Gooseberry Harvest Scoops

As you know I'm always making or tinkering with something, and my berry harvester I made last year is no exception. It was great for berries and currants, but for gooseberries the extra fingers were a little pointless.

So I decided to start designing it again, but like I'd never seen a normal berry harvester. 

So I went to the workshop with some design criteria and started making....

To start with I ended up just making a bigger berry harvester. This was too heavy and just not what I was trying to do. The looking at the gooseberries growing down a single stem I thought what i need is more of a hand held funnel, a scoop with a slot in. 

So I made one. It looks a bit like a TIE Interceptor from Star Wars, but It had the right feel. With the handle on the inside it also had the right balance. I messed about with the size a bit and then nailed down the design. I think it was MK6 by the time it was right. The handle is mortised into the back and the sides are made from reclaimed pine, the back made by shorter pieces that won't quite make one of my potting trays. 

 

I then took it out and harvested some berries that weren't quite ripe. It harvested them perfectly. Gooseberries always stay a little harder than other berries and currants and so this type of harvesting will work well for them. 

You line it up over one branch and then slowly pull it up to the top. Not too fast otherwise the berries will bounce out, but if you do it nice and steady the whole branch gets harvested and with each sweep you then dump it into the basket, ready to go again. 

I'm honestly so pleased with how these have turned out. It's gone a little viral (for me) on Twitter with 60K views and on Instagram with 220K views so far. 

I initially made 13 for sale, like many of my items it's the case of having them and then hoping they sell over a year before I have to make any more. Those first 13 scoops sold out within a few hours of being listed on Etsy, so now it's a case of trying to get some more made ready for what is a very short season and a very niche product.

My next batch is ready for sale now if you check out my store - might make an interesting Fathers Day present (next weekend) for someone, or just make life less painful when picking the delicious berries. 

Let me know what you think!