IF PICKING RASPBERRIES SUCKS

YOU SHOULD TRY PICKING CURRANTS -

SUMMER HARVEST CONTINUES AT

HUDSON-CHATHAM WINERY

I thought raspberries were difficult. That was until I tried my pathetic hand at picking currants. Currants are small little berries, that look like blueberries turned black. They are small, and they grow, if you're lucky, in very small bunches, but more than not, individually through out a bush. It's long hard work.

You get a handful of berries going, and you feel like you've started to make progress. And then you toss them into a tote, and it feels like you've just thrown a glass of water into a lake. Wow! It takes a day for one picker to really accomplish anything. Each picker is probably good for a tote after about 6 hours. Ugh!

So there we were, picking currants at the beautiful Good Farm, in Claverack, when I suddenly bent a branch back to expose the berries (a trick I discovered, as the bush definitely hides it's fruit), only to discover this beautiful moth!

Ah, well. The Paperbirch Cassis of Good Farm is an exceptional black currant fruit wine, that has become an instant success. Though part is making it. But a little surprise like this as you're going through the bushes makes it all the more worth while.