Blueberry picking is a skill. First there is the color calibration. Is that berry truly blue? The best have a slightly frosted look but some are just outright dark polished midnight blue. You have to reach the ripe berry in the cluster and pluck or tickle just that one so the pink or green ones have time to swell and ripen for a future picking. The tall bush berries such as we have in our yard — old, old bushes that are a fine gift from earlier residents — require careful targeting to select the readiest fruit. The low-bush Maine blueberries, which happened to be in rich abundance during our week on the island, make picking a little easier. There are so many, and they ripen more uniformly on a stem, plus you are working from above rather than inside a tall bush, so you can grab a handful, tickle the fruit, and get a nice release of ripe berries from a cluster instead of one by one. If you get a hankering for blueberry pancakes, you can step outside and gather, as long as you can handle the mosquitoes.

At home our picking must be a bit more organized because a net is necessary to discourage the birds; we have a whole routine for checking every couple of days, rolling up the net one side at a time and picking side to side, front to center, to be sure each sector is checked. It is important to find the right depth perception. Some berries are right at the outer edges, so close they could kiss you on the nose. But others are deep among the twiggy branchlets inside the center of the bush. If you forget to shift your depth perception, you can run right into the twigs and poke yourself in the eye. If you don’t peer in deeply, you miss a portion of the crop. Glasses are not much help, especially tri-focals. The trick is to keep shifting perspective, scanning and sighting the next best picking target. Then you have to figure out how to twine your arm through the bush to reach that exact spot, even when you can no longer see what you are doing. I have gained some sympathy for some of the vining plants around our yard as I experience something of what they go through to reach their destination.

Back lighting is a challenge for determining the true ripe colors, so sometimes you have to pull a branch into closer view to verify your instincts. And we have learned it pays to look at each section two or even three times because it is so easy to miss a huge plump berry just behind a leaf or a stem, or to see one better from below, or to spot a berry from the left instead of the right. Retracing steps, and shifting views are crucial to a successful picking.

We try to tend these bushes as best we can, to make sure they get a good feeding of compost and that weed trees and grasses get trimmed out to give them breathing room. We have even watered a bit in a very dry year. And we comment loudly on the abundance and beauty of the berries so the bushes know how much we appreciate them. We relive this appreciation each time over winter when we can stir up some pancakes or make a pan of muffins full of rich berries or make a crumble for a hot dessert on a cold night.

Overall blueberry picking is not bad training for everyday living: know what is “true blue;” look close up and far off; reach delicately and selectively for best results; change your perspective often and retrace your steps to see all the angles. Also voice your appreciation for the gifts offered to you.

Follow these steps and may your berry baskets be full throughout life.

But as a footnote, I have to say that raspberries are a whole ‘nother thing.

Judy Wagner lives and picks in Northfield.