Buck Thorn Berries

On Labor Day I had only four items on my to do list.  I wanted to buy one item, buy another item, install an item I had already bought and exercise. Well, I got half the items accomplished because I got distracted. What distracted me was a bunch of buck thorn berries in my woods to the east of my house.  This area had already been cleared of buck thorn five years ago but it was back again.  I went to get my saw and my poison. I had other things to do but I thought I would take down one tree today.  Just one tree I said.  I cut down the tree. I applied the blue poison to the stump and said aloud, "Suck it." Then I proceeded to pick all the berries off the branches.  My hands got full of berries so I had to get a bag out of the trash to  hold them all.  Purple buck thorn berry juice stained my hands and forearms. Some of the berries were still unripe and green but most of them were bursting with juice. 

Some of the berries fell on my mowed path and I let those stay because I mow there. I got two cups of berries from that one tree that was about ten feet high.  I went back into the house to do my other duties but later I got distracted again.  This time I cut down four buck thorn trees.  I bought a five gallon pail to collect these berries. Oh, golly, there were so many berries.  I poisoned all the stumps.  I threw the berries into the garbage. This buck thorn can be so discouraging some times but hopefully my efforts made some difference. Later I spied another buck thorn that grew under where I had the canoe stored and right next to the wood chuck den.  I cut that one down too even though it didn't have any berries. I thought about what I could do with all these berries.  I could make buck thorn jelly but I doubt that would be healthy because buck thorn berries give people the trots, the cha cha's, and an urgent need to empty the bowels. Throwing them in the trash seemed like a better choice.