Wild raspberry harvesting

About a block down the street from us there starts some significant stands of wild raspberries.  They go on for a half mile down the road, on both sides of the street, interrupted sporadically by various city properties maintained in a well-groomed, suburban fashion (thus devoid of raspberry bushes).  This is the path I walk each day as I try to get my 2 miles of exercise in, so I monitor the ripening berries closely.  Once the berries begin to ripen it's time to start the harvest.  We, and our neighbor Lisa, begin daily forays down the street, baskets in hand, laughing and exclaiming at the prospect.  I wonder what people who drive by think, three women walking down the street, swinging their wicker baskets as if they are little red riding hood off to the forest.  Later all they see are our butts sticking out of the bushes, or one of us will pop out of the bushes onto the parkway in a leap to avoid more scratches.  I laugh thinking about the expressions of passers-by.

Dianna calls it "bleeding for berries" because we don't dress in shoes, long sleeves and long pants.  On the contrary, it's hot out so we are usually in sandals, shorts and tank tops.  Of course that means lots of gashes from the thorns, but we look forward to it every year.

We collect daily because this is our chance to collect enough berries for jams and jellies that will last us all year long.  Now, truth be told, Dianna and I don't eat that much jam or jelly - we are not really breakfast people and don't eat a lot of sweets so it wouldn't be hard to collect enough for us.  But Lisa has two teenage boys, and they eat a ton of jam.  Every year we get enough.  We can together and split the results.  Dianna and I give most of ours as gifts.

I don't know why, but this summer ritual is particularly close to my heart.  It is true sustainability.  We pay attention to what is happening in the wild,  and mother earth provides - without us fussing, weeding, pruning, watering...it's there if we just just look for it and take advantage of it.  We don't harm the plants and we always leave some berries behind, and the relationship is strengthened.  This is our connected roots.