Finding Fruit
After reading the urban foraging article I wrote about yesterday, I was thinking a lot about the joys of collecting fruit. And then, as is often the case, I discovered that one of my favorite bloggers, Sharon Astyk, had captured these joys as exuberantly and descriptively as I could ever hope to. Read her account here: The Fruit Olympiad
I love how Sharon describes each type of fruit-picking as having its own challenges, and a seasonal variation that ranges from simple (strawberry) to more challenging (cherries) to requiring endurance (blueberries) to being a true battle (fruit with thorns!) to the relatively easy late summer/fall fruits (peaches, apples, pears).
My dad is already finding wild pears and grapes in Atlanta, but we here in Madison have had a relatively fruit-less summer (at least in the literal sense). While last summer we were collecting strawberries and blueberries and raspberries (all cultivated) and foraged apples...
...this summer, all we've managed is some wild mulberries.
I still have hope that fall will bring apple-picking and applesauce-making and maybe even some apple-drying, but all that requires time.
Where do I find that? What tree does time grow on?
I love how Sharon describes each type of fruit-picking as having its own challenges, and a seasonal variation that ranges from simple (strawberry) to more challenging (cherries) to requiring endurance (blueberries) to being a true battle (fruit with thorns!) to the relatively easy late summer/fall fruits (peaches, apples, pears).
My dad is already finding wild pears and grapes in Atlanta, but we here in Madison have had a relatively fruit-less summer (at least in the literal sense). While last summer we were collecting strawberries and blueberries and raspberries (all cultivated) and foraged apples...
...this summer, all we've managed is some wild mulberries.
I still have hope that fall will bring apple-picking and applesauce-making and maybe even some apple-drying, but all that requires time.
Where do I find that? What tree does time grow on?
I hear you. Very sad that summer is winding down. Don't forget raspberries in fall, though. We went to Sutter Ridge Farm to pick raspberries last fall-- it's very close and a really beautiful spot. Doesn't take too much time.
ReplyDeleteAlso, on fruit, I've been daydreaming about growing fruit trees one day. Have you seen the neat stuff these folks grow: http://oikostreecrops.com ? Boy, do I want to try a pawpaw one day! (I found one growing at Olbrich, but I doubt they let visitors take the fruit!)
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ReplyDeleteTime doesn't grow on trees, silly. It's an herb!
ReplyDelete(you asked for it)
I totally asked for it, Mike. (and your comment led to a conversation between me and Justin this morning about how much we love that our friends share our "bad," punny humor).
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