Urban Foraging

Summer is in full swing and the bees have been busy. So busy that the tangled jungle beyond our yard has been transformed into an edible landscape. The mango trees groan with fruit- even the multiple mango thieves (squirrels, raccoons, random neighbors) can't keep up production. The grass is dotted with sunset yellow fruit.

More exotic, a previously nondescript tree is covered in little indigo oblong fruits. After a few Google attempts, I finally identified it: Java plum. Very tart, with a stick-to-your tongue texture not unlike cranberries. Better yet, when you crush them, the juice is--no lie--fuchsia. I am sorry to say I did not get a picture before using it as a marinade for chicken (the chicken turned a decidedly un-fun pinkish gray). But the summer is still young!

The most exciting back lot discovery, however, started in the front yard. The vines that we attempted to beat back around the bushes came back in spades with the start of the rainy season. The good news, they were grape vines! The vines had scores of tiny fox grapes: tart, dark and irresistible. I thought we might just eat them off the vine, but then we discovered nearly every tree in the back lot has at least one grape vine climbing it. A few were already ripe so the boys and I did some urban foraging.


The adventure was not without it's pitfalls. We started early in the morning so it wouldn't get too hot, but that's right when the mosquitoes were looking for breakfast. Here's a brief break in the picking to swat the lil' buggers.

But the boys worked diligently, plucking and cutting, and being very careful to just pick the darkest, ripest fruit, leaving the rest for the next harvest.

We each had our own bucket or basket. Here's Riley's share of the spoils.

In no time at all we had picked just over 4 lbs of the tiny little tart things, and we were ready to juice.

One stained pillowcase later and we had... about a quart of grape juice. Not enough for grape jelly, but maybe the next harvest. The boys are enjoying the juice over lots of crushed ice. A little goes a long way; it's the perfect refreshment for hot summer days. Cheers!

Second Spring

While most of the country is celebrating the harvest, we're just getting warmed up! Or cooled off, as it were. Cooler weather means most plants can thrive here for the winter, and we've tried our hands with a few different family favorites to see what will come up!

Here are the baby tomato and pepper plants waiting to be planted. We have an heirloom variety "brandywine" tomato for sandwiches, and a Roma for sauces and paste.
Here's our first honeydew melon! It's so cute! We took the seeds from a melon we bought at the grocery store, so we didn't know if they'd even grow, much less produce.
Here's the same melon just a week later - it's not cute it's a monster! Shown here chillin' like a villian in it's very own stylish knee-high nylon hammock.

Our line of black oil sunflowers. We grew some sprouts, which were delicious in salad, but decided to see how big these get, and if we could get any oil out of them.
Here's our peanut patch. Again, just straight from a bag of raw peanuts. We've read they are notoriously difficult to grow and take a lot of nutrients out of the soil, but they seem to be thriving.
This our attempt at raised bed and trellis gardening, with honeydew, canteloupe and cucumbers. We recently discovered that cross pollination is a problem, and it's possible our melon will taste like cucumbers!
This is the new tomato and pepper garden. Each plant has it's very own bamboo pole, just for climbing!

The New Lot

It's official. We recorded the deed and paid off the liens today. This 16350 sq. feet of mowing, trimming and trash hauling is all ours...yeah, um, alright.

This is on the Northeast corner of the new lot, looking southwest, back to our house, beyond the fence.
Same spot, looking west toward Van Buren St. Everything on the left from this point to the street waaaay down there is Zengel Territory.

Same spot, looking east, that's the apartment building next to us. It's just a driveway away next to the house, but it looks far away here!



The lot was christened with Uncle Brett's rope! A knotted climbing rope, and a "noosed" swinging rope(not shown because it gives Grandpa heart palapitations)This is from almost the northwest corner of the lot, just past the fence, and then in our yard, looking over the fence.
The wooded area of the lot is just past the fence. We might take some of that fence out, so it opens it up, and we can better view rope climbing hijinks.
More of the wooded area.
From under the royal poinciana
This is where the vegetable garden will be.

The Game is Afoot

And so it begins, our journey into the unknown. Boldly going where...

Ok, so it's just a move into yet another "new" house. I use the term in it's loosest sense. New to us, but in fact it is a very old house. Built in 1923, our little bungalow looks every bit of its 87 years. We love it for the potential it holds, and the opportunity to try some new stuff in an old place.

I hope to keep everyone up-to-date not only on our shock and horror as we clean up and rip out, but also of our attempts at becoming a little more self-sufficient as we make this "new" house our home.