Berry Challenges and Blessings

By BECKY NELSON
Bramblings
I am a berry brain for the next few weeks with raspberries and blueberries ripe and ready. We opened about a full week before we usually open up for you-pick, putting a damper on our annual vacation, which we reserve the last week of June traditionally between planting and berry harvest. July 4 has been our “go to” date for opening the raspberry patch, but we were picking in June this year. Thank goodness I have the absolute best employees, and we were able to switch things around and get picking. We stayed away for one full day before I got a desperate call from the farm with news that tornado warnings were issued for the following day. We hopped in the truck, battened down the camper (our home away from home in the White Mountains) and headed for home.

After a day of tornado prep at the farm, we planned to hunker down at home while things settled down. Thank goodness the major storms never materialized, but we took the time at home to get ready for raspberry picking. We shortened our 10-day stay to five, but we were ready to rock ‘n roll in the berries and managed to squeeze in some quiet and relaxed time, too. Berries bring a lot of changes to the farm atmosphere with many more chores to keep our customers comfortable and safe and our patch well mowed and well stocked with materials for picking. The beforehand preparations are months in the making, with many hours spent pruning last year’s canes, tending the new plants and getting ready for winter, then springtime thinning, pruning and prep to make ready for a new season. Berries are a very labor-intensive endeavor, but the rewards are scrumptious.

I’ve noticed a lot of “wild” raspberries growing all around the farm in unusual places. A raspberry is made of many individual lobes, each holding a seed, and when a bird picks one, takes it and drops it elsewhere or it travels through in their droppings, the little seeds can take root. These free-wheeling berries feed all kind of little wild creatures around the farm, and as weeds go, they are a lot more controllable than some. If you live close to the farm, don’t be surprised if you have some raspberries growing on your walls or at the edges of your forest.

With the berry patch open from dawn to dusk, it makes for a long day. Getting up even earlier in the morning to get all the paperwork and bookkeeping done before we head to farm chores is both a blessing and a curse. We’re not spring chickens anymore, and long days put a strain on us, but the opportunity for sights we don’t usually see is tremendous. This week, I have seen two crow funerals and a beautiful gray fox. Crows are amazing creatures, and if they find a dead crow in their travels, they will call in other crows to mourn. There was a dead crow in the blueberry patch the other day, and the crows, maybe the same group, maybe separate groups, gathered and cawed away for many minutes for two mornings in a row. The gray fox came streaking across our lawn and crossed in front of my car, a thrilling sight. We had a gray fox raise her kits under the barn last year, and though we haven’t seen them, I wouldn’t be surprised if she has another litter growing.

Early morning picking is another opportunity for sights and sounds we don’t usually see. An employee and I have both downloaded the “Merlin” app on our phones that identifies different bird songs when you record them, and the diversity of bird calls in the morning is amazing. This last week we have heard robins, song sparrows, red-eyed vireos, northern cardinals, chipping sparrows, common yellowthroats, cedar waxwings and eastern wood pewee. Though we weren’t able to see all these singing friends, the amazing chorus of bird sounds is a gift.

During this very busy season at the farm, it is easy to get swamped with work, tight schedules, challenges and responsibilities, but it is important to remember to stop and smell the roses, listen to the birds, watch for foxes and take a minute to clear our minds and enjoy the beauty around us. I hope you can all do the same these hot, steamy summer days. Summer is short, and we need to savor it … and the berries.

Becky and her husband own and operate Beaver Pond Farm in Newport. The farm has been in Becky’s family since 1780. You can reach Becky at [email protected]