Treasure underfoot

The neighborhood peach and cherry trees are taking a break this year after giving their all last summer (thank you very much for the jam and drinks). Just when I thought I had exhausted all my local summer fruit resources, I ran across one more. Literally. A tree next to a bike path always had a purple, sticky mess beneath it in late June and I saw a few more splotches of similar pavement on my ride home, so late last week decided to figure out just what was going on.

Thanks to Google, I know know that those are mulberries stuck to my tires. I also learned that "beat around the bush" has a real-life application, that a proper harvest requires three people and that you will be marked by the berries that you have savagely torn from their branches. Oh, and you'll get some pretty odd looks from people driving by if they spot you, still wearing your bike helmet, tugging on tree branches on the side of a busy road on a hot Saturday afternoon.

Still, with just me, a stick and an old sheet, I got enough (I thought) for a pie, plus met some new people (and Lulu the dog) who own three of the trees.

Next time, more berries or I'll have to go with a tart crust.

All in all, quite a good pie for a free, nondescript berry that falls from the sky. And I just found a new tree on my way home tonight :)