Coppice, exactly right about the burning... it seems as though the best wild blueberry picking is found where the woods were burned off in the past. I don't quite grasp why that is, since the ash should be alkaline, rather than acid, wouldn't it?
"Your in the right part of the world to find this obscure tool." As a Yooper, this cracks me up... (yes, we are hard up for entertainment here)