‘When I was a small child our family used to go berry picking in the Horowhenua where we had cousins. When you went to the berry farm you new that you could eat a couple of berries, but most of them had to go into the bucket. When our family went to get the berries weighed the grower would say…”and now I will weigh the children to see how much they have eaten!” We thought he was serious, I guess he could see our red lips. Oh no!’
Shelley
‘In Marlborough berry picking was hot, dry thirsty work. We went to Mrs Jones, she had the best berries around and she made the most amazing strawberry jam. Huge chunks of strawberries. After we kids had done our picking we normally had blue lips, wonder why!’
David
‘…our parents would say ” make sure some land in the buckets “. Imagine our horror when after a good munch my cousin pipes up to the owner of the PYO field “you better weigh us too after all we’ve eaten! Not only were our lips red – so were our cheeks!Happy family experiences that defined our childhood.’
Adrienne
‘When I was a child, many moons ago, the wild blacberry bushes were not sprayed and it was safe to consume these delicious wild berries. In the summer school holidays my brother and I would jump on our bikes after breakfast and head to Moonshine Bridge to meet friends & bask in the glorious sunhine. We would feed ourselves on the wild blackberries as well as the drinks & food we had packed. We would swim and spend many hours picking blackberries to take home for our Mum to make the most delicious blackberry jam, & blackberry and apple pies.
Those were the days!’
Linda