U Pick

I feel like a real Oregonian now. I have been blueberry-picking!

CG and her daughter A had invited me to go pick strawberries a few weeks ago, but we kind of missed the window for strawberry season (at least locally – they are still shipping them in from Watsonville to the market.) So, we planned to pick blueberries on the 5th. It was so fun! We got an early start because we knew it was going to be another hot day – felt like it was in the 90’s later in the day, but it wasn’t too bad at 10 am. We were told that it took about 20 minutes to fill a bucket, so we each took 2. (They weigh the full buckets and subtract the weight of the container – $1.50 a pound – what a steal!!!) CG’s mom, MS, came too and the four of us headed out to the rows of blueberry bushes. It was so nice and tidy – there was soft grass growing between the rows and it was easy to reach berries on any part of the bushes.

30 minutes later, we were wondering why our buckets weren’t even half full yet. We figured it was because we were eating so many. AG said she was starting to feel full, in fact. All the same, she filled her bucket first. Maybe being 8 she had an advantage not having to lean down to reach the lower parts of the bushes. The rest of us agreed, the blueberries were so good we couldn’t stop eating them. It’s not prohibited to “graze” while you pick, but we were joking all the same that we were eating more than we were taking home. Finally our buckets were full (just one bucket each, as it turned out) and we slowly wandered back to the edge of the (what do you call it? field? orchard?) patch, plucking a few last berries as we walked. MS, chewing meditatively, said, “You know what they ought to do… is weigh us.”