yesterday my friend wanted to eat in chinatown, los angeles. afterwards we noticed a sidewalk fruit vendor right next to the restaurant. there was a decent assortment of fruits. we walked down a little further and found a vendor selling freshly cut jackfruit in a cup for $7. we continued walking and found a vendor selling purple star apples (2 for $5), which we had never tried before. he offered us a sample that we enjoyed so much that we ended up buying a box of 17 for $40.
i noticed a small box of trash and asked him if i could have it. he said sure.
i picked through it with a pair of tongs and my trusty tweezers while listening to florida natural farming vent about a government initiative to protect a local lake or something from agricultural runoff that somehow doesn’t apply to cow farmers.
here was my seed haul…
apricot - 2
cherry ~ 10
dragon fruit ~ 100
longan ~ 24
nectarine - 1
mango ~ 12
pink pineapple ~ 12
star apple - 2
life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get? ehhh…in any case you’re definitely going to get chocolate. if only we could all be so lucky.
life is more like a box of fruit street vendor trash. you’re definitely going to get lots of trash, but you’ll probably find seeds, some of which might be treasure.
was it worth it in this case? on the one hand, it was gross and unhygienic. but on the other hand, i was happy with the haul. i sure do love growing fruit trees from seed…
maybe i could set up a stall right next to the star apple seller. i’d sell all the fruit tree seedlings that i grew from the seeds in his trash. at some point would he start charging me for his trash? or would he start sowing the seeds and selling the seedlings himself? if so, would he copy my patented pots with elevated drainage holes?
back in the day the workers at andy’s orchids would pull all the “weeds” from the mounted orchids that he imported from all over the world. the “weeds” consisted of things like rare ferns and peperomias that the workers would just toss on the ground, sweep up and throw away. i would joke with andy that i’d be happy to weed his mounts for free. nowadays he’s selling many of those same “weeds”.
it’s beneficial to learn the value of things, right? we all know this is true for things like seeds. but when it comes to things like forum topics, then it’s a different story.
a. we already know the value of forum topics
b. the value of forum topics doesn’t matter
a. we already know the value of environmental protection
b. the value of environmental protection doesn’t matter
neither is correct. the value of things does matter, without exception. but we can’t somehow magically know the value of things. there has to be a system where everyone is given the opportunity to help determine value by making a personal sacrifice, such as donating for forum topics.
here’s my friend’s star apple tree in el monte (near los angeles)…
it would be a lot bigger if it wasn’t still in a pot.
hopefully i’ll soon have a bunch of seedlings of star apples, longans, mangoes and more. should i sell them on the street in chinatown or plant them in my public food forest in sylmar?
x. selling fruit tree seedlings in chinatown
y. planting fruit tree seedlings in sylmar public food forest
which topic would you donate more for? do you think the world needs more fruit tree street vendors or public food forests? when you visit los angeles, do you want more opportunities to buy fruit tree seedlings or freely taste rare fruit?
