Archive for the ‘growing and gathering’ Category
growing and gathering – a sense of place
The theme of eating local foods has its essence in the idea of ‘place’. The book ‘The 100 Mile Diet – A Year of Local Eating’ by Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon (2007), introduced many to the idea of eating foods grown within a certain radius of home. Eating local is also place-based in terms of the settings we associate with local foods – the woods, the blueberry field, the home garden, the local farm, the roadside stand, and, of course, the farmers market are all places associated with obtaining food from local sources.
‘Place’ is a complex topic. Most of my poems about ‘growing and gathering’ include at least a little information about the ‘place’ where foods are found. Some poems, however, are specifically about ‘place’, and I want to group these together in my manuscript.
The poems I will include under the theme of ‘place’ will be focused on habitat, landscape, local food traditions, and the people-based concept of ‘home’.
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1. the ‘place’ where plants grow
Plants, of course, depend on their habitat to live. The ideal ‘place’ for a plant is determined by the availability of moisture, light and nutrients. These factors are, in part, the result of climate, soil type, slope, exposure, and interactions with other plants and animals. In my collection, I have poems about the habitat of seaside plants, the need for water in landscapes where water is scarce, and why woodland plants often bloom in the early spring, when light is most available.
2. plants shape their surroundings and their landscape
Plants create habitat, modifying the regimes of moisture, light and nutrients in a local space. Plants also help to create the broader landscape. I have poems about how ripening apples change the space under an apple tree, how large and small-scale characteristics affect the value of a property, and how plants contribute to the way landscape appears.
3. ‘place-based’ food traditions
As a result of the interaction between wild life and the landscape, people have access to different kinds of foods and develop area-specific wild food traditions. In New Brunswick, fiddleheads of the Ostrich Fern (Matteuccia Struthiopteris (L.) Todaro) are abundant in the spring, along the banks of rivers and wetlands, and many New Brunswickers consider a feed of cooked fiddleheads to be a rite of spring. In Newfoundland, a relative of the blackberry, the Bakeapple (Rubus Chamaemorus L.), is common in the bogs and barrens. Children often stand beside the road, their arms out-stretched, to sell their bottles of yellow Bakeapples packed in water. I have poems about these two local foods as well as others about traditional local foods.
4. ‘place’ as a metaphor for home
Plants and their ‘place’ can be a metaphor for the relationships between humans and the spaces where they are raised, or where they live. ‘Place’ may imply ‘home’ and ideas of belonging or familiarity. Several of my poems are about this aspect of ‘place’.
As I am working on the theme of ‘place’, a song by the 1990’s band Toad the Wet Sprocket is going around in my head:
‘…show me your home
Not the place where you live
But the place where you belong…’
Toad the Wet Sprocket, ‘Something to Say’, Fear, 1991
Exploring the theme of ‘place’ with you has helped me to organise my poems, to revise them, and to understand that I still have a few poems to write toward my manuscript. I am so grateful for this blog and for all my readers!
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landscape
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a veil draped across bones of the earth
pointed tents supported by forest
settles in pockets, lichens and moss
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beneath the cloth is texture, the way
I know life on the land, fast or slow,
near or far, through clear eyes or through tears
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to know form follows function – practice
repeated, detailed observation
see the sweep of a field of brambles
also the berries, also the thorns
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Published as ‘landscape’ on www.nichepoetryandprose.wordpress.com September 3, 2011
Revised
© Jane Tims 2012
growing and gathering – learning
When I embarked on my project to write poetry about ‘growing and gathering’, I wanted to learn as much as I could about the subject. It is not surprising, then, to find I have written quite a few poems on the theme of ‘learning’.
Some of these poems are in the spirit of ‘how to’. I have poems about collecting maple syrup, making jelly, harvesting and preparing wild sarsaparilla, stringing peas in the garden, gathering eggs and picking fiddleheads, among others. As poems can be a little obtuse, sometimes these directions are not very helpful in a practical way. However, I try to capture the essence of the growing and gathering of local foods.
I have also written poems about learning itself. I have a poem about my childhood experience of running free on the prairie, picking thorny cactus berries and bottles of scorpions (yes, scorpions… they were interesting and pretty, and I didn’t know they were dangerous!). I also have a poem to remind busy young mothers to learn from the rhythms of nature – the calm conspiring of bees and clovers to make honey, or the way a bird collects the makings of a nest, a little at a time. Another poem is about learning how to negotiate the traditions of the farmers market (if you buy fresh carrots, keep the green tops for your compost bin!!!).
I also have two poems about imitating nature. In the 1960s, my Mom used to make a few substitutions in her cooking to make up for a lack of ingredients. You have probably seen these recipes before: Apple Pie, No Apples and Mock Cherry Pie.
One of the reasons Mom made these recipes was to have some fun and make us laugh. But fake food is no laughing matter. My goal, in part, has been to show that we are now a little distanced from our food and its sources. By considering what wild foods might still be available, I have tried to get others to think about the source of our food and the greater simplicity of eating local.
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Apple Pie, No Apples
Prepare pastry for a double pie
Break 15 salted soda crackers into wedge-shaped pieces and place in the unbaked pie shell
Bring to a boil:
1 1/2 cups water 1 1/4 cups white sugar 4 tbsp. margarine 3/4 tsp. cinnamon 1 tsp. cream of tartar 1 tsp lemon flavoringPour mixture over crackers
Cover with pastry
Bake as for apple pie
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Mock Cherry Pie
Prepare pastry for a double pie
Fill pie shell with:
2 cups fresh cranberries 1 cup raisins 1 1/2 cups sugar 2 tbsp. flour 1 cup cold water 1 1/2 tsp. vanillaCover with a lattice of pastry.
Bake as for cherry pie
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Mock Cherry Pie
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I am not easy to fool –
embellished covers, empty pages
‘baby’ carrots, shapened like pencils
knock-off purses, no money inside
diet soda and servings of fries
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who else would look
under the lattice crust
to discover cranberries and raisins?
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cherries in the orchard
never picked
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© Jane Tims 2012
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Warning: 1. never eat any plant if you are not absolutely certain of the identification; 2. never eat any plant if you have personal sensitivities, including allergies, to certain plants or their derivatives; 3. never eat any plant unless you have checked several sources to verify the edibility of the plant.~
Blueberries!
I love blueberries and so I am very happy – our blueberries are blue and ready for the picking at our summer property.
There are two ways to pick blueberries, with your hands…
or with a rake…
My husband bought me my rake years ago, so I use it when there are lots of berries and most are ripe. There is a bit of a knack to harvesting with a rake. The ripe blueberries are loosened and captured with the tines of the rake. The basic technique is to sweep the surface of the bushes, tipping the rake upward as you sweep, since the ripe berries fall into a tine-less part of the pan. The experience of raking berries is very different from picking. The process is less calm, although you do get into a rhythm. Also, the tines of the rake vibrate as you sweep, making a lovely musical sound!
We compared the yields between picking and raking, and we get about five times as many berries per unit effort with the rake (I am sure professional rakers do much better than this). The rake gets lots of leaves and debris along with the berries, so the time saved in raking instead of picking is lost in the cleaning (in a professional operation, the debris is removed with fans or another sorting method).
Although we have lots of berries on the property, they are getting fewer each year because the growth of other vegetation crowds the blueberry bushes. But we have a backup plan!
We also travel to the southern part of the province where the berries are in full production this time of year. Our preferred place to get blueberries by the box or by the pie is in Pennfield, at McKay’s Wild Blueberry Farm Stand.
We eat most of our own blueberries almost immediately. They also freeze very well. Our favorite way to use the berries is by making Blueberry Dumplings.
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Blueberry Dumplings
two to three cups of fresh blueberries 1/2 cup of water 2 tbsp. of sugar (more if you prefer a sweeter dish) ~Bring the berries, sugar and water to a boil.
When the mixture is bubbling, turn down the heat.
Dumplings:
1 cup flour 2 tsp. baking powder 1 tbsp. of shortening, cut into the flour/baking powder mixture 1 tsp. sugar 1/2 cup milk ~Mix well and add by spoonfuls to the top of the cooking blueberries.
Cover the pan tightly with a lid (otherwise, you will have a blue-spattered stove).
Cook at low for about 12-15 minutes or until dumplings are fluffy and done in the middle.
Enjoy!
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raking blueberries
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the sweep of the rake, the berry
touch, the ring of the tines
vibrato in blue, duet with the wind
in the whispering pines
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© Jane Tims 2012
Warning: 1. never eat any plant if you are not absolutely certain of the identification; 2. never eat any plant if you have personal sensitivities, including allergies, to certain plants or their derivatives; 3. never eat any plant unless you have checked several sources to verify the edibility of the plant. ~poisonous Lathyrus – when ‘wild’ plants are not edible
Yesterday, August 1, 2012, I posted a description of the Beach Pea (Lathyrus japonicus Willd.) and said the peas could be collected, boiled and eaten. This is the advice of the Peterson Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants (1977). My further reading, from more up to date sources, says you should not eat the seeds of Beach Pea or other species of wild pea. Many Lathyrus species contain a neurotoxin that can lead to a condition called lathyrism, a type of paralysis. Although there are other guides saying that Beach Pea is edible in small quantities, I have revised the post to remain on the safe side.
When we choose to include wild plants in our diets, it is very important to know for certain they will not be harmful. In my posts, I have talked about avoiding berries that may look pretty to eat, but contain toxins (for example the bright blue berries of Clintonia (see my post for May 23, 2012, ‘Bluebead Lily’ https://nichepoetryandprose.wordpress.com/2012/05/23/bluebead-lily-clintonia-borealis-ait-raf/ ) or the tomato-like berries of the Common Nightshade (see my post for July 16, 2012, ‘growing and gathering – barriers to eating wild foods’ https://nichepoetryandprose.wordpress.com/2012/07/16/growing-and-gathering-barriers-to-eating-wild-foods/ ).
I have also talked about cases in history of people who risk eating poisonous plants when hunger or famine strike. An example is the making of Missen Bread in Scandinavia, using a long complicated process designed to remove the burning, poisonous crystals contained in the roots of the Wild Calla (see my post for June 4, 2012, ‘keeping watch for dragons #6 – Water Dragon’ https://nichepoetryandprose.wordpress.com/2012/06/04/keeping-watch-for-dragons-6-water-dragon/ ). Poisonous species of Lathyrus (for example Lathyrus sativus, the Grass Pea), in the same genus as the Beach Pea, have been used throughout history for food when people are desperate, in times of drought, famine or poverty.
So, please, take the following steps before you ingest any wild plant:
1. check out as many sources as you can find, to discover the current wisdom and science about ingesting a plant
2. be certain of your identification – many plants look very similar to one-another and can be confused
3. think about your own sensitivities, since you may react to foods that do not bother other people.
4. when in doubt, take the route of caution and safety and do not eat
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© Jane Tims 2012
Beach Pea (Lathyrus japonicus Willd.)
During our vacation to Nova Scotia, we stopped at several places along St. Margaret’s Bay. All along the beaches, tucked just out of reach of the highest tides, were crowds of Beach Pea. Beach Pea (Lathyrus japonicus Willd.) is a common plant of the coast, growing on sandy and gravelly shorelines and beaches.
This plant resembles the garden pea. It has vine-like, trailing, compound leaves, each composed of 6-8 leaflets. At the base of each leaf is a clasping stipule; at the leaf’s tip is a curling tendril. The flowers are showy, pink and blueish-purple, blooming from June to August.
The seeds of the Beach Pea are podded peas, from 1 to 2 inches long. They are greyish-green and ripen in August.
Some sources, including Peterson’s Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants (1977), say that Beach Peas can be collected, boiled and eaten when they are young and tender. Other sources, more up to date, say they are not edible because they contain a toxic substance that effects the nervous system. In my next post, I’ll talk a bit about being cautious before eating wild plants.
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Beach Pea
Lathyrus japonicus Willd.
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she feints on the rocks
sighs on the sand
beckons with the tendrils
of her feathery hand
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ruffles her skirts
in the salted breeze
and squanders her love
on indifferent seas
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© Jane Tims 2012
Warning: 1. never eat any plant if you are not absolutely certain of the identification; 2. never eat any plant if you have personal sensitivities, including allergies, to certain plants or their derivatives; 3. never eat any plant unless you have checked several sources to verify the edibility of the plant.limits of the tide #5 – Samphire (Salicornia europaea L.)
A beach-comber this time of year may easily over-look plants of Samphire (Salicornia europaea L.), also called Glasswort, Pigeon-foot, and Chicken-claws. Unless it is plentiful, it becomes lost ‘in the green’ of other sea-shore plants. The genus name, Salicornia, comes from the words sal meaning salt and cornu meaning horn. These plants consist of a branched, succulent stem, apparently without leaves or flowers. The leaves and tiny flowers are embedded in the stem.
Although Salicornia is typically a plant of coastal areas, like Sea-blite, it is also found far from the coast, in the vicinity of inland salt springs.
Samphire greens are salty, delicious as a salad ingredient, a pickle, or a pot-herb.
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salt of the sea
Samphire ( Salicornia europaea L.)
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Salicornia smoulders
on a silica shore,
flute and fire
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Glass pipes,
mainstem and branches,
pickle green
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Light glimpsed
through crystalline,
transparent walls
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Seawater, rarefied,
decanted
to a Samphire phial
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Flask of salt-sap,
brine on the tongue
Always wanting more
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© Jane Tims 2012
Warning: 1. never eat any plant if you are not absolutely certain of the identification; 2. never eat any plant if you have personal sensitivities, including allergies, to certain plants or their derivatives; 3. never eat any plant unless you have checked several sources to verify the edibility of the plant.growing and gathering – ethics
Some of the poems in my collection will address the ethics of eating wild plants as food.
As a botanist, I know how many wild plants are edible. However, I also know there are ethical considerations to eating wild plants.
Plants differ greatly in their availability. Eating Dandelion greens puts no pressure on the survival of the Dandelion. Weedy species in general respond well to being harvested, by putting out copious seeds, by filling in the spaces with new rhizomes and shoots, and by growing in many habitats and conditions.
However some plants are very specific in their requirements. They need certain conditions of light, moisture and soil to thrive and reproduce. On our own property, I have watched the Painted Trillium (Trillium undulatum Willd.) struggle to maintain its presence. The Painted Trillium needs acidic, rich soils and lots of shade. Remove a single tree, cut a new trail, or let the Balsam Fir overtake the understory, and the place where a few Trilliums grew in previous years is suddenly vacant. The young leaves of the Painted Trillium can be used as a pot herb, but should I pick them to add to my knowledge about eating local foods?
a Painted Trillium in our Grey Woods, near the end of its blooming
Many woodland plants deserve this special consideration. In his Flora of New Brunswick (2000), Hal Hinds wrote, of the Indian Cucumber-root (Medeola virginiana L.): “… Although this plant produces a deeply rooted, 2-3 cm edible white tuber with a bland cucumber taste and crisp watery texture, it is truly unfortunate to destroy the plant for such a tiny morsel…”
In some circumstances, harvesting and eating these rarer wildflowers would be acceptable. In the past, for example, people of the First Nations depended on wild plants for their existence. A lost hiker, needing sustenance or hope in an emergency situation, could be excused for eating any edible wild plant.
In other circumstances, rarity, the size of the population, and habitat health are probably the fundamental issues. Take the time to know a little about the plant you are thinking of picking. Is its habitat under stress or becoming hard to find? Is it rare, threatened or endangered? Local abundance may not be a deciding factor, since rare plants often grow abundantly where they are able to grow.
Eating local is an environmentally responsible life-style choice. It saves energy and supports local farmers. Eating local wild plants as food is a nutritious and thrifty way to supplement the larder. But these benefits must be weighed against the possible harm to plant populations.
Pick with some rules in mind. Understand the plant you harvest. Gather only what is sustainable. Sometimes this means gathering nothing at all.
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Indian Cucumber-root
(Medeola virginiana L.)
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step carefully
in your quest,
lured to the wood
by a sorceress
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search carefully
among the shoots
for Indian
Cucumber-root
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count carefully-
two layers of leaves
purple berries
stalk wool-sheathed
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dig carefully-
below the stem
in dark, damp earth
awaits a gem
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clean carefully
leave no trace
of the woodland soil
on the creamy face
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taste carefully-
best to savour-
slightly celery
in flavour
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think carefully
now you possess
one dead plant
and emptiness
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© Jane Tims 2012
Chicory – (Cichorium intybus L.)
Along the Trans-Canada near Jemseg, one colony of Chicory has taken hold. Its bright sky-blue flowers catch the eye as the usual roadside vegetation rolls by.
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Also known as Blue Sailors and, in French, chicoreé, Chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) is a tall plant, found along roadsides and in other waste places.
Chicory has basal leaves resembling those of the Dandelion. When broken, the stem exudes a white milky fluid.
The bright blue flowers of Chicory occur along the length of the almost leafless and somewhat zig-zag stem. Each flower is formed of a central involucre of tiny blue flowers and a disc of larger ray flowers. The rays are square-cut and fringed. The flowers follow the sun, closing by noon, or on overcast days.
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Chicory is a useful plant. Its young leaves are edible as salad greens or as a pot-herb. The roots can be dried and ground to make a coffee substitute or supplement. The root of Chicory has soothing properties to balance the edginess caused by caffeine. The roots of Chicory are large and very deep. I tried to pull them by hand, but a shovel will be needed to harvest the roots in the compact soil of the roadside.
~ When I see these flowers, I am reminded of my grandfather, my mother’s father. I never knew him, but I have a couple of photographs of him as a young man. I have made a small study of his mother, my great-grandmother, so I know quite a lot about him. ~
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The flowers of Chicory remind me of his eyes, since they were the same startling blue. He was also a tall man, another feature of the plant.
The other name for Chicory, Blue Sailors, also reminds me of my grandfather. He was a sailor, entering the navy when he was only fifteen. I know from various records that he served on at least two naval vessels, the USS Nebraska and the USS Pensacola. As so often happens when I see photographs of ancestors, there is a familiarity about his features.
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Blue Sailors
Chicory (Cichorium intybus L.)
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at the roadside
weeds surge as waves
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on the sameness of ocean,
a buoy lifted,
a sudden swell of Chicory
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tall, like my grandfather,
the blue ice of his eyes
its blunt petals, the square-cut of his jaw
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joined the navy at fifteen
dressed as a sailor, headed for sea
USS Pensacola, USS Nebraska
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his tie, a sapphire ribbon
toothed or frayed
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© Jane Tims 2012
Warning: 1. never eat any plant if you are not absolutely certain of the identification; 2. never eat any plant if you have personal sensitivities, including allergies, to certain plants or their derivatives; 3. never eat any plant unless you have checked several sources to verify the edibility of the plant.Partridge-berry (Mitchella repens L.)
One of the evergreen plants in the spring woodland is a little vine called Partridge-berry. It trails, low to the ground, in shady, mossy woods, sometimes covering moist banks and hummocks with its shiny greenery.
Partridge-berry (Mitchella repens L.) is also known as Twinberry, Snakevine, Running Fox and Two-eyed Berry. The word repens is from the Latin for ‘creeping’.
The leaves of Partridge-berry are small, ovoid and opposite on a vine-like stem. The leaves have a bright yellow midrib and veins, giving them a clear outline against the background of dry leaves.
The flowers are white or pinkish, and bell-shaped. They occur in pairs – the two flowers are closely united at the base, sharing a single calyx. As a result, the bright red berries are two-eyed, each showing two blossom scars.
This time of year, in July, Partridge-berry has flowered and set its berries. The berries are dry and seedy but edible, with a slightly aromatic flavour. They are a good nibble along the trail or can be used as emergency food. The berries are ordinarily eaten by birds, such as the Ruffed Grouse.
Warning: 1. never eat any plant if you are not absolutely certain of the identification; 2. never eat any plant if you have personal sensitivities, including allergies, to certain plants or their derivatives; 3. never eat any plant unless you have checked several sources to verify the edibility of the plant.~
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common names
( Mitchella repens L.)
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1.
Running Fox
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a glimpse of red
between hairmoss and hummock
the fox slips into shrewd spaces
seeks the vacant way
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2.
Snakevine
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a twist and a Twin-berry
trail woven and worn
mottled and mid-ribbed
Mitchella meanders
over feathermoss, under fern
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3.
Partridge-berry
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Ruffed Grouse pokes and pecks
tucks a Two-eyed Berry in his crop
lurches on
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© Jane Tims 2012
growing and gathering – barriers to eating wild foods
One of the themes in the poems I have written for my manuscript on ‘growing and gathering’ local foods concerns the ‘barriers’ to eating local foods, especially wild local foods. Edible wild plants are everywhere around us… why don’t people make more use of them?
The barriers to gathering and eating wild foods are:
1. knowledge – although most people can recognise and even name a few plants, only a few can identify and name every plant they see with certainty. It you eat a plant, you need to know you won’t be the victim of mistaken identity. Sometimes very closely related plants are quite different when it comes to their edibility. A simple example is the Tomato: the species we eat is Solanum lycopersicum Lam.; a plant from the same genus is the poisonous Common Nightshade (Solanum ptychanthum L.). The fear of mis-identification and poisoning oneself is a barrier to eating local wild plants. Also, people can vary greatly in their sensitivity. One person can eat a plant without effect while another cannot because arthritis is aggravated.
berries of Common Nightshade are poisonous… later in the season, they are red and quite beautiful… children should be warned that all red berries are NOT good to eat
2. access – in order to eat wild plants, you have to know where they grow, you have to be able to go there, and you must have access. Many people live in urban or sub-urban areas where some species of wild plants just aren’t found. Even if you have transportation or live in a rural area, access may be a problem. There may be a lush field of raspberries just up the road, but if there is a locked gate, better get permission!
3. peril – sometimes picking wild plants for food has an unpleasant or dangerous side. Some plants are poisonous. Picking berries may mean avoiding sharp thorns! Sometimes berry picking takes you on a heads-down journey far from the point where you began… you may get lost! You can look up and not recognise where you are or how to return to your point of origin!
4. contaminants – some locations may not be suitable for collecting and eating wild plants. For example, plants along busy highways may have high levels of some contaminants. Berries or other plants growing along the roadside may carry a burden of dust, making them unpalatable. I wouldn’t make a cup of Sweet Fern tea from the dusty leaves in this photo!
5. convenience – Sometimes gathering or producing wild foods is too demanding of time and energy. I love collecting maple sap and boiling maple syrup each spring, but it is hard work and takes days to accomplish. Sometimes you know there is a patch of berries just down the road, but other demands on time take precedence.
6. competition – Wild animals also like edible wild plants. You may run into a bear while picking berries, or face a moral dilemma when you realise you are keeping the squirrels from a food source! My garden is always under attack and the battle often seems to outweigh the benefits of having a garden. This year the enemies are slugs, bunny rabbits and shadows (too much shade).
7. complacency – Sometimes I think, most of the barriers I’ve listed above could be overcome. But a barrier not so easy to negotiate is one of separation from nature and the associated complacency. It has become normal not to seek our food in the natural spaces around us. We go to the grocery store, pick up what we need, and take the easiest route in our exhausted lives. Even gardens are not as common as they once were. In my mother’s generation, gardens were the norm. This partly came from long traditions of growing food, but also from the concept of the ‘Victory Garden’, begun during World War II in order to conserve resources and boost morale.
World War II poster promoting the Victory Garden (Source: Wikimedia Commons, original art by Morley)
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The only way I know to return to a simpler life is to take small steps and take them often, so they become habit. Here are some suggestions:
- visit the Farmers Market in your community, to obtain fresh produce and to know the history of your food;
- stop at those market stands along the road and buy produce in season. In our area, vendors sell lobster, smelt, fiddleheads, strawberries and apples this way;
- if you have an apple tree in your yard, or wild raspberries in a field nearby, pick them and enjoy;
- if your apple tree needs pruning and some TLC, talk to a knowledgable person and find out how to return it to production;
- dig the fishing tackle from the garage and take the kids fishing;
- grow a pot of fresh herbs on your back deck;
- learn about one wild plant, find a place where it grows, be certain of the identification, and use it! Then find another!
nichepoetryandprose 