To the Editor,

I would like to comment on the article by Steve Galea writing about his experience picking blackberries. I enjoyed the article as it brought back many memories about picking those delicious berries many years ago. I am certain many readers of my vintage would also recall their experiences.

When I was growing up in this area, berry picking was an integral part of our culture. As blackberries were one of my favourite wild fruits, I spent many hours sparring with those vicious blackberry canes and their wicked spikes in order to get those berries. Very early, I gained a healthy respect for those bushes as more than once I came away with many scratches. However, if you wanted the berries, you had no choice. You couldn’t go to the store to buy them as we can today.

You did go prepared for battle, no bare skin showing because those nasty canes would find it. When you least expected it, one of those canes would attach itself to your back. It was not fun extracting yourself from its clutches without spilling your pail of berries. It was always worth the battle when you came home with your pail of delicious berries.

Gareth K. Kellett