After exhausting myself with a million websites, I decided I needed some tangible literature, so I went to the library last night and signed out 8 different books including Wild Fruits: Thoreau's Rediscovered Last Manuscript, Stalking The Healthful Herbs by Euell Gibbons and Basic Essentials of Edible Wild Plants & Useful Herbs by Jim Meuninck.
Anything having to do with edible wild plants, ethnobotany, shamanism or primitive living seems to peak my interest these days. First it was just a silly obsession with Terence McKenna and my fascination with the psychedelic aspect of human/plant relationships. Now, I feel it's become somewhat an obsession; I've even created myself a binder where I keep all of my notes, drawings, and research. It almost feels like I'm in school again, except this time I'm creating the syllabus and the topics are much more interesting!
If the weather is nice on Sunday, I plan on waking up early and hiking out to the old neighborhood (aka the woods) to look for edible plants, mushrooms, nuts and berries. Don't worry, I won't be ingesting anything unless I absolutely know for sure that it's not going to kill me or make be barf. It's more or less just a personal scavenger hunt that will help me get acquainted with more of nature's goodies.
What I'll be keeping an eye out for:
- elderberries
- cat tails
- hickory nuts
- acorns
- chestnuts
- meadow mushrooms
If anyone has any suggestions regarding northeastern fall foraging, I would love to hear your voice. This is all fairly new to me and I could use all the help I can get.
OH YEAH! Don't forget to watch the debate tonight!
5 comments:
if i were in PA, i would join you.
you are adorable. i am going to flea markets in adamstown (right off the lancaster exit of the turnpike) if you finish your nature walk early.
I'm further south, but some of this might be relevant... Down here, the wild edibles to be harvesting are paw-paws and nuts (black walnuts, mainly.) Not so wild, but now's also the time to check out your neighbors' fruit trees --- you'd be amazed at how many of them are letting their apples and pears rot on the ground! You won't find any wild chestnuts (they got blighted a few decades ago and are barely lingering in our woods), but some of your neighbors may be growing Chinese chestnuts which I just learned make the best pesto I've ever eaten!
Good luck! And thanks for linking my site on your sidebar (Walden Effect.) :-)
Anna, thanks for the tips! I love your site and I find you guys a huge inspiration.
I will keep you updated on what I find this weekend.
Hello Anna,
I have been enjoying reading through your blog for some time now so I thought I would tell you about a homesteading, emergency preparedness, and survival forum that I am a member of, www.PreparedSociety.com.
It has a ton of great information on simple and frugal living, green living, financial insight, gardening, livestock, food storage, natural health and medicine, and much more!
I'm sure the members of the forum would love to hear from you! It's free and easy to sign up. Maybe you could post a little about edible plants.
Hope to see you there!
Jack Moeller
www.PreparedSociety.com
forum@preparedsociety.com
Post a Comment