The definition of "back-breaking"

Strawberry picking today. We drove out to Shumway's Berries to pick strawberries, approximately 1 week before the end of the strawberry season here. The guy who owned the place told us to walk up to the sign and the look for the yellow flags and start picking anywhere.



He also said there was a scale and a cash box and he "might be taking a nap" so just weigh the berries, pay .90/lb. and make change from the cash box if neccessary. B. and I looked at him like "anything else?" and B. pointed at the notebook on the table and said "uh, should we write down our names or something" he just laughed and said "yes, and the name of your favorite person, perhaps your favorite color..." Ok, got it. this is a laid back operation. Based on his demeanor maybe it should be called 4:20 Farms...

So we grab our 5 gallon buckets and head out to face this

As far as the eye can see. In close up detail, it looks like this.


The strawberries plants are about a foot off the ground, the strawberries are heavy and the vines are thin. Ergo, the berries are resting on the ground and buried in the mulch and covered by large strawberry leaves.

Picking looks like this, bent over from the waist.
The alternate option is to kneel on the ground and resposition every 5 minutes. Any comfortable positions? no.

However, the berries were beyond plentiful and we each picked a bucketful in 30-45 minutes, a bucket weighing about 10lbs.