After driving several hours to Blake’s Berry Farm, Jillian Flynn and Cassandra Slate were reportedly excited to pay $12 apiece to for an experience which would ultimately include sweating while they tugged sour berries off of prickly bushes.
“We’ve been planning this trip for a while,” said Flynn, “I didn’t expect to be bitten by quite so many mosquitoes or stung by those two bees, but otherwise this is a lot of fun!”
Slate, who stepped in a pile of goose droppings while reaching for a thumbnail-sized piece of fruit, had been eager to enjoy summer’s brief berry season. “I feel like I’m really getting in touch with the earth, and my roots,” she said.“It’s amazing how much tastier they are, warm from the sun, directly off the bush,” said Flynn, popping a mushy berry the nearby birds had left behind into her mouth despite the sheets of perspiration blanketing her face.
Blake’s Berry Farm owner, Carson Blake, abstained from the backbreaking labor and opted instead for watching from the air conditioned farm stand.“It’s great for the kids that there’s still a farm in this area where they can come out and do this kind of activity,” said Blake, motioning to the crew of children hunched over sparse berry plants. “Plus, they pay me three times what I’d be able to pay the average day laborer to pick those fruits.”
“I can feel my acne getting worse as I work, but it’s worth it to support local farms. The experience is worth it,” said Slate as she swooned from dehydration.
