I was just picking sour cherries and had the experience of realizing (too late) that I had stuck my hand in a big clump of poison ivy that was wound throughout the cherry tree to pick a big clump of cherries. I realized this after I deposited the cherries in the basket with the others. I believe that those cherries were surrounded by lots of poison ivy. Will washing the whole lot of them with a little detergent make them safe to eat, or do I risk getting poison ivy through ingestion of a poison ivy oil? I had no way to wash off my hands at the time except to use a wet wipe so I realize I may well get poison ivy on my hand. I believe I was careful after that, to pick with my other hand but can't be sure I didn't contaminate some other cherries by holding the basket. |