Sour Cherry Picking in Philly

My dear friend Tracey belongs to one of Philly’s lovely community gardens. I count on her for mint and other lovely things from her plot, but best of all are the sour cherries from the community tree. Not only is Tracey delightful company with access to sour cherries, but it turns out she’s a ringer when it comes to cherry picking, you see, Tracey is a gifted tree climber. I spent a few hot mornings in July picking cherries, telling stories and getting to know her recently-located-to-Philly mother, and brand new daughter. I picked, pitted and froze about 15 quarts of cherries, so I assure you there will be lots of sour cherry recipes headed your way in the next few months, so fill your freezer now! And sign up for a community garden plot for 2015. I used the ladder. Here’s Tracey in the tree. I can tell she’s thinking about sour cherry pie. … Continue reading

Urban(ish) Foraging: Sumac Lemonade

One of life’s supreme joys is pretending you’re capable of living off the land. As a city dweller, we have to take our opportunities to experience that joy (delusional though it may be) as it comes. I’d been meaning to make Sumac Lemonade, or Sumac tea for years, but I’ve done a terribly poor job of scheduling visits to my parents when the sumac drupes were ready for harvesting. Imagine my surprise when I was hanging out with friends in Jersey City last weekend and we happened upon a huge sumac grove while we were walking the dogs. Of course I started snapping the huge red flowery cones right off the trees and stuffing them in leftover plastic sacks. Plans for Sumac Lemonade, I had. You see, I read an article a few years ago that dubbed the Sumac the Lemonade Tree because the tea is a tart, fruity, citrusy tasting drink that goes down like lemonade, but without all the sugar. And that was enough to make me obsessed with checking it out. I mean, a lemonade tree that doesn’t require living in California anymore? Sign me up. And the Sumac Lemonade delivered on the promises. It was really … Continue reading