Fruit Picker
By Nicholas Barry
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Have you ever wanted fruit or vegetables that are
out of reach? Ever found it difficult to fit that long,
store-bought fruit plucker in your car? Well, here’s
how you can make your own collapsible fruit picker
in about 5 minutes.
1. Attach the wire loop.
If you’re using PVC pipe instead of a tent pole,
drill a hole in the end of one pipe segment. Loop the
wire through the hole and twist it around itself so
it will hold. We made a big loop to pick big tropical fruits, but you can make a smaller loop to pick
smaller fruits like apples and pears.
If you’re using a tent pole, you can wrap the wire
around one end of the pole below the flange, so the
wire won’t slip off the end.
2. Connect the PVC segments together
with the couplings.
Don’t glue them, just slip-fit them so you can disassemble the picker for easy storage and portability.
They should fit together firmly.
3. Tie the rope around the wire loop.
Because the pipe is just held together with a friction
fit, you’ll need the rope to pull down the fruit.
Use It.
Illustrations by Julian Honoré/ p4rse.com; photography by Dani Lee
Go pick some fruit. Use the pole to raise the wire
loop over the fruit you want, until the loop is above
the fruit and around its stem. Then pull on the rope
to yank the fruit off. Watch for falling fruit!
We use our fruit picker in Hawaii to collect jackfruit
(shown here); the edible seeds are the consistency
of macadamia nuts, but the flesh surrounding them
is what’s really good to eat. We also pick breadfruit
(delicious when buried in the embers of a beach
bonfire for 40 minutes), and coconuts.
These are all large fruits, and they’re often out of
reach. We went to Hawaii for years without being
able to harvest the breadfruit and coconuts we
desperately wanted. The fruit picker helps us reach
the tantalizing fruit.
Nicholas Barry isn’t afraid to meet his maker, because all the
makers he’s met so far are really cool people.
YOU WILL NEED
Rope, about 12'– 15'
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