Also check out:
Foraging in the city, Part I: Watercress
Foraging in the city, Part II: Salal
There’s nothing like September to make you realize how many apple trees grow in your city. I notice apple trees other times of year by the distinctive crinkly, pointed shape of their leaves or by their flowers, but suddenly in September it seems like apple trees are everywhere. There’s one on the blackberry covered hillside by my house. There’s an untended tree down the street, dropping fruit all over the sidewalk. They’re all over Seattle’s Magnuson Park, Meridian Playfield, and Burke-Gilman Trail.
I’ve been gorging myself on fruit this past week or so from public trees. I’ve spent a lot of time riding around the city on my bike, which is a perfect way to discover apple trees. You’re moving fast enough to cover a lot of fruit-seeking territory, but slow enough to notice a tree laden with fruit, and squeeze on the brakes to investigate.
There aren’t a lot of people picking, either. On a recent ride along the Burke-Gilman, I saw six people picking the last blackberries of summer. I was the only one picking apples, despite there being several gorgeous apple trees and crab apple trees along that stretch of the trail.
As with other foraging, stick to public fruit rather than someone’s personal tree, with two exceptions. The first is if you knock and ask whether you can pick, especially a tree that’s clearly being neglected. The second: fallen fruit is fair game.
Some facts about apples. Apples are a member of the rosaceae, the same family as roses, blackberries, raspberries, peaches, pears, plums, quince, almonds, strawberries, and cherries. Washington State grows over half the apples produced in the United States, but features fewer varieties than other states. Originally indigenous to Asia, apples have developed into thousands of varieties over the years, but the exact number of apple varieties currently grown in the world seems unknown. Apples don’t reproduce true to seed, meaning if you plant a seed from an Ida Red, you won’t get a new Ida Red tree. Exact varieties are reproduced through grafting from an original.
The apples you see around the city tend to be smaller than those you’d buy from a farmer or in the store, and range in taste from mild or insipid to strongly flavorful and delicious. Apples from untended, urban trees are more likely to have blemishes or worm holes. Eat around the blemishes or turn the apples into cider if you can get your hands on a press. Eat them fresh, cook with them, make applesauce, or bake with them -- especially if they’re tart.
Or just enjoy a break on your bike ride with a fresh apple, and curious looks from people who ride on by.
Pictures from apple trees around Seattle
If you’re viewing this in an RSS feed or other third-party source,
click here to see the original page with pictures.
Beautiful apple tree along the Burke-Gilman Trail:
Another along the Burke-Gilman Trail, tasted like Red Delicious:
Close-up of one of the Red Delicious-like apples:
Crab apples on the Burke-Gilman:
Crab apple close-up:
Apple tree on the east side of Lake Union:
Page permalink:
http://www.gofrolic.org/gofrolic/food_blog/Entries/2008/9/11_Foraging_in_the_cit
Also check out:
Foraging in the city, Part I: Watercress
Foraging in the city, Part II: Salal
There’s nothing like September to make you realize how many apple trees grow in your city. I notice apple trees other times of year by the distinctive crinkly, pointed shape of their leaves or by their flowers, but suddenly in September it seems like apple trees are everywhere. There’s one on the blackberry covered hillside by my house. There’s an untended tree down the street, dropping fruit all over the sidewalk. They’re all over Seattle’s Magnuson Park, Meridian Playfield, and Burke-Gilman Trail.
I’ve been gorging myself on fruit this past week or so from public trees. I’ve spent a lot of time riding around the city on my bike, which is a perfect way to discover apple trees. You’re moving fast enough to cover a lot of fruit-seeking territory, but slow enough to notice a tree laden with fruit, and squeeze on the brakes to investigate.
There aren’t a lot of people picking, either. On a recent ride along the Burke-Gilman, I saw six people picking the last blackberries of summer. I was the only one picking apples, despite there being several gorgeous apple trees and crab apple trees along that stretch of the trail.
As with other foraging, stick to public fruit rather than someone’s personal tree, with two exceptions. The first is if you knock and ask whether you can pick, especially a tree that’s clearly being neglected. The second: fallen fruit is fair game.
Some facts about apples. Apples are a member of the rosaceae, the same family as roses, blackberries, raspberries, peaches, pears, plums, quince, almonds, strawberries, and cherries. Washington State grows over half the apples produced in the United States, but features fewer varieties than other states. Originally indigenous to Asia, apples have developed into thousands of varieties over the years, but the exact number of apple varieties currently grown in the world seems unknown. Apples don’t reproduce true to seed, meaning if you plant a seed from an Ida Red, you won’t get a new Ida Red tree. Exact varieties are reproduced through grafting from an original.
The apples you see around the city tend to be smaller than those you’d buy from a farmer or in the store, and range in taste from mild or insipid to strongly flavorful and delicious. Apples from untended, urban trees are more likely to have blemishes or worm holes. Eat around the blemishes or turn the apples into cider if you can get your hands on a press. Eat them fresh, cook with them, make applesauce, or bake with them -- especially if they’re tart.
Or just enjoy a break on your bike ride with a fresh apple, and curious looks from people who ride on by.
Pictures from apple trees around Seattle
If you’re viewing this in an RSS feed or other third-party source, click here to see the original page with pictures.
Beautiful apple tree along the Burke-Gilman Trail:
Another along the Burke-Gilman Trail, tasted like Red Delicious:
Close-up of one of the Red Delicious-like apples:
Crab apples on the Burke-Gilman:
Crab apple close-up:
Apple tree on the east side of Lake Union:
Page permalink:
http://www.gofrolic.org/gofrolic/food_blog/Entries/2008/9/11_Foraging_in_the_cit