Holcomb Street Happenings – by Ed

Hi there, I’m Ed, a berry picker and good friend of James and Anna. You have heard of me briefly in Anna’s blog, Rodman Moments, and have also seen a few less-than-flattering pics of me. I am writing to tell all RM readers about myself and my experiences during my days at The Berry Works.

This post is named Holcomb St. Happenings after the street that I have lived on for 18 years. I live about 12 minutes from Rodman in the sprawling metropolis (sarcasm) of Watertown, NY.

While I know that blogs are supposed to be all about the here and now, allow me to flash back to April of this year: I had been desperately looking and praying for a job for weeks; I had a car loan to pay off and I needed to escape my parents, Mollie and Ed (more about them later). The job market was tough in Watertown this spring, so, I did what any good, Catholic schooled teenager would do- I went to the nuns. I inquired if the Precious Blood Monastery behind my backyard was in need of another summer groundskeeper. After going back a couple of times I had an answer. The nice sister at the front desk told me that they did not need another worker but, that all of the nuns would be praying for me.

At the time, I didn’t think much of her last comment and continued my job search. I logged onto craigslist for the umpteenth time and sent out a form email to all of the job postings that seemed promising. One of the least likely ads was for a strawberry picker. It didn’t seem like enough pay or hours or mental stimulation but, I was desperate, so I sent out an email anyway.

After a few phone calls to what sounded like an old, prototypical Rodman Redneck, I rolled into The Farm in my Regal. As James and I raked straw, we talked about classic cars, economic theory, and of course, berries.

As the season progressed I met Anna, Corey and Rachel (whom I was introduced to by James saying “This is Ed, he’s a Catholic”), and a motley crew of other unique characters who were happy to trade stories with me across the strawberry rows.

I got to know James and Anna especially well; maybe too well. In any event they gave me one of the best compliments I’ve ever received when they told me to work near them because they enjoyed my conversation.

Towards the end of the summer I got to thinking about how I ended up at The Berry Works. I thought that there had to be some reason for me being here. While telling people that my summer job is picking strawberries is a great conversation starter, God must have a bigger plan for how I spend my Rodman Moments.

Blueberries!

On Tuesday evening I went to Stan's Berry Patch with Ed, Mandee, and of course, James. We picked a total of 42 quarts and sold them all at the Office Building Farmer's Market in Watertown.

Can you even tell this is a row?

It is.
Or that the plants have a blue tint to them?
They do
and that would be all the blueberries!

On Thursday we made a morning of it. We (Mandee's Dad, her brother - Jacob, Ed, and James) were up and on the road at 7:30 am and we were picking by 8:15. We picked for 3 and a half hours! Blueberry picking is much easier than raspberry and strawberry picking, by far, but it's just as fun! While we picked we talked and laughed, ...and of course most of us ate. I only had 5 or so, because at that point I wasn't much of a fan of blueberries.*** We sure made Stan happy with our picking, that's for sure! Though, he wasn't a fan when he saw us throwing the blueberries up in the air to catch in our mouths. "I don't care if you eat them, but I don't want to see any space between your fingers and your mouth when you do it". Whoops...what were we thinking?!?! (I still cringe when I get scolded...but I think that's a whole different post)

As I said, the picking is so much easier! The berries were plentiful on every single bush! I had up to 25 blueberries in just one cluster! I'm telling you, the blueberry plants we have are WAY behind the ones at Stan's. We have pretty big blueberries, but Stan has us beat on quantity.

Just three, rather small clusters, but I picked them!

Meet Ed, again. We talked about my blog
and he REALLY wanted me to post another picture of him!

That is in fact a quarter.
And that is in fact the same berry
placed on top of the quarter!

After picking all the blueberries, what do you suppose we're doing with them? Making muffins? No.... Making pies? No... Did you guess selling them at farmers markets? Then, YES, of course we're using them to fill our table! After picking the berries, we headed right up to the Farmers Market in Clayton. We sold about 30 quarts, but mostly the maple syrup was a hit! We sold one gallon, three half gallons, a couple quarts, and at least one pint!

After the two farmers markets today, one in Carthage and one in Watertown, we have only 2 flats of 8 quarts left! And with another market tomorrow, I think we'll have them all sold out! By the way, did I even mention how many quarts we actually picked on Thursday?

Yes, my friends, this is not only the distance til empty number,
But it was also the number of quarts we picked!

***During the farmers market I became quite hungry, so what do you suppose there was to eat? Yup, blueberries. I found that I like the big ones, because they taste like the blueberries I've had in muffins, the taste I expected when I would eat them. The smaller the berries the less sweet it is because there is more acid packed in a smaller berry and my taste buds don't appreciate that so much. So I guess I'd have to say that I do like blueberries, but just the big ones.