Proper use of a hockey stick

At the risk of insulting most of my Canadian country women and men, I will now reveal the proper and ultimate use for a hockey stick - blackberry picking. Oh sure, there is no question that a hockey stick comes in pretty handy for those slap shots and whipping a puck around the ice. But the hockey stick only begins to come into its own subtlety and sophistication in the blackberry bramble.

From use as a walking stick as you gingerly make your way through the uneven ground and trecherous thorny vines, to bringing too high or too low berries into reach, the hockey stick is where it is at. Why flip a rubbery puck to a team mate when you could extend your stick out to an impossibly out-of-reach, perfectly plump, cluster of blackberries and serve them up on the blade of your hockey stick for easy picking? Really this handy picking friend should have been named the blackberry stick -- but don't let the wrong name stop you from using this indispensible tool.




As in hockey, you will need to wear the correct uniform to complete your blackberry picking gear.  My tried and true choices are both fashionable (as in Denman-Island-Free-Store "fashion") and very practical.

1. gum boots for stomping vines and keeping vulnerable ankles safe from giant sharp thorns in the under brush
2. long pants to cut down on vine damage to the legs (jeans work best)
3. short sleeve loose shirt so you can more easily back out of a vine snag
4. yogurt container on a string to catch your berries as you work
5. big round shallow bowl (berries can crush each other in a deep bowl), big enough to hold enough berries for one "batch" of jam.
6. eye protection - vines can snap back into the eye.
7. No iPod or mp3 player. You'll need your ears open and available to hear nearby wasps!

This year is a bumper crop year. So grab your hockey stick and other blackberry gear and get picking. Yum!

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Photo credits: Photos by Jessica and Luna at Oceanwood.

Oceanwood Chronicles, copyright 2009 - Jessica at Oceanwood. Creative commons attribution, non-commercial sharing only (translation: feel free to quote me in context or use this entry but please always credit me for my work, thanks.) http://oceanwood.blogspot.com/