The Berry Patch

This past Saturday my husband and I went berry picking. This was my first trip to a berry farm. My past berry picking occasions were usually spotting berries on a wood line or while hiking and gathering up the usually-tiny berries the forest creatures hadn’t yet reached. Finding free food in nature is a very primal feeling. This experience was not as exhilarating as a discovery on the trail, but it was equally as succulent. There was an abundant mix of ripe berries and ones still maturing.

There is nothing more lovely or simplistic than eating a blackberry warmed from the summer sun. And it is a welcomed and beautiful sight to see bugs crawling on the leaves of those berries. One of life’s ambiguities: Why should we eat it if the bugs won’t? There weren’t many bugs (the few spiders helped with that); just enough to reassure you that you were outside and your food was genuinely growing from the earth.
It was so much fun to hunt for those perfectly swollen berries! It reminded me of hunting for eggs at Easter. It’s strange how the most mundane task can fill you with such enjoyment. It’s a shame we’re always so rushed: Work, social events, phone calls, e-mail and somebody’s gotta do the grocery shopping! It is so refreshing to just go pick a berry – berry by berry until your pail is full. Unsophisticated and simple.

I can’t wait to share this experience with my nieces, I know they’ll love it. Being a part of a child’s fondest memories is like tasting that first warm berry: Utterly priceless.

The Fruit and Berry Patch is located in Halls, TN  |  Website


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