Before you begin berry picking boysenberries, currants and acai, it helps to know a little about each berry and its characteristics.
Picking Boysenberries:
Step 1 – Wait for Ripening
You'll know your boysenberries are ripe when they begin to resemble blackberries. You should wait until the berries turn dark purple to black before you attempt to pick them.
When the berries are at their ripest, they'll nearly fall off of the cores, and require very little effort to remove from the cane.
Step 2 – Prepare for Picking
Thornless varieties of boysenberry make picking much simpler and quicker. However, most boysenberry canes have prickly thorns. For this reason, plan ahead by wearing good pruning gloves when harvesting the bushes. Be sure the pruning gloves extend back over your wrists, since harvesting boysenberries requires you to push canes aside and reach back into the bushes.
Get a berry picking bucket with a neck strap, or create one yourself with a small container and a nylon cord. Another option is to cut a milk jug down so that you retain the handle but create an opening to drop berries into the container. Thread a belt through the handle and attach it to your waist for an easy, hands-free container.
Step 3 – Harvest Carefully
Begin at the outside of the bush and pick all of the visible dark purple berries. Ripe berries will drop as you push the canes aside, reaching into the center of the bush. Clear the outside of ripe berries first, then work you way to the center of the canes by pushing them aside with your gloves.
Leave any white or red berries and return every few days to pick them as they ripen.
Picking Black Currants:
Step 1 – Prepare for Harvest
If you own or plant black currant bushes, you need to think about harvesting far in advance of the actual time to harvest. In fact, when you plant the bushes, keep in mind that they will reach heights of up to 6 feet if left unpruned.
If this is higher than you can comfortably reach to harvest berries, then you should construct or install a trellis with the bush. As the bush grows, tie it to the trellis so that you can control how high you need to reach, as well as controlling the look of the bush. It can grow to an extremely large size.
Step 2 – Allow Time to Harvest
The tart black currant berry is very small, so regardless of whether you grow your own or pick at a farm, you will need to allow enough time for the tedious task.
The bushes don't have thorns, but a tight fitting, thin cotton glove is recommended to protect your hands. If the bushes are tied to a trellis, you will havae a easier time reaching ripe berries, which are a dark purple or black in color.
Remove them from the bush gently, as they can bruise easily. Have small containers ready for the berries, and place them out of the sun as you pick
Step 3 – Picking Acai Berry
The acai berry is known as a super food for all its healthy properties. However, it is difficult to get the fruit fresh, since the only place it grows naturally is in Brazil.
Step 1 – Cultivating Acai Palm
Since the acai berry is grown mostly in tropical Brazil, locating a farm with acai berries for picking or cultivating your own acai palms is the first step in harvesting.
If you wish to cultivate your own palms, the climate in your area should resemble the Brazilian rain forest (such as the climate in southern Florida), or you should have a greenhouse.
The acai is a palm tree, and doesn’t produce berries until they are at least 5 – 6 feet tall. Most varieties don’t bear fruit until they are 7 – 8 feet tall. You can control their height by keeping the trees in pots rather than planting them in the ground where the roots can spread. Growers recommend a minimum height of 10 to 12 feet for berries.
Step 2 – The Harvest
Acai berries grow in small bunches with more than 700 berries on each branch when the tree is bearing as an adult tree.
Using a ladder, scaffolding or lift, depending on the height of the palm, cut the berries down from the palm. Use a large, “hands-free” bucket to gather the berries. Collect them in a cool spot frequently during harvest.
Step 3 – Preserve Berries Quickly
The acai berry deteriorates very rapidly once it is removed from the tree. Quickly freeze or process the berries once they are picked. There is a large seed and very little pulp in each berry, so it takes some time to pick enough to be helpful.