even invited us to have a look at a couple of 120 year-old doors INSIDE their family home!
To anyone who has ever been in a old farmhouse a lot of these will seem very familiar in style and design.
As someone who spent a lot of his childhood summer weekends on a family farm in Cornwall Ontario they sure struck a chord with me.
After being humbled to the point of not quite knowing what to say by such a generous welcome, we wandered around while I took some more outdoor shots of the sheds and storage tank.
This curious guy came over to check out what I was doing.
And yes, even the chicken coop had a lovely old textured door 🙂
For those in the greater Montréal area who may be interested in visiting them, you’ll find complete directions and opening hours on their website link above.
The pick-your-own strawberry season usually runs from the last week of June into mid-July. During the rest of the summer the farm also offers a wide variety of non-GMO and pesticide-free vegetables that are grown without the use of chemical fertilizers.
One convenient concept they offer that seems to be more and more popular in a number of places in North America is a 15-week subscription to a weekly vegetable basket based on what’s available at various times throughout the summer.
Even though I love to grow my own vegetables in our back yard garden I know I’ll be back to see these folks at least a few times this summer for things we don’t grow at home.
And in case you’re wondering how the strawberries were:
Yes, they were absolutely delicious!
As always, thanks for stopping by 🙂
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That looks like a beautiful place for strawberries. How wonderful that they shared even more of their doors with you! Miss Sunshine would eat a vat of strawberries every day if she could….as it is, she comes close. Yours looks like the perfect shade of red. 🙂
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Your doors all look so familiar to me. Growing up in South Dakota in farm/ranch country, I saw so many weathered doors like this and the inside doors look just like those in many of the older homes of friends and family.
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Thank you 🙂
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Oops. I wouldn’t let me add a link to Mr. Linky. It said the trial period had expired! Unsure what this means. Here is my link: https://judydykstrabrown.com/2018/07/01/village-doors-jul-1-1018/
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The link-up list is open to add links each week from Thursday morning until Saturday noon (North American eastern time). I usually suggest that when people miss the weekly deadline, they just save their link for the next week’s edition.
Cheers 🙂
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Okay, will do.
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This was a delight, Norm. What a treat to go inside. And yes, the doors look wonderfully familiar. My favorite is the sunbeam (looks like a sunbeam) on the tank / silo door. Thank you!
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You’re welcome 😉
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This is all so beautiful, the day, their gesture and the pickings, both door- and fruit-wise. We’ve got a strawberry country here too and yet I have not heard of any pick-your-own campaign or visited a strawberry farm. Serves me right for being an introvert and not ask questions. But frankly, nothing will bring back the taste of strawberries as it used to be. Now they all taste like silicone. I wonder if yours still remain the same.
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Thanks Manja. Unlike the ones we get from California in the winter which taste of nothing but water, our locally grown strawberries still pack a flavourful punch.
Pick-you-own is very popular with many berry farms and also orchards. It’s a fun family activity that helps city kids learn to appreciate where our food comes from. In the fall apple picking is very popular here.
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What a beautiful name for a farm and so nice of the owners to invite you inside 🙂
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The generous hospitality just floored me.
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What a delicious blogpost, Norm. Fresh strawberries and cream are so yummy. We have the same set up here with roadside stands, especially in the south east of Ireland, where all the strawberries are grown, some to be exported.
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It’s such a gift to be able to enjoy these things 🙂
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Beautiful photos of doors and berries. I especially like the photo of the white 5-panel interior door. It reminds of my childhood, too– visiting relatives who lived in farmhouses with doors just like that one. Had forgotten about that kind of stylish simplicity until I saw your photo.
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“Stylish simplicity”, yes that! Perfect description. Thank you Ally 🙂
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Oh, those strawberries look wonderful! We used to grow strawberries, in a very small way, but the ants and the rabbits took them. Maybe I’ll run up to Canada and buy some from your place. It’s only an 18-hour drive! From the looks of those berries, it would be well worth it. lol
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To extend the growing season some places cultivate a number of different varieties, but even at that, we wait so long for such a short season that we really try to take full advantage when they’re available. Though I have to say, I’m not sure I’d drive 18 hours for strawberries 😉
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the little diamonds are my fav takeaway –
but your post overall reminds me of the beautiful way door blogging opens up doors for us – ha!
and seriously – it can help us meet people and even capture history – like you did here with this adventure –
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Thank you. Yes blogging has opened a number of doors and I do feel lucky for many of the awesome people and experiences it has exposed me to 🙂
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🙂
and I guess it has been a while since I have said this – but thanks again for hosting the door challenge for us all to have a reason to take shots of doors.
Last week I was in Ontario Canada seeing my sister (if I had longer I would have emailed you and Joanne to see if anyone was available to connect- but had two days only and it was packed) – anyhow, I took a door image and my sis said, “Oh you are still doing that?” It was funny – the last time I took door pics with her was in Feb 2017 –
anyhow, yes – I am glad to “still be doing that”
and thanks for hosting this, Norm
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A great mix of doors and such tempting strawberries! A very nice combination, Norm. Sounds like a very fun outing!
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I do believe you’re now celebrity status for those fine folks 🙂 Wonderful for them to be so generous. I hope you’ll tell them know how many appreciate their kindness.That was pretty darn awesome!
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Thanks so much. I agree it was pretty darn awesome 🙂
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You hit the door lottery with that stop! The strawberries look scrumptious!
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Thanks Deborah. We did indeed hit the jackpot and we’re heading back for more strawberries later today 🙂
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Mmm, strawberries! I feel like I can smell them!
We buy ours at the market 90% of the time. They’re actually quite a bit more at our farmer’s markets. They’re smaller and sweeter, but we’re not rollin in cash, and we have yogurt and berry and granola parfait dependencies year-round, sooo… 🙂
Now, when we lived in Georgia, we had a local strawberry field, and those were great. Not as great as fresh peaches for ten cents a pound, but great!
Every year, and I do mean EVERY year, Moo had a field trip there — and she complained how they never went to any new places (they did) and why was it always the stupid strawberry field? And now? Every summer, I do mean EVERY summer we’ve lived here, she says she misses the strawberry field!
I love the collection of doors here. Wonderful opportunity, and such gracious hostesses, that’s lovely. I really love the barn doors — the long gray weathered metal building with the blue gray door is truly endearing.
Our house is 100 years old, but I think the doors are more like 60-80. They’ve got some new hardware, but the old hardware never left the property. They’re solid and people pooh-pooh me when I say I will never replace them, but I will never replace them. Not a one of em works perfectly, but I will never replace them.
Oof, I was chatty today, but this post had everything. Even a chicken!
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Thanks for the chat Joey. Sounds like there’s a teachable moment in your story about Moo’s change in position on the strawberry fields. Something about appreciation/gratitude and not knowing what you’ve got til it’s gone, perhaps? Stuff we all learn (hopefully) as we get older….
Bummer that the local market is so much more expensive, I guess we are very lucky. In most cases here it’s within 10% of the big chains, which makes it a lot easier to choose local. It’s true that not all families with lots of mouths to feed have that luxury.
Have a great weekend!
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You too, thanks!
Absolutely teachable moments 🙂
You are definitely lucky! As I will be lucky when my husband builds me window boxes to grow strawberries in!
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Often the strawberries straight from the farmer are sweeter and juicier, so it’s nice when you have this possibility! Like the blue and white argoyle doors. Great post, Norm!
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Thank you so much. Glad you enjoyed this 🙂
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The strawberries make my mouth water, they look delicious. And you found my favorite kind of doors, the ones with character. I love meeting country friendly folk. My granny grew up on a farm in Kentucky and I so enjoyed visiting the relatives in the summers on the farm. 🙂
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Thanks Brenda. Doors found on farms are often loaded with character and texture 🙂
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I agree – strawberries from a farmer’s market may be more expensive but they’re definitely worth it! Yum!
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Yum indeed Jan, we’ve gone through them all already. Going back for more this weekend 😉
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Lovely doors and welcoming people… how great is that? Those strawberries look delicious – well worth the drive.
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You’re right: it honestly doesn’t get much better than that 🙂
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Great doors, and those are some fantastic looking strawberries!
I hope to post some doors again soon. The introvert dilemma: one must go outside to get more interesting door photos. 🙂
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Thanks Tara. We’ve gone through all of those strawberries so we may have to go back for more this weekend.
As for more doors, you post’em when you got’em, no pressure. It’s gotta be fun or it’s not worth doing 😉
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I don’t blame you. I love strawberries. Perhaps I should plan for Montreal in June? 🙂
Oh, I know, but that’s my lament… I wanna have more fun, but pajamas are so comfy and the world is so people-y, sometimes it’s difficult to not be introverting during the hours in between what I have to do and what I want to do… Le sigh……
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What a fun post this is! Love the old farmhouse/doors and those strawberries look mouthwatering! 😀
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Thank you Linda. It was a fun outing 🙂
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My husband is from Cornwall! Nothing like fresh fruits, that taste like they should. I wait all year to eat a tasty tomato.
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Ooh fresh tomatoes. It’ll be another 2-3 weeks at least before mine are ready. I can’t wait 🙂
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Lovely rural set of doors.
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Thanks Sherry. Farm visits often lead to lovely door discoveries 😉
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One of the most wonderful thing about this set of doors is the great difference between the doors indoors and the doors outdoors. 🙂
And garlic strawberries, are these ones grown in garlic fields?
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Thank you. I’m not sure if you misunderstood or if I’m misunderstanding you. They grow strawberries and they grow garlic, but not together.
I assume in separate fields…cheers 🙂
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Fresh strawberries, interesting doors and wonderful people. I’d say you got more than your money’s worth on that trip, Norm. It was so nice of them to invite you inside. The rooster probably wasn’t going to invite you in the henhouse.
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Thank Dan. No I’m pretty sure that rooster had his hens on lock-down and he was keeping an eye on me to make certain I behaved myself 😉
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Lovely collection of doors. How kind and generous of the folks to invite you in – that certainly deserves many return visits!
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Thank you Susi. There are a few of these family run farms in the area and they are all run by incredibly good people 🙂
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My mouth is watering for those berries, while I have a container in my fridge from the store and I know they won’t be as lovely. The doors are interesting. Utility first and foremost. I love the little bits of trim and paint deco that were done to liven them up. Blue & White barn door painted like a quilt block. 😉
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Thank you. The barn doors stood out for me right away and all the others are just bonus shots 😉
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Good old doors, plain and simple, inside and out.
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Thank you Ian 🙂
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You hit the motherlode! … both in terms of strawberries and doors. I like the little designs that were added to the interior doors to dress them up.
Sadly, the farm near us closed to the public last fall. It too was a family run operation for well over a hundred years but when the family matriarch passed away, the sons decided to close the farm to the public. They are still running it as a commercial farm but I don’t know what they are growing and the destination of the product. I shall miss them greatly this summer.
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I did hit the motherlode. And my garlic scape pesto turned out pretty awesome too.
We try to support local producers whenever we can and luckily we have some really good ones nearby.
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oooo – garlic scape pesto sounds really good!!
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Some beautiful rustic doors
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Thanks Sarah.
By the way there seems to be a problem with our site. Here’s the error message I got when I clicked on your link: This site is marked private by its owner. If you would like to view it, you’ll need permission from the site owner. Request an invite and we’ll send your username to the site owner for their approval.
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There is absolutely nothing like fresh berries from the farm, and you certainly got a bonus with these fascinating doors. I was amazed at the outdoor ones before you even went inside. The trim above the doors and windows caught my eye as well as the interesting blue design painted on the doors. The inside doors were a look back in time when doors were for function and not always trim. Wonderful post for all folks who spent time on a farm, live on one or both. 🙂
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Thanks Judy. Place like this and the people who run them are treasures 🙂
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