Friday, July 8, 2011

around town

although our garden is in full swing with fruit, leaves, roots and flowers, it is nice to know that not too far away there is even more variety for us to enjoy. let’s go on a little tour of a few of our favorite spots around town. all just a few blocks from our home, where we can always find a few more things to nibble on.


on our way to the library we have the pleasure of snacking on sweet figs from a tree that lives at a lawyers office. it is the most beautiful, healthy fig tree that i have ever seen. we visit the tree all year long watching it turn from bare brown sticks to lush green foliage dripping with fruit. last week we had our first taste. three ripe figs were hanging there waiting for us. we have recently planted a "brown turkey" fig at our house and look forward to next year's harvest



last year i helped to start up a farmers market in town. it is just a few blocks away from our house and provides us with an array of local foods. our favorites right now are fresh corn and homemade caneles.

we also have a plum tree just a few blocks away at a nearby office building that provides the most delicious fruit. (i forgot to take photos of the fruit this year). no one seems to want them as they fall on the sidewalk to rot. we help by gleaning. one year when the sun went down (and no one could see us) i climbed up on chris’s shoulders, picked handfuls of plums and dropped the fruit down to the girls to fill up an entire basket. we walked home giggling as we nibbled on our stash.


i had the pleasure in helping to start up a school garden and after school garden club at the local elementary school two years ago. throughout the school year the students help with preparing the soil, planting, seeding, weeding, harvesting, watering, and cooking up the harvest. now that summer is here and school is out, there is quite a bit of food that needs to be eaten. it is just a hop, skip and a jump away for us to grab a few stems of swiss chard leaves, and a handful of “sungold” cherry tomatoes.

and soon the watermelons will be ready!

we are always looking for new finds as we walk and pedal around town.

do you have a favorite spot around your town?

7 comments:

  1. there is an apricot tree in the parking lot of a nearby funeral home. it's just a little bit creepy to go stealthily picking after dark, but incredibly fun, not to mention delicious.

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  2. my mother grew up on a fruit orchard/farm in downingtown, back when it was really the countryside, and she has such great stories to tell about taking their produce to the farmers market every week in west chester. this is reminding me so much of those stories.

    my favorite summer place in our town is the creemee stand down by the triangle square. they have the best ice cream.

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  3. there are thousands of mulberry trees in my urban neighborhood and we enjoy collecting handfuls of these little gems to freeze. They taste great in pancakes and scones!

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  4. I found your blog through another blog...habit maybe? I'm sorry but I can't remember now. Anyway, I live in Media, too. I loved this post because it's so familiar to me. Thank you for making my day! :)

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  5. we just found a bag of 'free lemons' outside a neighbours house. we are going to go back and put a bunch of greens from our garden in their letterbox to say thanks - they are lovely juicy old fashioned fruit - fantastic and, as it should be. we have just planted a fig tree too!

    louise

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  6. we are avid foragers, and the next crop to forage will be wild cherries, via my boys picking atop papa's shoulders! the tree takes the cherries higher each year with it's wild growth, but we persevere!

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  7. You are lucky to live in such an eco-friendly environment. I hardly get to see any plant-bearing fruit in my surroundings. Leave plants; we hardly get the connection of internet in which is why I don’t get to find much information regarding my essays and all; so I take online essay writing services from https://www.usessaywriter.com/essay-writing-service-in-philadelphia/ where they do all the homework and just send me the file.

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