Berry Picker

Yesterday, Claire and I headed out to The Berry Patch Farms to pick red raspberries. We love that place. Their fresh produce rotates throughout the summer, and we’ve spent hours out there picking strawberries, black raspberries, and red raspberries.

This day, it was just Momma and Claire, and although we love going with friends, and we were sad that plans changed for them, it was nice to have some alone time out in the patch.

This was the first time that everything really clicked with Claire. She held her own container and filled it with berries that were actually the right color.

“Do you see this hand, Momma!?” she said with a smile, showing me her right hand.

“I do!” I said. “What about it?”

“It’s a really good berry picker! It’s really good at picking berries! See? Watch!”

She’s gotten better and better at determining which berries are ripe and which aren’t, but in the other visits, she’s been too busy eating berries and playing with the other kids to focus on a task. There is a layer to the red raspberries that are just at the right height for her, and the thorns aren’t as vicious as they are with the black raspberries. She didn’t have to bend over and risk dumping the carton, which can happen easily with the strawberries if you aren’t careful.

Today, it clicked. She focused and had a great time. I think she ate more than she gathered, but that’s what happens at that place. For the record, we ate our picnic lunch on their picnic tables BEFORE having dessert, er, I mean picking berries.

I’m so glad they don’t weigh us when we get there, weigh us when we leave and then charge for the difference.

By the time she ran out of steam, she’d picked a carton and a half of berries! All by herself! I was impressed. The Midwestern Farm-girl in me couldn’t help but have perma-grin.

I do have a confession to make, though. I’m a bit too OCD for this task, and not for the reasons you may assume. You see…I can’t not pick berries. Once I start, I can’t stop. Everywhere I turn, there’s another juicy berry, and I can’t let it go.

Our cartons were full, and we were heading back. “Come on, Momma!” Claire calls to me. “Stop picking the berries! We’re done!”

“Just one more, Claire. Just one more. I see a really good one!”

“Well, stop looking then, Momma!”

Ha! 

What an awesome way to spend the afternoon.