New York Daily Photo Analytics

Monday, July 07, 2008

Dead Sea Scrolls

I'm not saying this was an ordinary or everyday experience. But yesterday I was picking wild blackberries and apples in New York City. Finding such things here is exciting, like finding a Dead Sea Scroll.
What was even more amazing is that the apple trees were in the center of a traffic island, surrounded by on ramps and highways with the blackberries nearby. I had to jump across a trafficked ramp to access the isolated island. I was rewarded with a number of very green unripe apples. Very sour, but I grew up eating many unripe fruits that I foraged as a child.
I have learned, however, that blackberries are not the fortuitous find I believed them to be in my youth. Apparently they are quite hardy plants and will grow in the most unforgiving environments - they can survive in poor soil and have been found in building sites, wastelands and along roadsides. In some areas they are considered invasive and a weed. And technically they are not considered true berries.
But fruit is fruit. Why split hairs over whether these are worthy for consideration? I'm starting to sound like a typical new Yorker who extols the virtues of simple things, but in reality they must be the right kind of simple - a certain brand of pushcart hot dog (Sabrett) or chocolate for a New York egg cream (Fox's U-Bet). I suppose authenticity is always important when looking for Dead Sea Scrolls ...

Photo Note: The location of these will be revealed tomorrow's posting on a nearby subject.

Related Postings: New York Survivor, Grapes, Bird Country, Time Landscape, The Garden at St. Lukes.

5 comments:

An Honest Man said...

once upon a time these fruits would have been heavily contaminated with lead from the traffic fumes, but they still grew!

Good photo.

Brian Dubé said...

they are tough. like london planetrees. see link on my posting for this other survivor.

Anonymous said...

Brian,
Aren't they what in France we call"mures"? Good(and black) when
they are riped

Kim said...

Brian, a lovely photo of unripened berries, and a very thoughtful, thought-provoking text!
-Kim
Seattle Daily Photo

MmeBenaut said...

Yes indeed, in reply to your last sentence.
We have blackberries growing at home and yes, here they are considered a weed because they are impossible to remove without poisoning. I would never use poison and instead I collect the berries too - February is blackberry month in Adelaide. I put them in champagne for the guests and have huge bowls filled with them - washed and sweetened and served with fresh cream and/or icecream. Delicious! Make sure they are ripe though.
The photo is terrific.