Afternoon strolls through the garden alive with the first blooms of spring, and the scent of a proper Southern Sunday supper beckon all to come. Down by the pond a buffet laden with fried chicken, mashed potatoes, squash and fresh sliced tomatoes awaits.

Conversations with old and new friends mingle with the songs of birds in nearby trees. Then, sated with supper, the star of the evening arrives. Resting on a pillow of pound cake are the long awaited first fruits of spring. Luscious, heart-shaped, bright red strawberries, grown just a stone's throw away, wearing tall hats of whipped cream.

As the sun sets over the strawberry patch and the guests depart for their homes, the garden rests in silence, waiting for the first light of day when it will once again put on its show of color and fragrance to all who will draw near.

No, this isn't the final paragraph of a novel. It's just another Sunday Supper in the Strawberry Patch at the Coastal Georgia Botanical Gardens at the Historic Bamboo farms. You can place yourself in the middle of the paragraph on April 26. Garden tours start at 4 p.m.

This year is the 20th anniversary of the supper that was started in 1995 after the then-superintendent of the gardens, Charles Bruce, planted a field of strawberries for a "pick your own" project. To help publicize the strawberries to the community, the newly formed Friends of Coastal Gardens decided to hold an event and gave it the name of "Sunday Supper in the Strawberry Patch."

The first supper had 600 guests! A meal of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy with an assortment of Southern vegetables was provided by the much loved caterer, Grover Lovett. The meal was followed by homemade pound cakes from Mrs. Wilkes topped with the garden's first strawberries and cream.

In the early years, guests were greeted with a cup of Sparkling Strawberry Punch by members of the Bethel-Burton Community Club, who were the catalysts for growth at the gardens through their donation of more than $60,000 to help renovate the former Artifacts Museum into what is now the Bethel-Burton Conference Center. Trolleys from downtown were used to tour guests around the garden prior to the supper. As tourism increased, it became difficult to get the trolleys away from downtown on Sunday afternoon. The tours are still conducted but with different modes of transportation.

Funds realized from the first Sunday Supper in the Strawberry Patch were used to help register the Friends of Coastal Gardens as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. To launch the Friends organization, Pat Hackney approached her friend Hazel Brown one Sunday after church with "an opportunity she could not refuse," asking her to serve as the first president for Friends. Hazel had just completed a term as president of the Landings Association and Pat felt she was the one to launch this organization. Hazel accepted and served for several years as president. Hazel will be honored at the 20th annual Sunday Supper.

The Strawberry Supper and the pick-your-own berry fields are much anticipated spring events joined now by several other events contributing to the development of the beautiful Coastal Georgia Botanical Gardens at the Historic Bamboo Farm.

Friends board member Anna Wasden is chairing this year's event and is bringing several new additions to the afternoon including a talk by Garden Director Norman Winter on "Top 20 Flowers That Will Perform All Summer" at 4:30 p.m. in the Andrews Center. In addition, City Hotel will provide entertainment during the Supper and Silent Auction at the Pavilion beginning at 5 p.m.

I hope you will join us on April 26 for another beautiful afternoon in the strawberry patch - but you'll have to hurry, reservations need to be made by April 20. Tickets are $30 for adults, $15 for children 5-12, and free for children 4 and under.

You can get your tickets by calling 912-921-5460. For more information go to  coastalgeorgiabg.org/strawberrysupper.html

See you there!

Teri Bell is co-owner of Miss Sophie's Marketplace at the Mighty Eighth in Pooler. Go to sophiesmarketplace.com

ANNA'S STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE

This dessert should be eaten while it is still warm. The dough may be prepared 1-2 hours ahead of time and kept in a cool place. The strawberry mixture and cream can be prepared in advance as well and kept in the refrigerator. This way, the warm cake can be assembled in just a few minutes. Cut into pie shaped servings.

For the pastry

9 ounces plain flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Pinch of nutmeg

2 ounces sugar

2 1/2 ounces unsalted butter, chilled and cubed

1/4 pint heavy cream or 1/2 cream and 1/2 milk

1 egg

4 1/2 ounces unsalted butter, softened for spreading on cooked layers

For the fruit filling and topping

12 ounces strawberries

3 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons kirsch or Grand Marnier

9 ounces whipping cream

Reserve a few strawberries for decoration. Slice 3 ounces of strawberries, set aside.Leave the remaining fruit whole and crush with a fork, potato masher, etc. Stir in 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 tablespoon of the liqueur. Fold in the sliced fruit and set the mixture aside.

Preheat oven to 450 F. Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and sugar into a bowl. Drop in the butter pieces and quickly rub to a crumb texture. Whisk the egg into the cream and put on to the dry mixture. Combine quickly to make smooth dough.

Butter and flour an 8 1/2 inch spring-form tin and press in the dough. Bake for 15-20 minutes (test with a knife inserted in the center for doneness).

Split the shortcake in two and spread the butter on the bottom layer and the rest on the underside of the top layer. Spread the fruit filling over the bottom layer. It doesn't matter if the fruit oozes out!

Whisk the cream until softly peaked and beat in the rest of the sugar and liqueur. Spoon the cream on top of the strawberry mixture and sandwich with the top layer. Decorate with reserved fruit and/or confectioner's sugar if desired.

SPINACH AND STRAWBERRY SALAD

2 1/2 tablespoons strawberry vinegar (recipe below)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

3 tablespoons olive oil

4 cups baby spinach

4 cups arugula

1/2 pound strawberries cut lengthwise into thick slices (1 1/2 cups)

1/2 cup pecans toasted and chopped

Whisk strawberry vinegar, salt and pepper in a small bowl, then add oil in slowly, whisking well. Put spinach, arugula, strawberries and pecans in a large bowl and toss with just enough vinaigrette to lightly coat. Serves six.

STRAWBERRY VINEGAR

1 pound strawberries, trimmed (3 cups)

2 tablespoons sugar if strawberries are not sweet

2 cups white balsamic vinegar

Pulse berries with sugar (if using) in a food processor until finely chopped and very juicy. Transfer to a bowl and add vinegar. Let stand 1 hour. Strain vinegar through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl, discarding solids.

SPARKLING STRAWBERRY PUNCH

6 ounces frozen orange juice concentrate

1 No. 2 can (20 ounces) pineapple juice

1 small package strawberry Kool-Aid (if using sweetened Kool-Aid reduce sugar to ½ cup)

1 1/2 cups sugar

Mix all ingredients in a gallon container and finish filling container with water. Serve with a large bottle of ginger ale. Makes 50 punch cup servings.