Loquats and Orange Harvest + Brunch

the first Temescal loquats (seeds) of the season!

If you RSVP-ed to the Orange Harvest + Brunch, you should've heard from me by now with details of the exact location. If not, send me an email and I will send you the address.

Sunday Orange Harvest Party

(Shafter Ave. fresh squeezed orange juice)

Just a reminder, Helena Keefe, her lovely neighbors, and I are hosting an Orange Harvest Brunch Sunday, 1 March at their West Oakland home. Please email me directly if you'd like to come and you need the address. We'll have brunch at about 10:00 am and unless it's pouring (or maybe despite the rain...) , we'll harvest oranges from the prolific backyard orange tree. Everyone who comes and harvests oranges will receive a postcard to take home and take note of what they did with their portion of the oranges. This is an exercise in understanding the bounty of a single tree, and also the first phase of organizing the Forage Oakland Community Cookbook. Interested in coming? Email me!

xo,
Asiya

Citrus Harvest: Grapefruit, Oranges, and Lemons

Nick, Evan, Daniel and I spent the better part of the day harvesting citrus in Lower Rockridge and Temescal. Evan and I thought about how all of us who've been independently mapping the fruit trees in our neighborhoods need to pow wow and share what information we've got. This means you.

51st St. grapefruit, which seem more bountiful than ever.

Evan's basket, filled with grapefruits, lemons, and oranges (which are not visible).

Nick eating a Shafter Ave. orange.

And Nick in the orange tree.

Daniel with orange.

My bicycle/ oranges.

My bicycle/ Daniel's bicycle.

If you'd like citrus, please email me directly at forageoakland@gmail.com

Marmalade Exchange

Thanks to all who came to today's Marmalade Exchange, and a big thank you to Scott, our host! The Marmalade/ Jam Exchange will be a seasonal event, and if you'd like to learn more about the next event, please do sign up to receive the monthly Forage Oakland updates. We have these proposed events for which to look forward:

• Bay Area Plum Harvest and Canning Day
• 'Homemade Tonics' Exchange
  
• Community Canning Tutorials
• Or click here to propose an event.
  

Here are several photos from the day:

Christina's spiced plum butter; apple sauce; and Parker Street lemon curd

Happiness.

Siew's citrus peel, 51st St. grapefruit, and jars and jars of jam and marmalade.

There is a prickly pear fruit hiding in the corner; city chicken eggs; more 51st St. grapefruit; and three jars of jam, the names of which I cannot read.

John's pears; Rachel's quince jelly; Scott's meyer lemon marmalade.

And here we have photos taken by Maria (thank you!):

More of Siew's citrus peel: grapefruit, navel orange, meyer lemon.

The lovely prickly pear fruit, which were mostly gifted.

51st St. grapefruit, also all gifted.

Monica and Asiya, with prickly pear fruit in hand.

Here is a list of the many varieties of jams and marmalades today:

Marmalade Exchange, tomorrow

Thanks for RSVP-ing, and I'll see you tomorrow at the Marmalade/ Jam/ etc. exchange tomorrow. Just a reminder, the address is 411 51st St, North Oakland. Please call (510) 289-7557 with any last minute questions.

Aunt Carla's Eggs

Hi,

All Aunt Carla's eggs have been claimed, but if there is a surplus in the future, then they will become available again. If you're interested in receiving eggs on a regular basis, follow this link.

Marmalade Exchange and other upcoming events

Forage Oakland Marmalade/ Jam Exchange

Sunday, February 22, 2009, 11:00 am - 12:00 pm

Hello!

You are cordially invited to attend the first seasonal Forage Oakland Marmalade/ Jam/ Syrup/ And Such Exchange. The exchange will take place on Sunday, February 22, 2009, between 11:00 am and 12:00 pm and will be held at a private residence in Temescal (in close proximity to the Sunday Temescal Famer's Market). The exact location is 411 51st St., Oakland. Come and meet your jamming neighbors, sign up for Forage Oakland, and pick up a jar of jam on your way to the farmer's market. Please RSVP so that I can gage general interest in the exchange, and so I can tell the host how many people to expect.

If you are unable to attend the marmalade exchange, but would still like to partake in the fun, email me and we can arrange a time to collect the goods between now and Sunday.

Though I think it is implicit, the jams should be home made.

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Other Upcoming Events



Orange Harvest Party

Helene and her neighbors are hosting an orange/ rosemary harvest party on Sunday, 1 March. I'd like to extend the invitation to others who might like to join in on the fun. Bring something to share for brunch, fruit picker if you have one (or long, limber arms), and bags for collecting fruit. I will be handing out postcards to all who come Sunday so that they can document how they used the rosemary and oranges (as a means of showing how bountiful a single tree can be). Also, several recipes will be available to take home. If you're interested in attending this event, please email me directly as space is quite limited. It will take place between 10:00 am and 2:00 pm in West Oakland.

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Aunt Carla's Chickens' Eggs

A limited number of Forage Oakland chickens' eggs are available for gift or barter. If you'd like to receive Aunt Carla's chickens' eggs, please send me an email.



Thank you and see you on the 22 February or 1 March!

Yours,

Asiya at Forage Oakland

Passion Fruit + Meyer Lemons

Yesterday I had big plans of citrus harvesting on 45th Street, but the rain got the better of me. I did manage to harvest a handful of meyer lemons (on the way to BART) and Jerome and I enjoyed what were the next-to-last of the Temescal passion fruit.

Until next passion fruit season...

Passion fruit, half for Joyce; half for Nick.

Aunt Carla's Eggs

Lucille and Bette, the hens.

Aunt Carla after collecting two eggs that were laid.

One dozen city eggs.

Before the rain became torrential today, Monica and I managed to pay a visit to her aunt, who has three city chickens: Ella (Fitzgerald), Bette (Midler) , and Lucille (Ball). Aunt Carla sent us home with a dozen eggs, which will be redistributed. Later next week, Carla can expect syrups: grapefruit, orange, lemon, and rosemary.

Olive oil cake recipe// rosemary syrup recipe

Here is the recipe for the olive oil cakes I've been making as of late:

Batter:
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
4 eggs at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
2/3 cup olive oil
4 tablespoons marmalade of your choice
2 teaspoons nocino
3 teaspoons orange syrup

Glaze:
1/2 cup marmalade + 1/4 cup orange syrup + 1 teaspoon nocino for glaze.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Sift the flour and the baking powder together in a bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, combine the eggs and the salt. Beat until foamy; gradually beat in the sugar. Gently fold in the flour and baking powder mixture. Stir in the marmalade, nocino, orange syrup, and olive oil just until incorporated. Do not overmix.

Pour into a 10" springform pan and bake between 40 minutes and 1 hour, depending on your oven's settings. Test to see if the cake is set by inserting a toothpick into the center. If the toothpick comes out clean, the cake has baked. Let cool completely on a wire rack, then unmold. Drizzle the nocino+ orange syrup+ marmalde glaze over the cake. Voila.

This is a modification of a recipe originally found in Sonoma: A Food And Wine Lovers' Journey, by Jennifer Barry. Published by 10 Speed Press, 2003.


And here is the rosemary syrup recipe:

This is not the most precise recipe, since it's a deviation from a another recipe using entirely different herbs. But, so far, it has worked well:

Pick over the rosemary and rinse in cold water.

Put 800 ml of water in a pan and bring to a boil. Add the rosemary to the pan of boiling water, cover and bring back to a boil. Take of the hear and allow to stand for 15 minutes. Pour through a jelly bag and leave to drip for an hour or so.

Set aside the strained juice. Bring another 800 ml of water to a boil, and add the rosemary and repeat the boiling process. Tip the mixture back into the jelly bag and this time leave to drain overnight.

The next day, combine both lots of strained juice and pour into a saucepan. Add the sugar and heat, stirring until dissolved. Boil for 2-3 minutes, then immediately pour into warm, sterilized bottles and secure with screw caps or corks.

Use within four months.

Recipe is a modification of a rosehip recipe found in the River Cottage Preserve Handbook by Pam Corbin, Bloomsbury, 2008.

Intern with Forage Oakland this summer or autumn

Follow this link if you'd like to intern with Forage Oakland this summer or autumn.

Ponderosa Lemons and Grapefruit

Please mark your calendars for the first ever Forage Oakland Jam/ Marmalade Exchange, happening Sunday, February 22nd. Details to follow during the course of the week.

Yesterday I delivered grapefruit, the aforementioned 51st/ Broadway grapefruit, to two different homes in the Lower Rockridge neighborhood. I also harvested a dozen or so ponderosa lemons, which I may pass off to Siew Chinn for limoncello.


Here is a photo of a cake, semi foraged, or containing 'community marmalade,' a joint effort between myself and Suzanne Husky. I cannot begin to count the number of these such cakes I've baked in the past two weeks-- upwards of 14. This particular cake is a lemon marmalade olive oil cake with orange and nocino glaze.

And here are 4 such cakes, wrapped and ready for delivery for the In Search of Good Food benefit.

And here we have last summer's nocino.

51st and Broadway Grapefruit/ Barn Show

Here is Emma Brown's article in the Chronicle about Forage Oakland.

Saturday found Jenn and me at the corner of 51st and Broadway in Rockridge. I've watched this grapefruit tree since I moved to the neighborhood four years ago, but I hadn't tried any of the fruit. Just as we arrived, an occupant of the building was leaving, and I double checked with him that it was okay to harvest the fruit. We harvested dozens of grapefruit, immediately giving many away to passers by and then schlepping the rest of them home. There is something to be said of the instant gratification that comes with immediately redistributing the fruit, rather than first taking it home to be sorted and such (which is what I usually do). Everyone we offered grapefruit to accepted, with some of them taking three or four fruits to enjoy later.

Carla, I've found your grapefruit and expect a delivery in the coming days!

Here is a photo of the bounty, after we'd given away fruit to passers by.

This is the hand of a cyclist who accepted a grapefruit 'to go.' I wish I had chatted with him a bit more, though, because of anyone we talked to that day, he seemed the most enchanted with the idea of harvesting urban fruit and redistributing it.

And here is another photo of the full bucket of fruit.

On Sunday morning, I baked two cakes (lemon marmalade cakes with lemon and nocino glaze) for the barn show, and sent them north with Sam White. I also sent the following home made items: two bottles of 41st Street orange whiskey syrup, two bottles of 45th Street rosemary syrup, 45th Street applesauce, a large bag of Shafter Street oranges, and 3 jars of marmalade from Suzanne Husky.

Here is a cake, wrapped in wax paper.

Here are the oranges that were sent north. They were harvested Friday, January 30th.