Ripe off the tree

[BigJohn]

Am I wrong? The other day I went to an orchard to take down pear tree maybe 3" dbh ha ha. Anyway I was starving and picked a few nectarines off a nearby tree. Is this considered stealing? Should I feel bad? What is propper arborcultural edicate for mastercateing fruit off a tree?

 

[OutOnaLimb]

The fruit Gestapo is gonna be kicking in your door any minute now.

Kenn

 

[Treeman14]

While I don't think anyone would go to the trouble of prosecuting you for stealing a few nectarines, you were in fact guilty of theft. Proper etiquette requires that you ask the owner before taking his stuff.

 

[treegeek]

the only time i feel like i should ask is if my client obviously cares about the fruit (ie prunes every year or so, picks up windfall, has nice dwarf or semi-dwarf trees etc). by far the majority of fruit tree owners around here anyway eat a small portion or none at all of the fruit their trees produce. mostly they say help yourself before i even think to ask. it's one of the cool bennies of pruning a fruit tree several yrs in a row - you get to appreciate the work the tree has done.

that's just me though..

 

[Guy Meilleur]

Best idea is to look on ground for edible windfall--you can't get busted for that. Next best is to tell the owner immediately after and offer to pay or barter svcs.

I used to maintain fruit trees for 1/2 or 2/3 the harvest. It was a shweet deal in more ways than one.

 

[ROLLACOSTA]

imo it's a tree mans perk to eat anything he wants off a tree..aslong as he is working for the owner

 

[Stumper]

The Mosaic law in Judaeism says " You shall not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain". Work brings certain perks to the worker. It is reasonable for tree men to eat fruit from the trees. If you grab a sackful to take home without asking permission I think you've crossed the line. I usually eat a little of anything ripe (or even green apples) while working and feel no guilt-And I have extremely strong feelings about stealing ( I favor the death penalty for just about everything )

 

[MasterBlaster]

I just pack my lunch!

 

[ORclimber]

I like cherry season, and plum season, and apple season, and blackberry season, and grape season, and......... There sometimes are a few branches to raise off the roof or lawn. If its going through the chipper anyway.... Yum

 

[Dadatwins]

I usually like to ask the owner on private property before picking anything just to make sure no weird chemicals sprayed anywhere. If I do pick some fresh fruit from a job site I will usually wait to try it out until I am closer to civilization ( read as rest room) to make sure it is compatible with my digestive system. Nothing worse than a stomach cramp in the middle of a job site and a potty run after that.

 

[cybergeek23851]

Originally posted by Dadatwins
Nothing worse than a stomach cramp in the middle of a job site and a potty run after that.

It's true though. Nothing worse than being trapped in the back 40 in the bush surrounded by nothing more than pine cones and poision ivy

 

[murphy4trees]

Remeber the apple tre in the "Wizard of Oz"?.....
Maybe you should ask the tree first.... There are few things we do these days as truly primal amd satisfying as picking ripe fruit right off the tree and eating 'til you can't eat anymore...

Reminds me of a 40-50' fig tree I met in Chico Ca... summer of '93... she had a big hollow, but was loaded with ripe fruit... dropping at my feet... tasted like it was injected with sugar..

Then there was the time, right after i got back from a wilderness survival training school with Tom Brown, when I was trying to eat and bag a buch of white pine shoots, before the guys chipped them all... One of the guys I was working with then was from the inner city.... he just looked at me and said with a serious tone.."your mama didn't raise you right"... Different strokes... After that class, I realized how much good food goes through the chipper... especially in spring time... maple seed pods are tasty etc...

Speaking of tasty... I would like to get some education on edible wild mushrooms... I heard years ago, that anything growing on wood, wasn't poisonous, though much was unpaletable...

I was out walking in the woods yesterday, working up an appetitie and came across these fine looking shrooms .... left them there though... anyone recognize these beauties?

 

[Guy Meilleur]

maybe grifola frondosa?

 

[murphy4trees]

is it edible?

 

[Guy Meilleur]

dunno