Sunday the Concrete Jungle crew took folks on bike and foot around the city educating us on the wild growing fruit they pick and donate to the homeless and hungry. I was with the biking group that started and ended at Mother. We went through Old 4th Ward, Cabbagetown and Grant Park stopping at trees, bushes, vines and even the zoo! Here’s a short recap of our sunny afternoon-
CJ co-founder Craig who handles most of the mapping design and engineering recently created these tags for the plants they pick from. It not only says “hey! you found a resource we use to feed the hungry” but also encourages you to lend a helping hand. Is this fruit tree ready to be picked? Let CJ know! Snapping and sharing on Instagram? Tag CJ!
My bike companion for the day, Ryan, enjoying some ripe service berries.
Service berries up-close. Tasted like blueberries with a hint of vanilla. Since they are small it’d take forever to pick them so what they typically do is lay down a tarp and shake the tree silly. They also do this with apples and mulberries.
We were all very excited to see the maypop. It’s a hardy fast-growing vine that produces a small yellow fruit. Aubrey referred to it as a ‘very complicated flower’ which is a perfect description- so many components!
Peaches! Did you know Georgia is NOT the peach state it’s actually South Carolina. But it’s on our license plates so we’ll just keep the claim!
Ramble ended back at Mother for games, a raffle and drinks! Pictured here is the foraged mulberry cocktail- little tart, touch of sweet with a punch of vodka. Yum!
You may be surprised at all the fruit growing around the city, even KIWI. See a full food map here.
CJ is always looking for volunteers to help with the garden or on fruit picks, if you’re interested visit concrete-jungle.org for more info!
Tonight we leave for Hangout Music Fest, expect a recap of that up next. Have a good weekend!
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