Found Fruit

The best thing I ever ate was found in a parking lot.

I was walking from my rental car to a little kitchen shop in Sonoma, California. On my way I passed a tree loaded with small fruits, the size of a swollen cherry. They were golden, with a purple blush on one side. To the horror of my husband, I plucked one and popped it in my mouth.

“You don’t even know what it is!” he exclaimed.

“I do now. It’s amazing.” I replied.

My best guess is that it was some sort of small plum. It was perfectly ripe and warmed by the sun, sweet with a small sour bite from the skin. It was a surprise and a mystery, which made it all the sweeter.

Embracing my impulsive notion that this tiny fruit looked good enough to eat went against my common sense (we were in a parking lot! I couldn’t even name the fruit!), yet proved to be a delicious gamble.

Is there anything more delicious than found fruit? Whether a kind neighbor leaves a bowl of sour cherries on your front porch, or a generous orchard owner leaves a sack of excess pears free for the taking at the end of their driveway—fruit that is stumbled upon or gifted has a little extra magic in it.

Madison Fruits and Nuts is an organization formed two years ago which advocates for public fruit and nut trees. They successfully received grants to create public orchards at three separate locations and worked out an agreement with the city for volunteers to plant fruit and nut trees in city parks.

On their website is a publically-maintained map of fruit and nut trees available for foraging by the public. They also offer workshops from time to time on urban gleaning and foraging and caring for food-bearing trees. You’d be surprised at the multitude of berry bushes and fruit trees that are available for public picking.

If you aren’t able to have your own orchard, keep your eyes open for fruit trees that are available to the public, or perhaps someone who is not able to enjoy all the fruits their trees produce.

On a recent visit to my family, my sister was complaining about the crabapple tree in her front yard. It is an older neighborhood with well-established trees, so this crab was planted long before varieties with extremely tiny or non-existent fruit were available. This beauty drops rosy golf-ball sized fruit all over her front yard. My two young sons didn’t hesitate to taste-test the apples (guess they inherited my found fruit gene) and they proclaimed them “sour and yummy.”

We brought home a few bagfuls and made several pints of this Crabapple Butter with Vanilla Bean. Keep in mind, the recipe is really just a rough guideline – it depends upon how much fruit you find and your taste. You can use the same recipe for apples, but you will most likely need less sugar.

What fruits have you found in your neighborhood or in your travels around the region? Let us know in the comments!