Blueberry comb
The blueberry comb is a device for harvesting blueberries . Other regional names are blueberry comb, berry comb, berry rake, Hoiberkamm, Raffel, Riffel, or Schwoazbearkampe (blackberry comb).
material
Until the beginning of the last century, blueberry combs were often made entirely of wood. In the Bavarian Forest the combs were made by the " Holzbitzler ". Here the blueberries are called blackberries (Schwoazbear) and the comb is therefore called Schwoazbearkampe . The wooden tines were later replaced by more stable steel tines. The specialist trade now also offers plastic berry combs.
History
In earlier times the blueberry was an important food and source of vitamins for people without real estate or their own fruit trees. Some families also picked for market sale; When the berries were ripe, buyers drove around taking the berries from the farmers for canning factories and the wholesale market.
A berry rake had to be used for good yields. The teeth of the comb brushed off the berries, which then gathered in the wooden box. Since not only berries, but also dead wood and leaves were collected with the comb, they had to be read at home. This work could also be done while sitting.
Today, commercially mainly cultivated blueberries from large growers on offer. This type of berry is larger than wild blueberries, is white on the inside and has a completely different aroma. Harvesting methods have also changed: instead of a comb, large farms use a tractor and a harvesting machine.
Legal
In the post-war period, the use of scrapers was often imputed to commercial activity and punished as an administrative offense with heavy fines. While collecting for private use is generally allowed for everyone, the permission of the forest owner is required to exceed the usual amounts.
Up to the 1960s, around 80% of the German blueberry harvest came from the Bavarian Forest. Often whole families picked berries over two to three weeks. Experienced pickers had collected up to 35 kg a day. In some years, DM 12 to 15 million remuneration was achieved.
The use of aids such as the blueberry comb is often excluded, especially in the regulations of nature reserves. The aim is to protect both the plant population and the animals that feed on the berries (see capercaillie ).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Old and beautiful - blueberry ruffle
- ↑ http://www.hr-online.de/website/fernsehen/sendung/index.jsp?rubrik=22664&key=standard_document_33945700
- ↑ Example: Forest Act for Baden-Württemberg (State Forest Act - LWaldG) : Section 40 Appropriation of forest fruits and forest plants
- ↑ Der Große Wald by KH Eckert in MERIAN monthly issue, 1963 issue 6, p. 37