City Food Foraging :: Ginkgo

There was quite a number of clusters, only circled a couple just in case they were hard to see.

I love that sometimes when you walk around the city, there are trees planted that bear fruit AND are free for the taking!  Yesterday, I was out walking to a local supermarket and came across two ladies gathering little orange balls that had fallen from a tree along the sidewalk (well, actually the tree was shook, lol!) and I had a suspicion it was Ginkgo nuts (technically a seed rather than nut).  I was right; the lady showed me the seed inside and said it was used in Chinese medicine.  There was also an unpleasant smell to it which is characteristic of Ginkgo nuts.

I almost stopped to get some myself since they are known to be healthy but I didn't know the first thing about eating them fresh!  Luckily I didn't because after doing some online reading, touching them bare handed might induce a poison ivy like skin rash!  But, if anyone is interested in taking a look, there were about 4-5 trees along Doris Ave. between Elmwood and Spring Garden.  (However, I'm not a botanist or someone that really knows about Ginkgo so, picker beware!)

For sites with some good info about Ginkgo nuts and where to find them elsewhere in Toronto, look here and here.  I also found it interesting that you can request a tree to be planted in your area by the city and the Ginkgo tree is one of them.