Adventures in Urban Harvesting

Guess what my second NFFTT pick was?

If you guessed mulberries, you'd be half right! I actually went to a sour cherry pick, from a very tall tree located right downtown. Sadly most of the cherries were tauntingly out of reach, even from an 8 ft ladder. My share of the volunteer's split was about 2 lbs- not a great haul but free sour cherries are never a bad thing. Luckily there was also a mulberry tree in the alley right behind the house we were picking from and they were the biggest juiciest mulberries I've ever seen!
After gathering a bagful of mulberries (and staining my hand a very vivid deep purple in the process), I set out to do the rest of my errands for the afternoon. Walking to the subway, I stumbled upon a line of people waiting to receive something that was being handed out of black van parked on the sidewalk. On closer inspection I realized it was cans of beer! Molson's was giving out samples of their new brand 'M' and all they required was a swipe of your drivers license. So I lined up and walked away with a bag containing 4 cans of beer!

I continued on with my plans with my purple stained hands now carrying a bag of cherries, a bag of mulberries and a bag of beer. Some of the mulberries had leaked through the bag and I had purple smudges on my shorts and legs as well. I had to pick up a package from a hotel and I also stopped for a bit of shopping on Queen St. No one even gave me a second glance!

On my way home I was a bit hungry so I stopped at a snack wagon for a plate of chips (yes I know they're called fries but I grew up on chip wagons and if it's big chunks of deep fried potatoes served in a paper dish with a toothpick and doused with salt and vinegar, they're chips to me.) I got a bit carried away with the vinegar and it was just as I boarded the streetcar home that the paper dish began to leak. No napkins handy, I had no choice but to let it drip all down my arms and legs. I must have been quite the picture- hands dyed brilliant purple, fruit juices and vinegar dribbling all over the place- the only thing that wasn't leaking was the beer thankfully! For once I was the person no one wanted to sit near on the streetcar.

But I made it home with all my bounty- the fruit is in the fridge waiting to be canned and the Russian very much appreciated the beer. And the best part? Vinegar removes mulberries stains like magic! Who knew?