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Best Riffs on Hot Chocolate
No reader question this week, Table Manners fans: Helena has her own etiquette dilemma.
In California, you often see fruit trees weighed down with plums or lemons or the like, obviously producing much more bounty than their owners can possibly consume. I live in an apartment without so much as a window box, and the sight always fills me with envy. It also makes me wonder: Could there be a polite way to ask for some of it? If so, it would be a win-win situation: You can absolve your neighbors’ guilt over the fact that they’re letting their fruit rot on the ground, while scoring delicious, free produce.
I approached David Burns for advice. Burns is cofounder of Fallen Fruit, an LA-based group that creates maps of fruit trees in public space. Burns stoked my lust for free fruit with descriptions of the improvised preserves the Fallen Fruiters make in their “Public Jam” project, with flavors like lavender-fig-lemon and basil-guava. According to Burns, if a tree extends onto public property, like the sidewalk, it’s legal to pick from that part of it. (Exact laws vary by municipality.) But it’s a better idea to knock on the owner’s door and ask permission. “Half the time they invite us inside to pick the fruit,” he says.
On the advice of Burns, I also decided to try posting an ad on Craigslist. In the “free” section, there were already several posts asking for fruit. I felt it was only polite to offer something in return, so I posted an ad in the “barter” section, offering a “delicious homemade pie” in exchange for fruit. But no one responded, except one woman who had the nerve to ask me to contact her if I found any fruit. Find your own fruit, lady!
I decided to give up the Craigslist approach and solicit my friends instead. As far as I knew, none of them had fruit trees in their backyards. But maybe they knew people who did. I dashed off a request to a couple of my email groups. To my surprise, the offers poured in: apple trees in Berkeley, plum and lemon trees in San Francisco, and even a loquat tree in Sausalito.
But when I tried to make concrete plans, I ran into trouble. John wasn’t sure if his lemons were ripe. Caterina was going to be away on a camping trip when I wanted to pick the fruit, but said she’d leave the key in the mailbox. Then she phoned to say her plums were gone; maybe the birds had eaten them (or maybe my Craigslist rivals had). Lessley, my CHOW editor, also promised plums, but the neighbors had taken those on the lower branches and we’d need a fruit picker to retrieve the rest. Caterina had a fruit picker, but now she’d gone out of town without leaving her key. Gah!
Finally, my friend Troy and I were able to work out a convenient time for me to come over and help myself to his lemons. Burns had warned me it was bad fruit-picking etiquette to strip the tree, which he calls hoarding. But there were so many lemons, I barely made a dent. I filled my backpack with plump, juicy fruit, promising Troy that I’d make him lemon squares in exchange. He seemed pretty happy with the deal. I’m going to make lovely preserved lemons with the rest.
With the right fruit-picking etiquette, it turns out you can get all the fruit you want. Still, next time I need a lemon, I think I’ll just go to the store.
Table Manners appears every Wednesday. Have a Table Manners question? Email Helena.
our neighbor has the most luscious yellow plums every year, and because is just her and her husband, is very gracious, in fact, begs us to take all we can. We do the same with our summer tomatoes. Most people who have an abundance of fruit would much rather see it picked and put to good use than see it rot on the ground.
I can't imagine why anyone would hesitate to simply ring the doorbell and...+READ
our neighbor has the most luscious yellow plums every year, and because is just her and her husband, is very gracious, in fact, begs us to take all we can. We do the same with our summer tomatoes. Most people who have an abundance of fruit would much rather see it picked and put to good use than see it rot on the ground.
I can't imagine why anyone would hesitate to simply ring the doorbell and ask. What is the worst that can happen if someone says no? You move on.-COLLAPSE
Sorry, the Honolulu one is http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=http:%2F%2Fnadabrahma.org%2FContacts.kml&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=14
Also check a bay area fruit map I made in google maps:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=116466151463973596030.000453e522c47c112e950&ll=37.607704,-122.23114&spn=0.58313,0.950317&t=h&z=10
and a similar one for Honolulu:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&ll=21.303433,-157.832084&spn=0.042782,0.075188&t=h&z=14
Check out Forage Oakland
forageoakland.blogspot.com
beth1, I'm laughing outloud at your Scarecrow sprinkler!! Too funny...
I used to live in a house with quite a few amazing olive trees on the property, and I LOVED LOVED LOVED it when folks would come by and ask if they could pick...my response was always yes, pick what you can use, and thank you for asking. They were appreciative, they told me stories about their olive curing experiences, and I even came to look forward to their visits every fall.
What bothered me...+READ
I used to live in a house with quite a few amazing olive trees on the property, and I LOVED LOVED LOVED it when folks would come by and ask if they could pick...my response was always yes, pick what you can use, and thank you for asking. They were appreciative, they told me stories about their olive curing experiences, and I even came to look forward to their visits every fall.
What bothered me to no end were the people who would come and pick without asking -- I confronted a couple once who were picking olives in my front yard, and they told me that they "didn't think I knew how to cure the olives, so how dare I let them go to waste."
My point is that just seeing a loaded tree does not necessarily mean the owner doesn't know what he/she is doing. Of course I used gallons and gallons and GALLONS of my fruit, of course I knew what I was doing, of course I knew how to cure them and press them, but how dare they assume that a loaded tree meant I was a clueless ninnie? Some fruit and nut tree owners have reasons for not picking all their fruit (in my case I have a specific time that I pick, which happened to be 8 days after these pilferers came strolling by with their ladders and buckets), so don't assume otherwise.
Seems silly to me. Ask and ye shall receive. Or not. But then you're no worse off than you were before. Duh.-COLLAPSE
The "knock on the door" technique works wonders. I'm in North Florida and there's citrus hanging from trees most of the year. I've knocked on the door asking about oranges and come home with oranges and grapefruit and an invite to return during fig season...
online "veggie trader" is the answer!!
My Macintosh apple trees were stripped bare by my neighbors young kids. They played badminton with half of the apples and left the rest in a bucket on my lawn along with the badminton racket. Did i mention that it was in the early summer when the apples are small and unripe! WHAT A WASTE!
Anyhoo- I confronted the kids in front of mom and dad and got them in MAJOR TROUBLE!
The dad squashed the...+READ
My Macintosh apple trees were stripped bare by my neighbors young kids. They played badminton with half of the apples and left the rest in a bucket on my lawn along with the badminton racket. Did i mention that it was in the early summer when the apples are small and unripe! WHAT A WASTE!
Anyhoo- I confronted the kids in front of mom and dad and got them in MAJOR TROUBLE!
The dad squashed the beef by cutting down a HUGE dead tree for me($400value) with his chainsaw-THANX DAD!
I hope they do it again this year because there is a MASSIVE Manitoba maple in the backyard that needs to be cut up.......-COLLAPSE
My Macintosh apple trees were stripped bare by my neighbors young kids. They played badminton with half of the apples and left the rest in a bucket on my lawn along with the badminton racket. Did i mention that it was in the early summer when the apples are small and unripe! WHAT A WASTE!
Anyhoo- I confronted the kids in front of mom and dad and got them in MAJOR TROUBLE!
The dad squashed the...+READ
My Macintosh apple trees were stripped bare by my neighbors young kids. They played badminton with half of the apples and left the rest in a bucket on my lawn along with the badminton racket. Did i mention that it was in the early summer when the apples are small and unripe! WHAT A WASTE!
Anyhoo- I confronted the kids in front of mom and dad and got them in MAJOR TROUBLE!
The dad squashed the beef by cutting down a HUGE dead tree for me($400value) with his chainsaw-THANX DAD!
I hope they do it again this year because there is a MASSIVE Manitoba maple in the backyard that needs to be cut up.......-COLLAPSE
My Macintosh apple trees were stripped bare by my neighbors young kids. They played badminton with half of the apples and left the rest in a bucket on my lawn along with the badminton racket. Did i mention that it was in the early summer when the apples are small and unripe! WHAT A WASTE!
Anyhoo- I confronted the kids in front of mom and dad and got them in MAJOR TROUBLE!
The dad squashed the...+READ
My Macintosh apple trees were stripped bare by my neighbors young kids. They played badminton with half of the apples and left the rest in a bucket on my lawn along with the badminton racket. Did i mention that it was in the early summer when the apples are small and unripe! WHAT A WASTE!
Anyhoo- I confronted the kids in front of mom and dad and got them in MAJOR TROUBLE!
The dad squashed the beef by cutting down a HUGE dead tree for me($400value) with his chainsaw-THANX DAD!
I hope they do it again this year because there is a MASSIVE Manitoba maple in the backyard that needs to be cut up.......-COLLAPSE
Here's an idea.. how to enjoy some freshly picked fruit, and help your local community too :
Village Harvest, in San Francisco Bay Area
http://villageharvest.org/about.htm
It's a Wonderful non-profit organization. A group of volunteers that links homeowners that have an over-abundance of fruit on their trees with local Food Banks. They're 100% voluntees, no paid staff. You simply call them...+READ
Here's an idea.. how to enjoy some freshly picked fruit, and help your local community too :
Village Harvest, in San Francisco Bay Area
http://villageharvest.org/about.htm
It's a Wonderful non-profit organization. A group of volunteers that links homeowners that have an over-abundance of fruit on their trees with local Food Banks. They're 100% voluntees, no paid staff. You simply call them to schedule a day to glean (pick) your trees and immediately transport it directly to organizations like America’s Second Harvest.
I’ve volunteered a couple of times, it’s very rewarding. And as a little perk, the volunteers are allowed to take some of the almost over-ripe / bruised fruit home (since it’s not fit for the Food Bank to distribute to the needy.) I used it for making a small batch of jam…. What a treat.-COLLAPSE
What a cool product! I might have to get one to train my dog to stay out of my vegetable garden!
To all you dealing with poachers, I offer you one suggestion. It's called a Scarecrow. It's a powerful lawn sprinkler with a motion detector. I bought one becasue random neighborhood cats were spraying on my house. It was highly effective. It's nearly silent until the violent stream of water shoots out, and the offender screams, yells, and retreats. It may work for human intruders as well.
Helena, If this is a dilemma for you, how savvy can your advice be on the whole?
I always had plenty of grapefruit to spare at the last house, and limes too, for a while, especially for people who asked. Now I have the world's most bashful lemons, limes, and oranges, except for the stupid incipid navels that always had a good crop full of smarmy oranges. But I have friends and relatives that love the navels, and a good friend that is just crazy about my pineapple guavas that...+READ
I always had plenty of grapefruit to spare at the last house, and limes too, for a while, especially for people who asked. Now I have the world's most bashful lemons, limes, and oranges, except for the stupid incipid navels that always had a good crop full of smarmy oranges. But I have friends and relatives that love the navels, and a good friend that is just crazy about my pineapple guavas that I'm very so-so about. I hope some day to find a guava-loving neighbor here who has a kumquat tree. I will have no problem asking for some, and if they don't want to share, that's fine. They're their kumquats.
What the hell's wrong with asking somebody to share one's bounty? Nothing! And if they don't want you to have any, well, that's their prerogative, and it doesn't mean you get to return under cover of darkness and steal them. If it's a park or university, that's a different story, usually, unless you have to scale a wall or something to get at them..-COLLAPSE
Bringing around by products of the fruit tree is a real nice gesture, but few are offering to -- you know -- till the soil.
Rejuvinating my Meyer Lemon tree in San Mateo was a lot of upfront effort (pruning out dead branches, adding "citrus food" nutrient to the soil, hitting it with my organic spray (onion, garlic, Dr Bronner's). Only after 1.5 or 2 years did it yield such a crop that I...+READ
Bringing around by products of the fruit tree is a real nice gesture, but few are offering to -- you know -- till the soil.
Rejuvinating my Meyer Lemon tree in San Mateo was a lot of upfront effort (pruning out dead branches, adding "citrus food" nutrient to the soil, hitting it with my organic spray (onion, garlic, Dr Bronner's). Only after 1.5 or 2 years did it yield such a crop that I couldn't keep up.
Now that I am in New England... Oh, how I miss the annual batch of Meyer Lemoncello.-COLLAPSE
I have some wonderful blueberry bushes in my yard near the road. The neighborhood "fruit poacher" comes by and eats them off the bush (this drove me crazy for years, but he is a true eccentric so I just let him be). I have other neighbors who express interest (without really asking, we are in the South so sometimes you have to read between the lines) and of course I invite them to pick a few...+READ
I have some wonderful blueberry bushes in my yard near the road. The neighborhood "fruit poacher" comes by and eats them off the bush (this drove me crazy for years, but he is a true eccentric so I just let him be). I have other neighbors who express interest (without really asking, we are in the South so sometimes you have to read between the lines) and of course I invite them to pick a few pints.
As for me, if you want my fruit, it's best to mention a specific time/day that you will pick it, and limit it to that one event. You may also mention the specific amount you want to pick. It's polite to offer to bake or do something with the fruit for the person. The simple fact is, I have plans for just about ALL the fruit, but I'm happy to share for people who aren't just being greedy.-COLLAPSE
I, too, live in Southern California, and have about 8 large fruit trees in my yard. I will gladly give whatever fruit i have available to anyone who asks for it. I will even help them pick it. And it is lovely fruit.
Nothing tops the rustler who came in through the open gate from the alley to my backyard and took the persimmons I HAD ALREADY PICKED. (The phone rang and I left them in the yard for two minutes). Too lazy to pick their own!
I suspect the neighbor's gardener.
Asking is the obvious answer. Or, if you have too much fruit, put up a sign on the fence saying, "Please help yourself to the oranges."
My family has a property in San Diego that is un-lived on, but by no means abandoned. We'll soon build a house on it. We call it The Orchard because it has avocado, lemon, limes, nectarines, and a few other fruit bearing trees. My sister and her husband, who...+READ
Asking is the obvious answer. Or, if you have too much fruit, put up a sign on the fence saying, "Please help yourself to the oranges."
My family has a property in San Diego that is un-lived on, but by no means abandoned. We'll soon build a house on it. We call it The Orchard because it has avocado, lemon, limes, nectarines, and a few other fruit bearing trees. My sister and her husband, who live nearby, would visit the orchard several times a week, just to hang out. Often times, they'd find that the trees were robbed blind. Not a single fruit left. The property has a camper on it, hoses, bird feeders, other personal belongings showing that people obviously go there... and a fence! It didn't stop until my sister took custody of my giant dog. Nothing stopped the fruit thieves like a "Beware of the Great Pyrenees" sign. Best alarm system ever.-COLLAPSE
Irisav, I agree completely. A neighbor has a tree that yields the sweetest and most reasonably priced figs I've ever had the pleasure of rustling.
I nominate Akitist to write all future letters for help to Helena! Who seconds me?
Count on Helena to make things complicated. Knock on the door. Or leave a note. Most people are happy to have you take fruit that is otherwise going to fall on the ground, rot and make a mess and/or make them feel guilty for wasting it.
Irisav -- your description makes me think maybe your neighbor has Meyer lemons. A mature Meyer lemon will produce more lemons than even a devoted Meyer lemon...+READ
Count on Helena to make things complicated. Knock on the door. Or leave a note. Most people are happy to have you take fruit that is otherwise going to fall on the ground, rot and make a mess and/or make them feel guilty for wasting it.
Irisav -- your description makes me think maybe your neighbor has Meyer lemons. A mature Meyer lemon will produce more lemons than even a devoted Meyer lemon enthusiast can use!-COLLAPSE
For goodness sake, what's the big deal? I do live in an area where there are lots for fruit trees. Often my neighbors have approached me to let me know to help myself. Otherwise, I usually see my neighbors in their yards while I'm walking my dogs and I just ask if it's ok. I always do offer to bring them something that I've made with the produce, sometimes they say don't bother, and sometimes...+READ
For goodness sake, what's the big deal? I do live in an area where there are lots for fruit trees. Often my neighbors have approached me to let me know to help myself. Otherwise, I usually see my neighbors in their yards while I'm walking my dogs and I just ask if it's ok. I always do offer to bring them something that I've made with the produce, sometimes they say don't bother, and sometimes they are very appreciative of my cooking. It seems obvious that it's best to ask before you take something that doesn't belong to you (even if the fruit is hanging over the street). Both at my office and at the classes I teach locally, people often bring in huge bags of fruit to share.-COLLAPSE
Brilliant.... !!
asking someone for permission to go on their property & pick their fruit before doing it.. ... I would have never thought of that.
"Helena, my neighbor had a nectarine tree that overhung our backyard fence, and in season we got great fruit from it, much better than available from a market. But he cut it down. How do I deal with this affront?"
Well I'm sure they have fruit stealing built into their home owner's budget.
Charlesbois: Or simply dig up the tree and plant it in your own yard.
Considering last week's nonchalant attitude on stealing barware, I'm surprised she didn't just help herself to any fruit tree that caught her fancy.
I must confess that on occasion I have, when in need of one or two lemons, indulged in a spot of lemon rustling. Not good etiquette I know, but a neighboring garden has several citrus trees and the owners obviously know a thing or two about cultivating citrus plants, yet despite the trees sit throughout the season heavily laden without being harvested it's a travesty really!
I'm not sure if is...+READ
I must confess that on occasion I have, when in need of one or two lemons, indulged in a spot of lemon rustling. Not good etiquette I know, but a neighboring garden has several citrus trees and the owners obviously know a thing or two about cultivating citrus plants, yet despite the trees sit throughout the season heavily laden without being harvested it's a travesty really!
I'm not sure if is because they are the product of ill-gotten gains but the fruit is always beautifully perfumed and incredibly juicy.-COLLAPSE
lol. What mwliechty said.
So, in other words, Helena, you asked the property owners for permission to pick fruit, and they said yes. I'm not trying to be sarcastic here - but why was that so difficult for you to figure out? Once you figure out who the property owner is, just ask. Simple.