Waste Not, Want Not: Urban Foraging

My friend, Melissa, has a fig tree behind her home that is bursting with ripened fruit for the taking. Melissa lives in a series of a quadraplexes, and the tree is in back of the property. She had so many of the figs that she was ready to pop, and since none of her neighbors seemed to be enjoying the fruit, she invited me to pick as much as I wanted. I gathered a basketful of delicious figs from a huge tree that had more than I could ever need, want, or reach. I was so happy that I could take some so that they wouldn't all go to waste. Now to figure out what to make with all these figs... I'm thinking some canning and drying might be in order.

If you'd like to fill up your own basket of city fruit, read on for a few rules of urban foraging, taken from The Urban Homestead, by Kelly Coyne & Erik Knutzen.

Pickin'

Last weekend, Paul and I drove down to Bush & Vine Farm in York, SC, for a Saturday morning gathering blueberries and peaches. From June to September, the farm grows over twenty varieties of peaches, both yellow and white, as well as a couple types of nectarines. We planned to go when the blueberries were still in season, too. York was a pretty town, and the early morning weather was perfect for picking.

It's amazing how many things you can make with just one type of fruit! From canning to baking to beer-making, here's what we came up with: peaches in vanilla bean syrup, peach salsa, peach hibiscus beer, peach quesadillas, peach chipotle marinade, peach couscous, brie puff pastries with peaches and blueberries, blueberry pie, and blueberry muffins with thyme and candied lemon peel. We also dried and froze all the leftovers for use this fall and winter. Below is the recipe for the peach couscous, and I'll share some more recipes in the coming weeks.

Savory Peach Couscous

from Twin Tables

1 cup couscous
1/2 cup dried cherries
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 jalapeño, seeds removed and finely diced (use less according to taste)
1 peach, peeled, pitted and cut into cubes
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
Juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup chopped mint
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
salt to taste

For the full cooking instructions, please refer to the original recipe on Twin Tables, a lovely cooking blog!