EAST DIXFIELD — For Debbie Pickett, tending 3,500 square feet of raspberries for the past dozen years and spending July and August in the patch isn’t work; it’s a hobby. It’s also one that she’s come to love.

Pickett lives by the motto, “You are never too old to be in love with what you do,” she said Thursday.

Her family lends a hand, creating memories and helping in what has become Debbie’s dream of organic raspberries.

Pickett recently captured those years of memories and photos in a book she designed. It won’t be published for others. She has the only copy.

With the help of online services such as Shutterfly or Snapfish, what used to be a scrapbook is now a custom photo book, she said. It still tells her story.

Pickett used to pick raspberries in Chesterville at the home of an older woman in her church. When the woman couldn’t keep the patch any longer, she offered the plants to Pickett.

Although she said she has no green thumb, she took 24 plants. It was in the fall when transplanting the plants is not advised, she said. Twelve survived. From there she has grown a neat patch that produces about 150 quarts of berries a year.

“We’ve reaped the benefits of those raspberries until last year,” she said of the abundance sold by the quart from her home.

After soil testing was done, the Picketts realize the need to let the soil rest and revitalize. Sections of the patch are being dug up and replanted, she said.

The patch has become more than just about growing and reaping raspberries to sell. It’s become a learning patch for her nine grandchildren.

Pickett and her husband, Richard, who is Dixfield’s police chief, have a goal of teaching them responsibility, the art of dealing with people and handling money.

They hired their first employee last summer. Their 9-year-old grandson, Gregory Kamenides, intended to make millions but settled for earning $25, she said.

Some of the grandchildren, ages 13 and under, have qualities they’ve seen and are nurturing along with the raspberries. One is committed to picking, another has the ability to know precisely which berry is best to pick, others like working the cash register and dealing with customers while some like to help pick while they eat, she said.

Her family teases her that they never get the good berries, just the old or mushed ones, she said.

Pickett sells the berries from her home on Church Street by putting a sign out on Route 2. She also has many who order berries by calling her at 645-4893 during berry season.

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