Road Side Picking

Travelling the country roads for work Jono often spots fruit trees on the side of roads and reports back to me where I may be able to pick some fruit, (unfortunately many of the trees are on the side of the freeway). I headed out on the last day of February in between the heavy rain periods and picked some apples. As i pulled at the fruit the water drops cascaded down, so replenishing. I felt  a little better about the fact that two of our three apple trees were now dead and enjoyed the gift of the apples.

Half the tree was hanging over a fence and the cattle on the other side had also enjoyed the tasty treats. We talked about how prolific these apple trees are up and down the highway and so we will keep some of the seed from this fruit as they seem to do really well in our area with no care and water. I have dried a few kilos and whilst they are quite a tart apple the children have devoured them, I was thinking of sprinkling a little cinammon on some of the next batch and will be interested to see how that tastes. I was reminded at how many (often italian and older) couples I have spotted over the years parked by the side of the road, I remember when I used to ask Jono what are they doing, have they lost something? Jono was sure that they were collecting a type of thistle for their meal, next time I spot them I will be sure to stop and ask them so that I may be fortunate enough to pick some to. (please let me know if you are reading this and can tell me what is being picked).