Practicum
It's harvest time, and many wine writers take pride in mentioning that they were able to help out at a vineyard or winery. Harvesting other kinds of fruit doesn't have quite the same cachet, but it's still a worthwhile exercise if you want first-hand appreciation for what's required to get your food from farm to table in the best possible shape.
This past weekend, I took advantage of a neighbour's pear tree to find out why tree fruits are such demanding crops to harvest.
Without proper equipment let alone pertinent orchard health and safety training, I set about stripping our friend's tree of fruit, garnering about a bushel in an hour. The work went quickly once I got the hang of it, but several points were immediately obvious:
1) You need the right technique. The fruit should come off the tree easily without your losing your grip on it, or a handful of other fruit coming down with it. A gentle twisting while holding the fruit snugly in one's hand is appropriate.
2) Having a bag for collecting harvested fruit is useful. This reduces stretching on the part of the labourer and potential loss of good quality fruit through clumsiness. The shoulder bag can be emptied, but you get more done at a stretch as momentum builds.
3) It's important to work with your body, rather than stretch it and risk injury. I didn't injure myself, but the temptation to twist too much to get some extra fruit without moving the ladder was always there. Add in a shoulder bag, and the torque on the spine could have produced interesting results.
4) Use a suitable ladder. A ladder that you have to move too often or which can't be planted firmly on the ground is a threat. Go too far up, especially with a shoulder bag, and you create further opportunity for injury as the ladder may become top-heavy. It's also more awkward to back down the steps.
Harvesting grapes is fun stuff, but picking pears was a good reminder that harvesters -- many of them migrant workers getting paid for their efficiency -- face significant challenges. Moreover, the number of pears we dropped made our efforts to ensure decent fruit made it to our friend's kitchen almost heroic. Still, it's done every year and it's hard not to appreciate the experience a good worker brings to the task.
Our reward was some fresh fruit for dinner that night and, after some processsing, a gallon of golden fruit laid up for the winter ahead.
This past weekend, I took advantage of a neighbour's pear tree to find out why tree fruits are such demanding crops to harvest.
Without proper equipment let alone pertinent orchard health and safety training, I set about stripping our friend's tree of fruit, garnering about a bushel in an hour. The work went quickly once I got the hang of it, but several points were immediately obvious:
1) You need the right technique. The fruit should come off the tree easily without your losing your grip on it, or a handful of other fruit coming down with it. A gentle twisting while holding the fruit snugly in one's hand is appropriate.
2) Having a bag for collecting harvested fruit is useful. This reduces stretching on the part of the labourer and potential loss of good quality fruit through clumsiness. The shoulder bag can be emptied, but you get more done at a stretch as momentum builds.
3) It's important to work with your body, rather than stretch it and risk injury. I didn't injure myself, but the temptation to twist too much to get some extra fruit without moving the ladder was always there. Add in a shoulder bag, and the torque on the spine could have produced interesting results.
4) Use a suitable ladder. A ladder that you have to move too often or which can't be planted firmly on the ground is a threat. Go too far up, especially with a shoulder bag, and you create further opportunity for injury as the ladder may become top-heavy. It's also more awkward to back down the steps.
Harvesting grapes is fun stuff, but picking pears was a good reminder that harvesters -- many of them migrant workers getting paid for their efficiency -- face significant challenges. Moreover, the number of pears we dropped made our efforts to ensure decent fruit made it to our friend's kitchen almost heroic. Still, it's done every year and it's hard not to appreciate the experience a good worker brings to the task.
Our reward was some fresh fruit for dinner that night and, after some processsing, a gallon of golden fruit laid up for the winter ahead.
posted by Peter Mitham at 8:12 PM
1 Comments:
Nice post, Peter. Let me know if you make any pear pies over winter -- I'll be there like a shot.
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