Yesterday The Munchkin and I went for a drive to forage for some fruit. I knew where there would be a fence full of scrummy un-sprayed blackberries so we started there. I took the easy ones only and there are heaps still ripening for another visit next weekend. The rustle in the vines put me off getting too amongst them but was a great opportunity to talk with the Munchkin again about what to do if we see a snake and how to be noisy and stamp around to tell them we are there if we think they might be around.
Next we stopped in at a little road-side cafe that I always mean to stop at and discovered glorious home grown Nectarines for a measly $3.50 a kilo so happily bought two. She also made a lovely pot of tea and had homemade, homegrown raspberry cordial for The Munchkin. On the way out I spotted apples going to waste on the ground so grabbed a few also. The smell of the Nectarines on the way home was AMAZING and the apples tasted like APPLES! You just can't beat the taste and smell of home
grown fruit and veggies.
The apples, blackberries and a few nectarines became yummy sponge top pudding...
...and the remainder of the nectarines I poached and short term bottled (no water bath preserving) for breakfasts. I was dying to eat one fresh but as I have an allergy to stone fruits I couldn't really risk the itchy throat (eww!) The Munchkin and Mr HMH tell me they were delicious though!
Then today while up at our house I realised that our neighbours two huge trees of nectarines were going to waste so plucked up the courage to ask if we could pick them. They kindly agreed, so Mr HMH went over and picked about 5kg for us with heaps left for another day. Tomorrow I will make some jam with some and take a jar to the neighbours, then poach the remainder and freeze them.
I love summer fruits and the fact that free fruit is out there for the asking/taking is pretty amazing! Locally we have a group called Produce To the People who take donations of excess or unwanted produce and distribute it to local charities and shelters. They are doing an amazing job of stopping food going to waste and I wish more people would look at the trees in their yards or their over abundant supplies of veggies and give them a call.
I think we are so lucky in Tasmania that we have such an amazing home grown food culture. So many of the houses in my area have abundant fruit and citrus trees and I know a few that are delighted to give you bag fulls if you ask. My lovely neighbours (on the other side) have an abundant lemon tree that fruits sweet juicy lemons all year round and they are quite happy for us to climb on his shed roof to pick them. Pancakes with lemon and sugar are my all time favourite home cooked sweet treat! He has often given us bags of Nashis and last year even grew 5 tomato plants just for us to put in our garden! I hope whomever buys our house will appreciate having such an amazing neighbour like we do!
Do you forage for food? Have you a lovely neighbour or are you a lovely neighbour? I'd love to hear!
till next time, xxx
Man, that is my DREAM!!!! Why more people don't barter food, I do not know... When I live in the country, that is just what I will do!
ReplyDeleteyuuuu-uuum! we have wild blackberries in our bush area, we didn't think there were many down there but our 4yo came back with a huge pot-full one day and we made a yummy apple and blackberry pie. so good~! (no snakes here though...phew!)x
ReplyDeleteyou are certainly lucky, I think the weather in tassie makes it a wonderful place to grow fruits and vegetables! I would love to wake up in the morning, wander around my backyard and pick fruits and make jam and marmalade!! xoxox what a life! :D
ReplyDeletePancakes with lemon and sugar is also my absolute favourite sweet treat at home too! My grandma had the best lemon tree and she also made the best pancakes!
ReplyDeleteWhen Canberra was being established they purposely designed the suburbs to have big blocks of land and then handed out free fruit trees to the new residents. The idea was that in the event of another war or depression the city could be self-sustainable. My parents live in one of Canberra's oldest suburbs and they have nectarines, apricots, plums, lemons and peaches. Plus an enormous vegetable garden! Some streets nearby are even lined with fruit trees!
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ReplyDeleteSounds like a whole lot of fun. I love foraging and also stopping at road-side stalls. We did a trip over christmas and decided we had all day so agreed to stop at every roadside stall we wanted to. It was so much fun.
ReplyDeleteI can't stop foraging! I love it! There are so many wild apple & plum trees around here. I have my gloves, pruners and boxes all the time. I've been making wild apple jelly and wild blackberry jam.
ReplyDeleteI actually need to start taking more attention to the road as I tend to keep my eyes peeled on the roadside trees. It's addictive!