The berry pickers

The berry pickers are a patient lot who love unreservedly good food. They make the extra time needed to harvest these choice fruits.

Food is just as exposed to fads and fashions as clothing is; currently it's the starches that are definitely not in vogue. Berries are rich in carbs; yet even those promoting the keto diets allow and even encourage these fruits. Why is that?

Firstly most berries have a very low glycemic index; they are not overly sweet and will not spike your blood glucose. Juice them, extracting the fibre in the pulp and all that will change of course.

You can ruin your berries totally by adding sugar but natural honey, if you can find it has a low GI and can be used to sweeten your fruit.

The berry pickers

And secondly berries are very rich sources of important plant chemicals known as phytonutrients; they promote wellness and protect us against disease.

It takes time to harvest berries

I take my hat off to the berry pickers who do it commercially; often it is hands and knees stuff. It takes a lot of time. The frozen fruit is an option but there's a snag; strawberries for example are top of the list of those foods sprayed with toxic chemicals; residues definitely remain.

• Fruit with highest pesticide residues
  

We openly admit to being anxious, bordering on neurotic about the noxious pesticides sprayed onto our food. Berries in particular are so good that they attract many insects, fungi and the birds too. There is a body of opinion that it is these ecocides that are the true reason behind alcohol causing so much cancer; don't take that as gospel though.

• How much alcohol causes cancer?
  

An exception is the gooseberry which comes encased in a cape but then it takes more time to shell them.

Harvesting berries is hard work

Harvesting berries is hard work; it's time consuming. Often it has to be done on hands and knees and some then need to be shelled.

Many lament they simply don't have the time; and then get very grumpy when asked how many hours a day they spend on social media.

Unashamedly our philosophy of life is to commit the time to growing and preserving healthy food; rather than spending even more consulting doctors and standing in the queue at the pharmacy.

One in six people die miserably of cancer long before their time; we have no desire to be numbered amongst them and are willing to dedicate the sunny hours and our energy to prevention.

"The days that were formed for me"

One of the reasons that we gladly joined the berry pickers is a determination to avoid sickness, pain and disability. But another is that we have a deep sense that our allotted days were carefully "formed for us;" as the psalmist says. We are determined to live them out in wellness and with zest to the greatest of our ability.

So many today have their lives cut horribly short by illness.

It's true that much of health remains pure mystery. But the researchers are adament that at least 80% of it and probably more is about lifestyle; so we do not begrudge the time spent picking berries.

Mulberries

The pick in our mild climate in the Midlands of South Africa are the mulberries. The fruit hangs in great clusters making for greater ease of harvesting. Holding a bucket under the branch, when ripe one can run the fingers down the fronds and they simply drop into the container. 

Hanging freely in the air the berries are less prone to the many insects that would attack them; but of course they are more accessible to the loeries and white-eyes. In just five minutes one can easily harvest enough for a meal for the family.

In general the power of purple nosh is worth reading up on; amongst them are found some of the most powerful functional foods that promote wellness and help prevent disease^[1].

Cape Gooseberries

It takes an hour for a berry picker to harvest 4lbs; and another to shell the fruit. It's hands and knees stuff scratching in the undergrowth where much is to be found. That is enough for about 8 bottles of prime jam.

• Gooseberry jam recipe
  

Strawberries

Strawberries are amongst our favourites but are the hardest work. The yield is low, harvesting troubles the lower back and lying on the ground they are very prone to disease.

One day perhaps given more time and energy I might try growing them the Dutch way; in boxes on raised platforms. They are especially important for eyesight.

• Strawberries nutrition facts
  

Blueberries

Blueberries are one of our favourites but again harvesting enough fruit for a meal is tiresome; when in season we tend just to enjoy a dozen when "forest bathing" every morning as we walk through the garden; gazing in wonder at so much fresh food to be enjoyed.

Commercial farmers send their staff into the orchards to thin the smaller berries so those remaining will grow larger. I'm uncertain what it does to the total harvest but for me a complete waste of time.

Respect the berry pickers; it's a tough job. Grow them yourself or be happy to pay a premium price; or go without and risk declining health. Phytonutrients like anthocyanins scavenge so-called "reactive oxygen species" that do so much damage to our genes.

• What is antioxidant good for?
  

Happily they are not prone to disease but the birds love them too.

Blueberries are gorgeous on 100% wholegrain yellow grits with a little cream or yoghurt to enhance the absorption of the anthocyanin antioxidants. 

• Wholegrain cornmeal
  

Raspberries

Raspberries are something new in our green garden. The first canes are just beginning to shoot; I will report in a few month's time.

The synergy of hobbies and activities

There's a wonderful but unexpected synergy of hobbies and activities. Being one of the berry pickers has led the good wife into preserving the fruit by making nutritious jams. By using the pectin in lemon juice she has managed to reduce the sugar by a half; by testing how the drips run together she can find the gel-point accurately for this mulberry treat.

And my mulberry honey mead won a specially commended at the South African association competition.

• Mulberry honey mead
  

Having fun ourselves

Our philosophy is to enthusiastically enjoy life personally rather than watching others having a ball on TV, YouTube or the social media. Screen-time instead is building this website for like minded folk who are looking for the real deal rather than the virtual experience.

Being one of the berry pickers has contributed in no small way to being on my 78th orbit of the sun, having no health issues and taking zero medication.

The berry pickers

The berry pickers love working out in the great outdoors; they know the value of sunshine but they do wear hats to minimise the noxious side of UV on the face.

A vitamin D deficiency is being described as the most serious pandemic affecting the world and causing far more deaths than Covid or Aids. The berry pickers are laughing; sunshine is the best source by far.

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