Berry Picking

Some danged BIG berries! (Photo taken with my phone.)

Since last Thursday, I've been told by a reliable authority the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (part of the United States Department of Commerce) that it will begin raining today and will continue to rain through Friday. I was also told to expect frigid temperatures late in the week.  Consequently, I had a list of things I wanted to accomplish before the rains set in and it got cold. (Mid-70s is pretty chilly.)  Picking dewberries was on my list.

One 28 ounce coffee can, or about two pounds, of fresh dewberries, picked this morning

Part of my family's food heritage is berry picking. The Girls picked strawberries and blueberries from you-pick farms when they were little. Along with my parents, my sibling and I picked wild berries from roadsides and abandoned country farms and fields. My grandmother picked wild berries almost her whole life-- not until the day she died but on the very day she died while picking berries. We all picked berries back in the crappy olden times. So while I was picking berries I was thinking about berry picking.

Berry picking teaches important lessons.

1. Go/Be prepared. I had a gun and a knife and a couple of coffee cans and some gloves and my phone. I forgot my camera. I wore steel toed boots, long pants, hat, and a light, loose long-sleeved shirt. But I forgot to hose myself off with Deep Woods Off (TM)-- a very dumb thing to do when venturing into the deep woods. Thankfully, I was prepared at home. I knew exactly where the tweezers were. Stupid ticks.
2. Do not pass over small berries while searching for large berries. Two small berries = one large berry. The goal is to fill the coffee can with berries, not to impress your neighbors.
3. Pick as many berries as you can get your fingers on, but don't over-reach-- those canes have thorns, and there's poison ivy, not to mention fire ants. And...
4. If the berries are out of reach, consider approaching the bramble from the other side. And...
5. If you still can't get to the berries, so what? The birds have to eat, too. Keep walking. You'll find more. 
6. Keep your eyes open; the biggest berries are where you least expect them. This is true! There are zillions of brambles in fields that get full sun all day long. And yet, the biggest-- as you can see from the photo-- are along the edge of the woods in dappled sun. Go figure.
7. Do NOT complain. It is hot. There is no breeze. There are bugs everywhere. Get over it. There are fat kids living in big cities who will never ever go berry picking. How lucky are you to be picking berries?