Not Far From the Tree

Laura and I spent the golden hours of yesterday taking a very civilized stroll through Brooklyn's historical Botanical Garden, talking about rose breeding, this year's crops, the state of the nation, eligible matches for mawidge, and the nature of climbing the social climbing... socially.

Well, we weren't very good at imitating Jane Austin, but we did liberate some of the garden's fresh herbs and munched on some fresh kale. Gather ye rosebuds while ye may. Although NYC has provided the Nightshades with a spectacular Indian Summer, you can feel the chill in the air and winter will soon be upon us. No point in the sage growing all summer to not be enjoyed, right?

Our walk and gathering looked a little something like this. Yes, we were barefoot in seafoam dresses.

Talk of city harvesting then ensued, with Laura and I exchanging various stories of Toronto and Vancouver's various fruit picking spots. In Toronto, only a minute from Much Music is the most spectacular apple tree in an alley way that will give you bags of apples just when school starts and you are at your poorest from supply buying. Vancouver is just ridiculous, with blackberries everywhere (I lived off of Blackberries most of August and September), and networks of friends sharing the locations of various fig trees that are untended and ripe with fruits to be plucked. FIGS!

Anthony Westenburg from Evergreen Toronto tipped me off to Not Far From The Tree, and amazing Toronto organization that mobilizes volunteers to harvest fruit in Toronto that would otherwise go to waste. And they do it all by bicycle. Check them out, because stuff like this is awesome!

Here is a great video they put out. Enjoy! 1LOVE!