not far from the tree

Enthusiastic volunteer Chloe and I stopped by an incredibly pregnant mulberry tree. The branches hung low, some of them almost sweeping the ground they were so heavy. The sidewalk and lawn underneath the tree were covered in ripened berries.

We were munching away, and a friendly passerby commented on the “health hazard” a mulberry tree unleashes. “Do you know,” she exclaimed, “that a mulberry tree is classified as a weed?” She talked about the troublesome raccoons and rotting fruit; she had hers felled a few years back.

More often than not, when I’m out on a pick for NFFTT or just climbing a tree on my own in High Park, the comments I get are, “I didn’t know that was edible!” or, “I just assumed it was poisonous!” In the Saturday Star, The Fixer’s title was “Benign-looking curbside berries could be a danger.” Now I don’t doubt that the gist of the article is true. In fact, I’ve had a few run-ins when family members or clients have popped suspect things into their mouths, and it can cause a mild sense of panic.

However, I find it amazing that we can recognize a mango, a pineapple, or a grapefruit on sight, even though we’ve probably never seen one growing in the wild. But the fruit down the street will surely kill us!

Last week, while my pup Banjo and I were out for our morning High Park romp, I ran into a friend, his family, and their dog. We stopped at a mulberry tree, which was sturdy enough for me to scramble up, which I did. With the pooches barking below, and Banjo consuming the berries I sent tumbling down, I offered to throw some berries down for his little girl. My friend was hesitant, and consulted his wife – “would you let her eat these?” “Of course!” the wife answered emphatically. With that, I was able to drop a handful of mulberries down into the little girl’s waiting sun hat.

To me, the better solution to The Fixer is to learn about the food right in our own backyards. We don’t even have to know fancy scientific names of plants to be able to identify what’s edible.

This morning, I asked a man picking berries in High Park what exactly he was harvesting this morning.  He replied, “I dunno….black raspberries?” He offered me some from his hand, which I gladly accepted and popped in to my mouth. Ooops, I’m not supposed to take food from strangers…