Caught red handed

The suburbs are full of neglected fruiting trees, bearing bucket loads of organic produce ripe for the picking. PHIL DUDMAN calls it ‘the fine art of foraging’, only this week he was caught in the act.

OK I admit it. I’m quite prone to a bit of public foraging. If I see a fruit tree… within reach of course… and its littered below with unwanted fruit, I’m likely to walk on over and grab a few. How can I resist?

I’m sure lots of people have a childhood story of jumping a fence to snatch the prize of a juicy mango or hanging under a neighbouring tree on the way home from school feasting on mulberries, stained from top to toe. I haven’t stopped.

This week, I spotted a few mulberry trees in my area in full fruit. Most were hanging over fences, which allowed for a fairly anonymous harvest, but the one with the juiciest, plumpest berries was on a footpath in front of God and everyone. I dived in regardless; joining a family of fellow forages. It was like a frenzy in there!

Until I heard, ‘Hi Phil!” I looked out and saw the lady of the house walking over to greet us. I had never seen her before, but she recognised me from my radio and television pursuits. There I was, covered in mulberry juice, literally caught red handed!

Turns out, she was really glad to see they weren’t going to waste and encouraged all of us fruit bats to return for a repeat raid. She was a keen gardener too and despite my embarrassment, we had a grand old chat.

Must drop her off some beetroot I’m harvesting this week. That’s what it’s all about