Berry picking

"At times, when the stresses of daily life start to mount and weigh heavily upon you, doing simple things, getting back to nature, like picking berries, can help relieve the pressure and reconnect you with the real world."

While I was out picking raspberries from our bushes today, a flood of memories came for a visit. 

As a child, some of my fondest memories involve our form of substance living.  We had a mini-farm down at the bottom of 19th Street in Port Townsend.  We raised a few cows, pigs, always chickens, rabbits, and even a goat or two.

Fruit trees and a large garden were a major part of our summer at home, as was gathering hay from along the edge of the roads in Port Townsend.  Back then, the city used a sickle bar mower to trim  along the streets,  making usable hay.  We would go out in the evening and gather this as winter feed for our animals.

We dug clams and fished, packing these in the freezer  or canning them for the winter.  We even salted some cod, not my favorite. We were not poor, but my father, of Italian decent and raised during the depression, strongly believed that the more we could provide for ourselves, the less dependent we were on fate or the economy.  This is probably  a major factor in my connection to nature and my basically frugal nature, both personally and professionally.

And then there was plank picking.  If you have not done this, I will try to explain.  In large patches of wild blackberries, we would reach as far back into the bushes as we could, then we would drop a 2x12 wooden plank onto the mass of vines and walk on it to get to the rest of the berries, gallon can on a cord around our necks

I have tried to pass some of this along to our grandkids.  I regret that I did not get a garden in this year but, when they come to visit, they help pick fruit and berries here at our home in Port Hadlock.  The rewards of their efforts are jar after jar of Grandma's freezer jam and fresh fruit.

Our young people should learn where our food comes from.  Take them to a garden, better yet, start your own pea patch.  They should not grow up thinking that our food somehow magically grows on   the shelves at Safeway.

Go out and pick some berries, you will feel better!!!  And remember, as my father used to say, "in the bucket kid, not in your mouth."
Tony