Pear-picking Picnic
East Bay bike ride excursion
Once a year, when pear harvest season arrives, we run a BART-bike tour to Moraga to pick pears ripe off the public trees. It's usually in August, but the seasons are getting lost among the months these days, so there's no telling.
We'll go into the land of heat and boutique chain stores on a Saturday, midday, and return to chilly fogtown a little after dark. The ride is five miles each way, almost entirely along nearly flat bike paths through nature. Chances of seeing wildlife are high. We'll picnic midafternoon among the trees near the frog pond.
Moraga's suburban tracts among the hills used to be orchards. A few dozen trees still line the bike trail, and if we manage to get there at the ripe moment, you'll have the taste sensation of a lifetime, plus you'll pick enough to make jams and pies back home.
Check this space for timing details in the weeks leading up to the ride. The tour costs $15 plus approximately $8 in BART fees and includes large quantities of healthy picnic food (no red-meat, no cooking, lots of yum). No drinks are provided (BYO).
If you are interested, please request to be added to the pear-pickers email update list. We limit the group size to a dozen or so, so that we fit on BART.
SEPTEMBER '05 UPDATE: The pears got started a month late due to problems with pollenation when spring rains kept going a month into summer. We went on August 27, and also two September weekends and it was a spotty year—literally. Pears were tasty but sparse and ugly. No reservations for next year yet, but do keep in touch.
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