Or is it bush…?
Summers in NW Missouri involve many outdoor activities, including setting aside time to collect berries from blueberry bushes and mulberry trees. Our trees are loaded with berries! And the blueberries should be ready to pick in a few days, if wild animals don’t get to them before we do.
This weekend we had wonderful weather, everything is green around us and, for a change, no storms have hit our area in the last few days. The ground has dried to some extent, at least sufficiently so that driving the truck in 4-wheel-drive mode was a cinch. Time to get the girls on the back of the pick-up, and head for the two largest and most prolific trees:
Procedure:
- First, a tarp of similar implement is placed on the ground, closest to the area where one suspects the berries are most likely to fall.
- Then one must shake the living daylights out of the limb(s); no climbing is allowed for older folks, and was ruled as unsafe for the little ones.
- Collect as many berries while successfully avoiding stepping on them. Better yet: Fold the tarp into a smaller area, from which one scoops the berries carefully - no smashing is allowed at this point
- Maximize the take by shaking the limbs a little more, to see if more have loosened since they were first shaken.
- Count the number of quarts, or gallons, or buckets, etc., and take home to render into delicious jams and jellies.
Results:
The following is a photo summary of Saturday’s event - we should be able to savor the results in a few days, after our daughter is able to wash them and can them:
YUM! I can already taste them! These trees have enough berries in them for at least another 5 gallons’ worth… 
