[local eating] Foraging, mostly fruit
Jul. 2nd, 2009 08:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
magidIt started with cherries.
There are two cherry trees near my house, one sweet, one sour. I'd never picked the sweet cherry tree before, but decided that branches overhanging the sidewalk were fair game (they are in CA law, anyway... not that that helps in MA), even though I'd never found the right person to ask permission from at Harvard, especially since it was clear that the fruit wasn't being harvested en masse. I went picking three times (I didn't weigh them before or after pitting, but I'm sure it was at least a couple of pounds each time), and their fates included:
While I was canning the cherry chutney, I also pickled the garlic scapes (some with dill).
Then the neighbor who owns the sour cherry tree told me he'd finished harvesting for the year, and I was welcome to take what I wanted. Sour cherries are very different to pick: they're less attached to their pits, so it's very possible to pick the fruit and leave the pit hanging on the tree. Which makes pitting them easier, but the rest of processing them much messier, with more cherry juice flying. Also, since this tree is partly under another one, these had more stuff on them, requiring careful washing. Which is another way of saying that I didn't pick as much as I could: I've picked twice, and there are more left, but I'm going out of town today, and I don't assume there will be any left this Sunday. However, I do have a batch of sour cherry liqueur started, and a batch of sour cherry chutney canned. If I do get to pick more, they will likely either be cooked with rhubarb, or sauteed with meat and onions (for some reason, bison or venison and sour cherries sound particularly nice to me).
I had made it a goal at work to get out of the building during the day at least once, which has lead to greater exploration of the neighborhood. Tuesday's walk netted me not only a deer sighting, but a black raspberry patch, just now starting to ripen. I picked the ripe ones I could reach (less than a handful), and will be back next week with containers.
And then there's the front yard. The association had the old bushes taken out, but the new landscaping hasn't started yet, so we've grown an interesting mixed crop of grass and weeds. I went out to battle the Japanese knotweed yet again, and noticed the dandelions with the cooking part of the brain, rather than the gardening one. A check online found that while they're least bitter in spring and fall, they're edible the whole season, and there aren't any inedible lookalikes (in fact, no lookalikes at all). So I harvested a bag of them, pulling out whatever roots wanted to come, then washed and sauteed them with a little onion and preserved lemon. They've joined another batch of sauteed mixed greens in my freezer.
I still haven't picked any mulberries, and I suspect I'm getting past the season. Next year, perhaps (though that's what I said last year...).
There are two cherry trees near my house, one sweet, one sour. I'd never picked the sweet cherry tree before, but decided that branches overhanging the sidewalk were fair game (they are in CA law, anyway... not that that helps in MA), even though I'd never found the right person to ask permission from at Harvard, especially since it was clear that the fruit wasn't being harvested en masse. I went picking three times (I didn't weigh them before or after pitting, but I'm sure it was at least a couple of pounds each time), and their fates included:
- eaten out of hand
- lightly cooked with some sugar (eaten straight or with Greek-style yogurt)
- the start of a batch of cherry liqueur
- cherry juice added to a chicken breast that was sauteed with onion and cabbage
- cherry chutney
While I was canning the cherry chutney, I also pickled the garlic scapes (some with dill).
Then the neighbor who owns the sour cherry tree told me he'd finished harvesting for the year, and I was welcome to take what I wanted. Sour cherries are very different to pick: they're less attached to their pits, so it's very possible to pick the fruit and leave the pit hanging on the tree. Which makes pitting them easier, but the rest of processing them much messier, with more cherry juice flying. Also, since this tree is partly under another one, these had more stuff on them, requiring careful washing. Which is another way of saying that I didn't pick as much as I could: I've picked twice, and there are more left, but I'm going out of town today, and I don't assume there will be any left this Sunday. However, I do have a batch of sour cherry liqueur started, and a batch of sour cherry chutney canned. If I do get to pick more, they will likely either be cooked with rhubarb, or sauteed with meat and onions (for some reason, bison or venison and sour cherries sound particularly nice to me).
I had made it a goal at work to get out of the building during the day at least once, which has lead to greater exploration of the neighborhood. Tuesday's walk netted me not only a deer sighting, but a black raspberry patch, just now starting to ripen. I picked the ripe ones I could reach (less than a handful), and will be back next week with containers.
And then there's the front yard. The association had the old bushes taken out, but the new landscaping hasn't started yet, so we've grown an interesting mixed crop of grass and weeds. I went out to battle the Japanese knotweed yet again, and noticed the dandelions with the cooking part of the brain, rather than the gardening one. A check online found that while they're least bitter in spring and fall, they're edible the whole season, and there aren't any inedible lookalikes (in fact, no lookalikes at all). So I harvested a bag of them, pulling out whatever roots wanted to come, then washed and sauteed them with a little onion and preserved lemon. They've joined another batch of sauteed mixed greens in my freezer.
I still haven't picked any mulberries, and I suspect I'm getting past the season. Next year, perhaps (though that's what I said last year...).
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no subject
Date: 2009-07-02 04:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-02 04:34 pm (UTC)Foraging and such
Date: 2009-07-02 04:53 pm (UTC)I believe there are maps of Berkeley for overhanging fruit trees. We have walking tours and a map of SF for public fruit trees.
California: progressive in the edible fruits department...
Re: Foraging and such
Date: 2009-07-02 07:18 pm (UTC)