Foraging....

The act of looking or searching from food or provisions (noun)

To wander in search of food or previsions (verb)

I did a little foraging this fall; we have black walnut trees on our property. Every fall as the leaves slowly drift to the ground, you hear a soft boom. And green sphere, about the size of a tennis ball, hits the ground.

Last year I attempted to collect and harvest the walnuts out of the hull, but I got part of the way then forgot all about them. This year my parents asked me to collect them several grocery plastic bags full for them. They have retired and have the time to carry out the process. So I collected and collected, surprised how many there were with squirrels all around. After I collected their bags, I kept collecting and asked with they would mind harvesting some for me. In their agreement, I started to collect more about three bags for me. As I passed off the last of the bags, my mom looked back and said it be about a month. I replied, “no problem. I’ve got time.”

A little over a month later, my mom delivered about a ½ a pound of walnuts. And then a few weeks later I got  another bag, this time about a pound. Now I just need to think of all the things to make and use them up. Until then they will sit chilling in the fridge until I’m ready.

Pears, a yummy fall fruit…..but what makes them better is when they are free.

My parents in passing mentioned that in their neighborhood was a couple who had pear trees, but never collected the fruit. They would pass by on their walk and see all the pears laying on the ground, left to rot. So I asked if they would mind asking it they would take some pears. A few days later I get a text saying that they would drop off the pears they collected. When I got home a robust bag of pears sat on the front porch.

That weekend, pears with peeled and cored. The first of the pears were sliced and laid on a rack where then spent the whole day dehydrating.

 

The others were peeled, chopped and cooked in water along with second hand apples from the farmers market.

 

Together they blended into my pearapplesauce….very yummy. Seasoned with honey, brown sugar and cinnamon. Then poured into hot jars to be canned, waiting on the shelf during the cold months ahead.

 

The dried pears are the best, sweet little natural candies. I split the bag with my parents. They are fantastic on granola cereal!!!