It was on that principal that Colin and I, along with his trusty dog Mona, decided to explore our new neighborhood, which is located along the quiet back streets of Silver Lake. It ended up being a really fun long walk, and it was a great way to explore and get a feel for the neighborhood, one which you normally miss when whizzing past the scenery in a car.
Our adventure started on a down note when I spotted a very ripe, very NOT available fig, that was about to go bad just past the owner's property mark. Figs...holy fuck I am obsessed with figs. It broke my heart to see this pretty little guy all gussied up and ready to eat, but just out of my reach. What's a law abiding, play-fair girl to do??? Walk away and just pretend she never saw it, right?
Well, technically "yes", that's exactly what you're supposed to do. But what can I say? I'm weak when it comes to the siren song of a ripe fig. Read on though, ye who denounce such thievery, as that was the only piece of fruit I snatched in such a treacherous manner that day.
A good thing to have with you when venturing out on such a walk, is a fruit picker. Failing that, then a tall partner in crime is a good companion. Here is my such partner in all his 6'3 glory plucking from an overladen peach tree (alas, the peaches weren't yet ripe).
If the object of your desire, in this case some luscious looking oranges, aren't reachable even by your tall companion, leaping may just solve the problem. 
If all that fails, simply climb onto your partner's already sore shoulders and happily pluck away. Before the letters of complaint regarding cruelty come in: don't worry, we gave the poor stranger who just happened to be passing a piece of fruit for her photo-taking troubles. 
We found a ton of yummy things to eat that day, and a lot of trees that will be ripe in the next month or so. 
The furry one in our party (no, not Colin) made some friends, then growled and bared their fangs at her new friend's tiny hands, so was quickly lead away because she can't play nice.
Above all, we were respectful of the fruit we found and the kind people we were taking it from. That's really what this movement is all about, you guys. I'm being serious! Stop laughing! It's about respect for local and sustaina...oh fuck it. Who'm I kidding? 
We came home with an awesome bounty, most of which is rotting in my kitchen as I type this. What can I say? Good intentions count for a lot in my life, and I've got good intentions coming out my ears.
Starving after our walk, I quickly put together this yummy sandwich of toasted olive bread, Swiss cheese, and artichoke spread (all from the Echo Park farmer's market), a big green tomato that we found on our walk, and torn basil from our garden (side note: OMG I have a garden!!!). It was so yummy, and we felt like good people because we didn't buy any of it from evil big box stores.
We paired it with this lovely bottle of wine, which we found during our walk on an illusive Pinot Grigio tree. We'll be visiting that tree again, for sure.We're already planning our next foraging adventure, and a "fallen fruit" sangria to celebrate. Find out more about Fallen Fruit here.
Tell me, have you ever done anything like this? It was so much fun, and I highly recommended it.
Tell me, have you ever done anything like this? It was so much fun, and I highly recommended it.
6 comments:
Cool! it's legalised scrumping!
Also huuuuge congratulations on your engagement :-)
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/scrump)
I don’t know where to start. The story is that the professors that started the movement found an obscure old Los Angeles city law that makes this legal but this is not true in all Municipalities, (thank goodness.) It is a gray area in many places and considered against the law but unenforceable in many. In any case that doesn’t change the ethics or morality of the situation. Staying within the bounds of the law yet behaving immorally or unethically has caused many of the ills we suffer from now. (The cause of the economic collapse) Would we decide that any other property of a person is going to waste in our opinion so we should take it? Oftentimes our cars are just sitting there on public property in the street doing nothing, what a waste. What if a person likes to preserve their fruit and their idea of ripe is different from yours. What if a person wants all of the extra fruit they can’t eat for their compost pile or their chickens? A person has invested the resources of water, fertilizer and labor in the creating of that fruit. If the city wants those overhanging branches in question cut, the homeowner is responsible financially, not the public. If those branches create some damage the private property owner is responsible financially not the public. The logic of this fruit being public property escapes me. I know of people that have limited space to garden so that they garden in their median between their sidewalk and the street (the median they are responsible for maintaining) and they don’t expect people to steal the fruits of their labor. I can’t wait to tell my girlfriend this one. Her father lives in a condo complex that has back patios but no fences. She planted a garden. I guess with no fence line delineating the public/private property the person that cut all her basil felt that the basil was public property. I agree with the fallen fruit concept of sharing as long as the private property owner has expressed a wish to participate. I share my seedlings and fruit every year with my neighbors and they share with me but we choose to participate. I’m glad my trees don’t hang over my property for people to rationalize on their own that that which I worked for and spent resources on is now theirs. My water is very expensive and so are the organic fertilizers I use. I wish I was still in my philosophy class; I would love to debate this one. Common good vs. individual rights etc. Being a fanatical gardener that spends every extra moment tending my garden I am flabbergasted by the logic of this movement.
PS. The part about the old Los Angeles law was found here http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/003847.html but I could not find that actual law. An article written by one of the founding professors Matias Viegner mentions no such law but does say “ The status of this “public fruit” is even more unclear.” The article is here http://www.fallenfruit.org/wp-content/uploads/Cabinet_article.pdf and the second paragraph makes the quote even more understandable. My take is that they decided what they wanted to do and set about to find some “common law” and biblical passages to justify it but none of that actually makes it legal.
PPS the seventh paragraph of above articles states that “Our approach was to address these problems through the coupling of waste and need by coining the term “public fruit.” So by their own admission, they made it up. I suspect the whole thing is a meme with no basis in actual law. (Just some evidence to back up my position)
I agree with Susan. Picking fruit from a tree is what got us booted from EDEN, dummy. OR DON'T YOU READ THE BIBLE?!
Also, let's hang out soon.
PPPPPPPS Susan, you must be such fun at parties
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