Urban Foraging

I live in Davis, a town where a lot of urban foraging is available. There are fruit trees all over the place that yield wonderful results in the summer, community gardens that put out their excess grapes, squash, and herbs when they have then, and the barn where I ride is lined with walnut trees that I have yet to take advantage of, but trust me, I will. (Especially because moldy walnuts are a risk to dogs and horses, so we have to clear them out anyway.)

Since discovering the concept of urban foraging, which I had previously just thought of as quasi-pilfering, I've come to love the idea of it. Discovering Hunter Angler Gardener Cook has made me even more enamored of the idea. Free food that you make into even more delicious things?! The best.

Since reading Hank's post on olive curing, I've been smitten. Olives are incredibly plentiful in Davis, and with a friend I collected three half-gallon jars full of them. Some of them are the biggest olives I've ever seen in my life, and I was so amped to get started. Only the entire town of Davis seemed to be out of lye!

Down to plan B. I threw those olives into half-gallon jars and I've filled them with brine. The brine is approximately 1/4 cup salt and 1/2 cup vinegar per gallon of water.



I topped the jars off with a little bit of cheesecloth to keep all of my olives submerged, and left them in the laundry room to cure. I'm not completely sure what it means to brine olives, but when I've figured it out, I'll be sure to tell you.