Raspberries!

Grandma Pat came to visit last week (yay!) and we got out to the raspberry field to take some pictures of the harvest.

Since I know some of my friends and relatives are not familiar with how it works, I took some pictures of the picker to briefly explain.



1. The vibrating beaters gently shake the bushes.
2. Ripe raspberries fall and are caught by the shields by the bottom of the bush.



3. Raspberries slide down the shields into cups. These cups act like a mini Ferris wheel transporting the berries up onto a conveyor belt.

4. Berries run along the conveyor belt and underneath a blower which blows away any leaves but allows berries to pass along to the sorters.

5. A sorter (or two) watch the conveyor and pull out green or moldy berries and anything else that doesn't belong. Berries drop off of the conveyor into a flat (or barrel as seen here).

As I mentioned in the last post, our kids love to ride on the picker.

Here's Zetta watching the conveyor belt.







Hale loves to sort almost more than he loves to drive. He definitely has unique methods but he seems to do some good.




See! He's flinging an unripe berry!



And now he's searching for a good one for Zetta to try.



Here you go Zetta.



Is it good?



We'll take that as a yes.



Zetta drives.



Then Hale.



When we're done with the row we've got some great looking berries!



And sticky hands!