Wednesday 27 April 2011

Hunter Gathering in the Suburbs

I'm not sure if I'm boasting or complaining when I tell you that Canberra, where I live most of the time, is home to the Death Cap, the world's deadliest mushroom (at least that's what our local health authority reckons). Naturally, now that I know this I tend to steer clear of mushroom picking in the ACT - but that doesn't prevent me from bringing home any other free food that's going - or rather growing; I'm not in the market for half-eaten hamburgers or discarded bits of currant bun.

What I am in the market - or on the look out - for is locally grown produce. And I find it too. On Saturday, for example, I got these from a garden in the next street. The woman who lives there comes from New Zealand and she says they think feijoas are boring in New Zealand.  I think they're rather delicious:


On the same day I got these from a tree behind a house that belongs to public housing. The tenants don't want them - 'Go ahead, take as many as you like,' they told me when I asked them, 'we prefer takeaway', (I've never thought of lemons and KFC as the only two categories, but I didn't argue):
Despite the heavy crop on this tree though, I picked nothing from it. I mean, you have to draw the line somewhere:

4 comments:

  1. I had a fejoa hedge in NZ, and gave them all away - there's something about the texture I don't like, although I don't mind them cooked. But I did laugh to see them priced at $1 each in the supermarket the first year I was here.

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  2. What will you do with the feijoas?

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  3. You only need to take a spoon to them - tangy lemony things - delicious!

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  4. What Polly said, Nurse. I think there is a bit of grittiness if you scrape too close the skin, M-H, but I still love them. I've just brought about 200 more home - that's quite a few dollars right there.

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