Foraging for fruit in the city
A bad case of hand, foot and mouth disease has made its way through our family and so I’ve been home with the kids a lot. We’ve been strolling around the neighbourhood in our convalescence and have had the chance to gawk at the incredible number of fruit trees. We’d come across sidewalks stained with purple-black mulberry juice, cherry trees dripping with fruit, and even service berries being pecked at by birds.
My kids got a real kick out of seeing their mom climbing on people’s fences and struggling to reach hard-to-pick mulberries. But I think I was the only person out there picking the fruit. Judging from the rotting fruit on the ground, it seems that no one else is interested in all this delicious fruit. We need a fruit tree project in the east end like Not Far From the Tree to make sure this doesn’t go to waste in the future! In the meantime, I am trying to get up enough courage to knock on the door of the folks with the glorious cherry tree a few blocks away and ask if I can bring my ladder and pick them before the birds and squirrels eat them all.
Maureen Argon said:
Just discovered a mulberry tree in our side yard. This is the first year it’s borne fruit. Very excited to taste it before the birds get at it.
Suzanne Longs said:
Take a friend? Makes for faster work and more fun theatre (because, inevitably, that’s what it becomes). And @nfftt is now out your way. Check notfarfromthetree.org for more details on the east end hub.