CEO skills in the Berry Patch

Today has been self-sufficiency on the farm day. The kids shucked and trimmed corn on the porch while I packaged berries in the kitchen. Look at the yellow and ivory gemstones on those ears. That's my grandmother's butcher knife. It's even older than I am.

I can't pick blackberries without going through the time warp back to my childhood. My grandparents worked hard on the farm with cattle, chickens, a huge garden with peas and beans and tomatoes and potatoes and squash and cucumbers, an orchard with plums and peaches and apples.  Oh man I'm getting hungry!  Heaven was a warm tomato right off the vine or a just picked peach.

There was a large berry patch, and some grapevines. The only time I ever tried smoking was after reading Huckleberry Finn, I snuck out to the grape arbor and tried a piece of vine, just like Huck. yuck.  Heaven was pelting your younger brother with berries so he was covered in purples splotches.  OK, maybe not heaven, but close to it.

Most of the produce went to the pantry in jars or to the wellhouse, which served as a root cellar. Some was shared with family, and when there was a year of plenty, Grandma and Grandpa used the extra as a cash crop. I always thought Grandma and Grandpa were wealthy because of the variety and number of jewel-like jars in the larder.


Summer suppers were whatever was picked that day. I'm trying to eat that way this summer, so meals today have consisted of potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers and corn.  And cherry pie.  Cherry pie with milk for breakfast.  Cherry pie for dessert at lunch.  Cherry pie for appetizer.  There's no such thing as too much cherry pie.


Friday was 'go to town' day for my grandparents. One day a week was dedicated to going to the library, getting groceries, paying bills, and conducting business.  Grandpa would pay us kids 10 cents a quart to pick blackberries, which he sold for $1.25. Little did I know that the training I received in that berry patch would translate to the very leadership and management skills I would later teach corporate managers.


Pick the bushes clean-This means pick ALL the ripe berries off the bush, not just the huge juicy plump ones. (Translated: do a thorough job, and pay attention to details, even the less glamorous ones).


Show a clean bucket-Keep the leaves and grass and stems and bugs out of the bucket. You will rinse the berries later.  The more you have to wash them, the more damaged and mushy they become, and the more labor you invest the lower your profits. (Translation: Use your time and resources efficiently to deliver the highest quality product, planning your processes to reduce wasted effort and thus increasing your profit margin).


If we all pick, the job gets done faster, and we all get cobbler! (Translation: team work pays off for everyone.)


Get up early to avoid the flies and mosquitoes and heat. (The manager who wants to outshine the competition will do a little more, and will work a little smarter. Or maybe this just means get up early to avoid the flies.)


Recycle recycle recycle-Only they didn't call it recycling. They called it making do, or not wasting things. They bought buttermilk in quart cartons and milk in half gallon cartons.  When the milk was gone, the cartons were carefully washed and saved to hold blackberries for sale. (Translation-recycle recycle recycle.  And don't waste resources).


Fill the boxes full and then some-The washed berries would be carefully piled into the cartons, as high above the top as they could go without an avalanche. My Grandpa would enter the bank with his box of milk cartons, berries peeking over the edge, and the bank tellers would tell customers to shove off so they could vie for one of those boxes of black gold. (Translation: always give the customer their money's worth and then some).


While they plunged into their purses for the requisite change, Grandpa would compliment one on a new hairstyle, and ask another about her grandbabies.(Translation: get to know your customers. Give added value when you can)


Business finished, he would thank them all and say how much he looked forward to the next Friday. (Translation: always always always let your customers and employees know you appreciate them).


So I've come up with an ingenious plan.   I will quadruple the amount of berry bushes, orchard and garden, and conduct corporate training seminars while CEO's pick berries and pluck peaches, shuck corn and peel potatoes.  Managers go home with a new appreciation of what they can do, as well as a bag of fresh produce, and I get past all the "thorny" issues of summer! I think it's a berry good idea!

        Happy Trails, and may your adventures teach you something useful.