07-25-2022, 09:42 AM
(This post was last modified: 07-25-2022, 09:45 AM by Michigan Swamp Buck.
Edit Reason: For Clarity
)
Yesterday I went to the dewberry patch covering my rock garden and picked the last of those. When this all began, I was hell bent on tearing out that thorny mess, it's covering and chocking off everything else in there. I did a similar thing last season and it came back worse this year, so my destruction is temporary. However, yesterday, I didn't feel like hacking, chopping and raking up the trimmings as I picked the berries, so I brought my walking stick that I have been using lately.
Now, before this I was using heavy leather gloves to dig around in the tangles to find berries, but I would have to remove one glove to pick with. So, I found that with my four foot walking stick I could part the tangles quite easily and provide support as I bent down to pick. I was kind of surprised that a simple walking stick was so helpful picking berries and it did little damage to the plants to use it that way. It worked as well with the 5ft tall thimble berries and raspberries, even better perhaps as I could part the brush and even bring berries within reach, no need for gloves if I were careful. Also, I could beat and break down a path through the brush without chopping and hacking and pulling the thorny branches away into a pile someplace.
It seems so simple and I feel so dumb for not picking these berries this way. If I pick berries on public land, I will use this method as it does little damage to the plants. Also, my interest in self defense with a walking stick or cane is combining with this other interest, as are some of the other things I've been doing. Even my antique bottle collecting has contributed in an off hand way. I was doing research on a 19th century medicine bottle that came from an apothecary that used to be in a nearby town. That had lead me to lists of ingredients and products they made. This ties into the wild berry wine as I intended to distill it and use the alcohol to make essential oils and extracts from the wild medicinal plants growing right near these berry bushes.
Very strange how all my interests seem to combine in my endeavors in regards to prepping and survival. It certainly makes me feel I'm on the right track to be better prepared when the SHTF.
Now, before this I was using heavy leather gloves to dig around in the tangles to find berries, but I would have to remove one glove to pick with. So, I found that with my four foot walking stick I could part the tangles quite easily and provide support as I bent down to pick. I was kind of surprised that a simple walking stick was so helpful picking berries and it did little damage to the plants to use it that way. It worked as well with the 5ft tall thimble berries and raspberries, even better perhaps as I could part the brush and even bring berries within reach, no need for gloves if I were careful. Also, I could beat and break down a path through the brush without chopping and hacking and pulling the thorny branches away into a pile someplace.
It seems so simple and I feel so dumb for not picking these berries this way. If I pick berries on public land, I will use this method as it does little damage to the plants. Also, my interest in self defense with a walking stick or cane is combining with this other interest, as are some of the other things I've been doing. Even my antique bottle collecting has contributed in an off hand way. I was doing research on a 19th century medicine bottle that came from an apothecary that used to be in a nearby town. That had lead me to lists of ingredients and products they made. This ties into the wild berry wine as I intended to distill it and use the alcohol to make essential oils and extracts from the wild medicinal plants growing right near these berry bushes.
Very strange how all my interests seem to combine in my endeavors in regards to prepping and survival. It certainly makes me feel I'm on the right track to be better prepared when the SHTF.