84-Lancaster Farming; Saturday, August 1, t 987
toheini ft
a farm
-And
Joyce Bupp
It’s been a berry good year.
Strawberries were sweet and
tasty, if a bit shordived. A timely
rain on the raspberries added
plump juiciness to these favorites,
too, before another heat wave
wiped out the crop tadenders.
“Keep an eye out for the red
raspberries,” I asked the field
crew. Red raspberries cook up into
one of the most beautiful, ruby
colored jellies imaginable. But the
heat grew super-intense, other
responsibilities took priority and
the red raspberries - frankly - were
forgotten in the rush.
“Interested in seeing if there are
any red raspberries left?” offered
the farmer one sticky, humid,
oppressive afternoon last week.
Actually, the only thing that really
sounded the slightest bit appealing
after sweating through the evening
chores was to hose down and
sprawl across a piece of cool
concrete.
But that wasn’t getting us any
berries.
And, almost as an afterthought,
it was added that there just hap
pened to be a bunch of hay bales
which had missed the wagon in the
angles and comers of newly-baled
fields. Fields how convenient
which were bordered by the
fencerows in which the red rasp
berries hide.
By gosh, we could kill the
proverbial two birds with one
stone here pick berries and pick
bales. Besides, I’ve heard talcs all
summer about a whitetail doe
which nibbles in these particular
fields along about dusk.
The venture took us bumping
along in the pickup, Fritz lounging
on the back, up a long, dusty, field
road along the interstate. There,
hanging in among the sumac and
mulliflora rose at the bottom of the
Rodeo
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“Cow Capital of the First Frontier”
Located on U.S. Route 40, eight miles east of the Delaware
Memorial Bridge in Salem County MAY 23rd-SEPT. 20th
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steep highway bank was paydirt.
Thick brambles weighted with
clusters of blackberries. Not the
subject of the search, but definitely
a valuable bonus.
First, thought, it was on to the
red raspberries. Not to mention the
bales. The distinct advantage of
such a ride-n-pick setup is that it’s
possible to cruise make that
bounce along the edges of the
fields until the familiar fuzzy
leaved canes and clusters of red
make an appearance.
Only most of the clusters
showed but bare stubs, apparently
having provided feast for the plen
tiful bird population and kids who
noted how good they had tasted
during baling breaks.
Under heavy leaf cover and a
couple of feet into the briars and
brush, there were a few of the red
treasures still hiding. And another
memory fell into place: never, but
never, go picking raspberries with
out heavy jeans and socks. That
includes even when the tempera
ture is 95 degrees at sundown, and
the heat has suffocated your com
mon sense.
The doe was nowhere in sight,
but we did check out one of the ear
ly fields of soybeans going into
delicate white blooms. Fritz
checked out the groundhog poten
tial. Giant briars checked out our
bare legs.
Bales about two dozen worth
—dotted the multiple-field area of
the raspberry haven. In first gear,
we jounced across the hayfields,
the farmer retrieving and stacking
the bales, me behind the wheel,
zigzaging like a candidate for
D.W.I. arrest.
Fritz, tired and hot, alternated
between sprawling over the scat
and hopping back out in case he
missed some four-legged wild
beast to terrorize.
Periodically, we did additional
battle with the briars over the
scarce remaining berries, then
waited on the hound to decide if
he’d ride or walk. We suspect the
doe stayed just inside the woods,
chuckling behind her whiskers.
It was near dark when the pick
up creaked back down the grade,
and we strained eyes to find the
briars hung with blackberries
more berries than we’d found all
evening in acres of field and
fencerow. Straddling a yard-deep
gutter from highway runoff, we
picked the fat blackberries literally
by feel as nightfall settled.
Grabbed in a cluster, the ripe ones
plopped into your palm, while
their neighbors fell and rolled off
bare knees, between more thorny
brambles anchoring their way into
the top layer of leg flesh.
Yes, it’s been a berry good year.
We have the scratches to prove it.
"P.V.C. WHITE RAIL FENCE"
Perfect For Farm, Home, Recreation Area, Or
Wherever Fence Is Used
2, 3 OR 4 RAIL FENCING
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QUALITY FENCING & SUPPLY, INC.
R.D. #l, Box 42#
... Aiithfin7prt .
UMBEFGER'S of FONTANA G. BENJAMIN MILLER, JR,
Lebanon. PA Rouzemlle, PA 17250
(717) BP7 51«1 (717)762-2386
National Citizenship Program
GETTYSBURG Three
Adams County 4-H teens attended
4-H Citizenship Washington
Focus, a week-long conference
held recently at the National 4-H
Center in Chevy Chase, Md. The
4-H members were: Scott Gibson,
New Oxford; Kevin Powell,
Aspers; and Kathleen Grim, East
Berlin.
The Center, located just outside
Washington, D.C., was the perfect
place for the 4-H members to stay
while learning about citizenship,
the democratic form of govern
ment, and current issues facing the
U.S. government.
Adams County 4-H teens along
with 40 others from Pennsylvania
BOWMAN'S
TOVE SHOP
R D 3, Box 5
Ephrata, PA 17522
(717)733-4973
HOURS
Tues Wed 10am to6pm
Thurs Fn 10am toBpm
Sat 10 a m to 4 p m
Closed Mon
He East of Ephrata on Rt 322
3-Rail Fence w/Gates
Never Need Paint
P.V.C. MANUFACTURED PRODUCTS
'( k.' S
V t
Adams 4-H 9 ers Attend
Products Include Household
Molasses, Syrup & Edible Oil
* SHOOFLYPIE * PEANUT BUTTER
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* SSSn : SK"”
; SS’S O,L
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If your local store does not have it,
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BROCHURE & PRICES
~ WE UK DAILY -
GOOD FOOD INC.
(717) 354-9760
and members from five other slates
used the nation’s capital as a class
room for a week. Meetings with
congressmen and senators, along
with visits to federal agencies, his
torical buildings, and cultural cen
ters, allowed the 4-H members to
participate as they learned.
Between visits to Washington,
the 4-H members attended discus
sion and lecture workshops on
what they experienced. They also
explored ways to use the concepts
for themselves and for their com
munities at home.
After a week at C WF, these 4-H
members now have a belter under
standing of government for the
people, by the people.
, f
(F ood Division Of Zook Molasses Co.)
West Mam St., Box 160
Honey Brook, PA 19344
Phone: 215-273-3776
Call toll free in PA: 800-662-7464
Over SO Years Of Service
PVC Picket Fence
Sign Posts
Dog Cages
Mailbox Posts
New Holland, PA 17557