Thirteen ways picking blackberries is like running a business
Thursday, July 30, 2009 at 13:46
Hey, I thought this would be a fun thing to share. Yeah, I know… I’m breaking my rule about only writing about domestic wines. actually I am only bending it since technically you could make wine out of what I am writing about, AND they are grown right here in Calistoga!
It is prime blackberry picking time in Calistoga right now. In the last three days I have harvested over two kilos on my morning bike ride. While doing this simple, time-consuming task in the solitude of a misty, chilly morning in the northern reaches of the gorgeous Napa Valley, I had some time to reflect on the similarities between owning a business and picking blackberries.
- When looking for ripe fruit, go where nobody has picked for a while
- If you think you have found every berry ready to pick, you haven’t turned over every leaf or looked at the bush from another angle
- When you find yourself tangled up in a vine while reaching for berries, don’t lose your focus and try to get out of it, otherwise you will need to wade back in to the same place to finish what you started
- Dress for the job
- Have a thick skin because thorns are part of the experience
- Don’t rush, there are 400 blackberries in a kilo
- Stay balanced and watch where you step
- Only pick the fruit that is ready to go, what is sour now will be ripe next week
- If you pick more than you need for the day, save 25% of it for the winter
- The biggest berries are in the last place you look
- Always look for a way to get to the berries on the other side of the fence
- If fruit is out of your reach today, decide what tools you need to pick it tomorrow
- If it smells wrong, find another bush!







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