Yo! another article ive written... A bit out of season but nevertheless I wanted to share this anyway...
I have updated an old article on my website showing how to make another design of berry picker; the 'Berry Scoop'/ 'berry comb'. They are excellent for picking berries such as Bilberries and Cowberries, you've probably seen Ray Mears using one on his Wild Food series. The picker has a row of prongs like a comb, the picker is used by pushing the comb through the foliage of the berry bushes, the fruit which is too large to pass between the prongs gets plucked free. Many berries can be picked at once and the picker is frequently emptied into your foraging basket. With a good berry picker you can potentially pick huge quantities in just 1 day!
To make it I recycled some items I had lying about; a mini wine crate and some tines from a broken garden rake. You could of course use other materials, some plywood off-cuts would be perfect for the box, and for the prongs you'll need to be a bit inventive, there are some suggestions of other materials in the article...
You can see the full step by step article on how I made this on my website here:
http://www.jonsbushcraft.com/making a berry picker.htm
Materials used - small wine crate and a broken garden rake
I have updated an old article on my website showing how to make another design of berry picker; the 'Berry Scoop'/ 'berry comb'. They are excellent for picking berries such as Bilberries and Cowberries, you've probably seen Ray Mears using one on his Wild Food series. The picker has a row of prongs like a comb, the picker is used by pushing the comb through the foliage of the berry bushes, the fruit which is too large to pass between the prongs gets plucked free. Many berries can be picked at once and the picker is frequently emptied into your foraging basket. With a good berry picker you can potentially pick huge quantities in just 1 day!
To make it I recycled some items I had lying about; a mini wine crate and some tines from a broken garden rake. You could of course use other materials, some plywood off-cuts would be perfect for the box, and for the prongs you'll need to be a bit inventive, there are some suggestions of other materials in the article...
You can see the full step by step article on how I made this on my website here:
http://www.jonsbushcraft.com/making a berry picker.htm
Materials used - small wine crate and a broken garden rake
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