Berry picking is not a task to be taken lightly.
1. Wear lots of clothes - you are sure to be hot and sweaty, but should wear boots, jeans, gloves, and the heaviest shirt possible. Not heavy as in a sweatshirt, but something that will resist snags and pokes of thorns. Put on Off unless you live in a magical land without chiggers.
2. Take a hoe - it's good for knocking spider webs away, poking around in front of you on the ground to find snakes before you step on them, and to snag vines that are just out of reach and pull them to you
3. Do not take people with you unless they are good at silence or are good conversationalists
4. Do not let small dogs who are afraid of losing sight of you go - they whine too much
5. No cell phones or iPods - this is quiet time to listen to the birds and God. Anyway, if you lose that phone in the berry patch, it may be gone forever.
6. Plan on coming home with fingers stained purple, stained so deeply that they will look dirty for a few days yet.
7. Plan on taste testing, right there in the patch, up to your eyeballs in brambles and thorns
8. When you get home, you will already be hot and dirty, so you might as well water and pick the garden before coming in.
9. Pie is in order.
I wish I was there.
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