June 23, 2009

This is the first post I've written about a Tuesday! Yesterday, I met Tracie, Marsha, Ashley, and Ty at Crow's Nest to pick blueberries and sugar snap peas. It was so much fun! I love my job. This was my first time picking both types of produce.
I was surprised by how tall the blueberry bushes were. I expected them to be low to the ground, like a strawberry plant. But they were nice and tall, so there were plenty of berries to be picked standing upright. I also had a different preconception of how the berries would look on the plant. I (once again) thought they would be scattered throughout the bush individually like strawberries, but they aren't! There are in little clusters...in the case of this year's crop, they are in bunches like grapes! Some of the mid-season variety blueberries were as big as grapes too!
After we had been there for a while, we went over to the greenhouse to pick some sugar snap peas. Now, with these I really had no idea what the plants were going to look like. I was worried that I wouldn't know how to distinguish between the ripe ones, the just right ones, and the overripe ones. But Tracie assured me that there is no such thing as a bad sugar snap pea...unless it looks shriveled and bad...but in that case it's not hard to tell that they're no good. It was so funny (and not funny) because I had been bitten by an ant on the back of my left knee at the blueberry hill...and then when we got to the sugar snap pea vines Tracie said not to worry because there would not be any bugs. I got stung by a bee on the back of my other knee. Of course it hurt at the time, and I think Tracie was worried that I would just be too upset and all that. But it really wasn't a big deal. I just came home, put some tea tree oil on it, and it was fine.

Lessons I learned yesterday:

• Make sure you get there EARLY. ( I saw a couple arrive at the blueberry hill with only 10 minutes to pick... not fun.)
  
• Don't converse loudly. Just because the view of other people two rows away is blocked by the bushes doesn't mean the sound of your voice is blocked.
• If you feel something tickling make sure it's not a bee before you swat it. Actually, it might not hurt to wear some bug repellent.
  
• Eat at least one berry/pea pod off the plant. It will make your life richer.
  
• Bring children with you. They have so much fun, and it's infectious.