I had always thought of urban foraging like a treasure hunt.  Sneaking through the bush, avoiding questioning eyes, searching high and low to seek my quarry – ripe fruit for the taking. Reality was slightly different.  In broad daylight, I pulled my car up to the curb, hopped out, and scavenged my first fallen fruit.  No fuss, no muss, and certainly no sneaking. Two little lemons saved from certain death by car tire, pulled off the street by a good Samaritan (me), and now destined for greatness in my kitchen.  Ok maybe not greatness, but at least a more purposeful demise than they could have expected otherwise.

Now some of you may be questioning whether I have lost my marbles, or become a kleptomaniac.  I assure you that the answer to each is a resounding no.  Foraging is hardly a new concept, by any means.  It is what the gather of hunter/gatherer is all about.  If I were out in the forest and I stumbled upon some wild blueberry bushes, would I be mad to pick them for a treat?  I think not.  As for the question of stealing… I had been casing this particular lemon tree for some time, watching as more and more fruit was felled by wind, and left for the birds.  I desperately wanted to reach in to the yard and collect the precious fruit, but refrained from doing so as it would certainly be considered trespassing.  However, as fortune should provide, on a fair San Diego morning, two perfect sunny orbs happened to escape the yard/sidewalk barrier and station themselves just south of the curb, squarely in the street.  Public street equals public lemons, and I am most certainly part of the public.

While in my mind I didn’t technically do anything wrong, I’m sure there are plenty of regular foragers who are groaning at my ineptitude.  I couldn’t find any laws specific to gleaning in San Diego, but the code of ethics provided by Portland based Urban Edibles would lead me to believe I broke a cardinal rule of urban foragers - Always Ask Permission.  I have heard (but not been able to verify) that under California law, you are allowed to harvest what is within arms reach if it overhangs public property.  However, in the interest of not acquiring a bad reputation for myself and others, I will be asking first from now on.

I have already had one positive experience using the ask permission rule.  I have a student whose family has a multitude of citrus trees in their yard, and I mentioned that I would love to take some fruit off of their hands if they ever had any extra.  Moments later - thrilled that I was interested and willing, both mother and daughter were running around in the dark with a flashlight pulling fruit off of their trees.  I left that evening with a whole bag of oranges and eight lemons!