With all these lockdowns and alert level changes you might be exploring the neighbourhood more, and perhaps grabbing some fruit off the trees along the way.
If you're looking to avoid going to the supermarket for your fresh produce, urban foraging could be the answer.
However, as Seven Sharp’s Jordyn Rudd found out, there's a difference between urban foraging and straight thieving.
So, what are you allowed to take without making your neighbours go bananas?
Auckland Council’s top forager, Mark Bowater, has some rules to follow.
Public fruit trees:
You can forage fruit off street trees on the grass verge or the berm.
There's no limit, but don’t take more than you need. Take fruit that’s fallen on the ground — that's when nature is telling us its ready to be taken.
Hanging over a footpath:
All of the fruit still belongs to the private tree owner, but you can always ask the property owner if you could help yourself.
If the fruit has fallen onto the footpath it’s fair game.
Fruit within arm's reach:
It's not OK to reach in and help yourself to fruit on a private property.
The golden rule is whether it's flowers, fresh herbs or fruit, make sure they're ripe for the picking and on public land.
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