Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Raspberry Picking – Answering a Good Intention

Raspberry Picking – Answering a Good Intention




   Brambles surround our house. This is partly due to neglect. The owners claim to know little about selective cutting and moreover have an aversion to electric trimmers and chainsaws and to poison ivy (of which they have three kinds). But because the wooded areas are so wild, raspberries and blackberries thrive.




    It was the man-of-the-house (Dean) who first noticed the red raspberries when he walked to the mailbox. He pointed this out to the-lady-of the-house (me). That evening, when she finished reading of the frugal canning activity of her long distance friend by way of a paper letter, she placed the letter on her nightstand and fell asleep with a good intention – jam - and had sweet dreams.



    The weekend was a busy 4th of July, which brought larger meals to prepare, a house full of guests to serve, a cute and very active grandson to play with. It was at the start of a new week that the lady-of-the-house grabbed hold of her previous week’s good intention. She set out first thing in the morning with the words, “time for raspberry picking” rallying her forth. While the early birds were catching their worms and singing, she added to her summer garb an apron, a straw hat and rubber boots. She fit a plastic container inside her shopping basket and stepped outdoors before breakfast. A morning dove was cooing and the air was humid and warm even in the shade. It would be another hot day in Pennsylvania, perhaps the hottest of the summer. She picked only the plumb berries that were a tantalizing pink-red. A gentle touch sufficed in loosening these ripe berries. As she rolled them gently between her fingertips they dropped easily and noiselessly into the basket. It was a calm and quiet activity. “This must be the same outdoor relaxation that is so soothing to a man who enjoys fishing,” she thought.


  
    As the sun rose higher the morning dove no longer cooed and the buzzing of insects took its place. Were they bumblebees, house flies, mosquitoes? It didn’t matter. She was intent on filling her basket and savoring an hour of quiet solitude. Every once in a while, her leg was scratched just above a boot not by the raspberry brambles but by the prickly weeds that stood like armed guards at the foot of them. Thinner branches with clusters of fruit at their tips were bent near to the ground. Collecting their berries she saw that she was stepping on poison ivy. The vines were trailing beneath her boots. But even this did not deter her. She went right on picking to her heart’s content.



    The-man-of-the-house came outdoors looking for the-lady-of-the-house. He must have spied her from a window. He had his camera and finding her so peacefully occupied took a photo as a memento.



     Three quarts of raspberries are in our freezer. When I think it a good day for the-lady-of-the-house to make jam (for the first time in her life) I’ll let you know. A little of the prolific canning activity of my resourceful long distance friend is, finally, rubbing off on me. I am getting poised. But for now I am content to share this morning’s moment of Mother Culture with you. And I wish you a serene moment of your own.



    “Mom, what happened to the raspberries? Did you freeze them all?”

8 comments:

  1. Doesn't it give you such a warm, nesting feeling to be putting food away for the winter? It's a lot of work, but it's always worth it. I always look forward to preserving whatever I can get my hands on during the summer. We don't have raspberries in our area, but we have lots of blackberries and strawberries. So I make jelly out of them. Nothing gives me greater joy than to hear the lids popping as the jars seal. I also like to freeze strawberries to have with pound cake and Cool Whip, and to make strawberry smoothies out of.

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  2. I love the colours of the raspberries. Never ceases to amaze me how God's nature reveals the most splendid colours, full of life , that man cannot replicate, for me anyway. I've never made preserves either. You are inspiring.seems to be whenever I bake/cook it's all gone at the end of a couple of days!

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  3. I love raspberries! For Mother's Day last year, my girls bought me 2 raspberries plants. This year they are huge! They have filled in the garden nicely and are loaded with berries so sweet.
    One of our favorite things to so in the summer is to go berry- picking. My girls and I usually go to a farm outside of our city and pick strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries. I find berry-picking so relaxing.

    Enjoy your raspberries!!

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  4. Last summer a lovely friend of mine gifted me with 4 wild raspberry bushes. This summer, I have been sampling its delectable fruit. It is not fully established so the bush is not full of berries...yet :)

    Your berries look delicious and canning them is not as hard as you might think.

    A serene moment...those are lovely, aren't they?

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  5. It is totally wrong to freeze all the raspberries, y'hear?!!

    We love brambling. Alas, no wild rasps around our neck of the woods, but plentry of blackberries!! Yum!

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  6. This morning I did one last picking of wild raspberries but for smoothies this time and my son was glad I didn't freeze all. I can see by your comments that brambling and fruit gathering of various kinds is a pleasant pastime. Rather than remove the seeds from the berries for those in the household who wish to keep their dental work intact, I thought I could pulverize the seeds in the VitaMix blender. It can grind blackberry seeds for our morning smoothies so why not raspberries for jam? We'll see.

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  7. I enjoyed your berry picking story - I picked a lot of strawberries this spring, from our yard, and a friend's yard. I also had never made jam before this year. A 93 year old friend, Milly, makes "freezer jam" and told me how to make it. It's really easy, and you can use fresh or frozen fruit. My friend suggested "Sure Jell" in the pink box, which uses less sugar than the normal box, or you can make "no-sugar" jam too. Directions are in the box. I made two batches. You just follow the directions, then pour the jam into plastic containers. It is delicious. Thanks for your nice website. Dolly (Andrew and Sophia's aunt)

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  8. We did a lot of strawberry jam. I found a great brand of pectin at Miller's Natural Foods that allows you to use less sugar!

    Have fun with your jam making!

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