It’s for the birds

The title of this piece was a commonly used expression with the WWII generation. My parents – and especially our Mother – used it often. It meant why waste your time on that; or don’t bother it isn’t worth the trouble.

I brought it back for the moment to be used literally: stop and save some berries “for the birds.”

In a few weeks we are going to have a bumper crop of dewberries.

[I am told by a senior, local dewberryist that the only difference between a dewberry and a blackberry is that the small, first-picked are dewberries. Once you’ve taken them the larger, second crop have earned the right to be given the nom de berry: black berries.]

The torrential rain storms we have had this winter undoubtedly have contributed to the upcoming bounty. The expansion of the patches themselves merits explanation.

It is a fact that the thickets of fruit are all located alongside the barbed wire fence. [See the picture I re-use from an earlier article,]

How is that?

Well, I think our friends the birds are responsible. They often rest, sunbathe, or simply ponder the fate of their world while wrapping their claws on the top string of wire. In the course of that solitude nature calls and their droppings fall to the ground; they include berry seeds. However, the only way they could have seeds to drop is because I make a point of not denuding the berry patch each season; some are left for them. I think that’s called living in harmony with nature.

So in a few weeks I will continue my policy of leaving berries for the birds. It not only gives them sustenance but it also fosters more dew and black berries; and that, in turn, means more berry pies!