Posts Tagged ‘nature’
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!
keeping watch for dragons #7 – Bog Dragon
Some dragons like to live in bogs.
When we were in Nova Scotia, near Peggy’s Cove, imagine my delight when I found, among the Pitcher-plants, a species of the orchid family, Arethusa (Arethusa bulbosa L.), also known as the Dragon’s Mouth Orchid.
Arethusa loves wet, boggy conditions. Among the greens and reds of the low-lying bog, it surprises a visitor with its splash of pink. Even the Pitcher-plants in the photo above look a little over-come with the beauty of the Dragon’s Mouth!
This orchid has a complex flower, with three thin flaring upper petals, two in-turned petals guarding its ‘mouth’ and a lower lip with yellow and white fringed crests.
Arethusa is named after a Naiad in Greek mythology. The Naiads were nymphs associated with fresh water features such as springs, wells, fountains and brooks. Nymphs, like plants, were dependant on their habitat… if the water where they lived dried up, they perished.
Perhaps a Bog Dragon is also absolutely dependant on the water held within the bog!!!
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Bog Dragon
Arethusa bulbosa L.
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naiad
masquerades as dragon,
claps her hands across her mouth,
sorry to have spoken –
her voice, her pink, her petals
lure them,
their large feet and tugging hands
too near
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© Jane Tims 2012
coastal barren, coastal bog
On our vacation to Nova Scotia last month, we revisited the Peggy’s Cove area near Halifax. I spent a lot of time along this coast years ago, but I had forgotten the unique wildness and beauty of this landscape.
We explored two habitat types, the dry and rocky barrens, and the wet coastal bog. As we found each new plant, I felt like I was greeting old and well-loved friends.
On the higher areas, growing in the thin soil on the bedrock were several species. One of these included Crowberry (Empetrum nigrum L.), a small moss-like plant with spiky leaves and small pink flowers. Later in the season, these will bear edible back berries.
We also found Three-toothed Cinquefoil (Sibbaldia tridentata (Aiton) Paule & Soják) with its three leaflets and the characteristic three teeth at the tip of each leaf. The leaves are thick and outlined in red at this time of year. Later in the year the leaves turn bright red. The white flowers each have five petals, and are starry with stamens.
In the low-lying, boggy areas, we found a ‘merriment’ (my word) of Pitcher-plants (Sarracenia purpurea L.).
The leaves of these insectivorous plants are shaped like vessels. Insects climbing into the leaves encounter downward pointing hairs. They are trapped! Eventually they drown and are digested in the water at the base of the ‘pitcher’.
We also found another carnivorous plant, the Round-leaved Sundew (Drosera rotundifolia L.). The leaves of these plants are covered with tiny hairs… these exude a sticky liquid and trapped insects are slowly digested. For more information on the Sundew, please visit my post for October 31, 2011, ‘Round-leaved Sundew’. https://nichepoetryandprose.wordpress.com/2011/10/
All was not gruesome. We also found Arethusa (Arethusa bulbosa L.), a member of the orchid family. This beautiful pink orchid is also known as the Dragon’s Mouth.
Overall, our trip to Peggy’s Cove was a wonderful adventure. We plan to return in the early fall, when the Crowberry and the other edible plants we saw have set their berries.
Have you ever been to Peggy’s Cove and what did you think of the coastal landscape and the plants growing there?
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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 – picking berries with friends
As I am deciding how to organise my poetry manuscript on ‘growing and gathering’ local foods, I am considering the themes of the various poems. I think these themes will become the sections in my manuscript.
One of the first themes to emerge, perhaps the easiest to examine, is about ‘relationships’.
Although I have often picked berries alone, my best memories are of picking berries with members of my family. Both my Mom and Dad loved to pick berries. My Dad was a fast picker and I was always in silent competition with him to pick the most berries… I never won. My Mom picked berries quickly, but took the time to enjoy the fresh air, the blue sky and the expanse of the berry field. When I think of picking berries with her, I feel calm and a little lazy. My relationship with my mother-in-law was also shaped by our many berry-picking experiences; when I pick raspberries, I hear her quiet laughter in the breeze.
As I write poetry for my ‘growing and gathering’ manuscript, I have explored my relationships with the various people in my life.
Some of these are based on real experiences I have had picking berries or gathering greens. Examples include poems about trying to find an old berry field, now grown over, or how changes in a relationship can be observed over the years in the annual picking of berries. Although most of the poems are about plants, I have included production of other local foods – so a poem about beekeeping, for example, explores how two people interact during a small emergency.
In other cases, the gathering of local foods is a metaphor for some aspect of a relationship, whether good and bad. At least some of these metaphors are related to the characteristics of plants or animals – for example, the serrated edges of leaves, the slipperiness of a trout, the gentle feel and fragrance of Bedstraw, or the bitterness of taste common to so many ‘salad’ greens.
Some of the metaphor is based on the place where plants grow. Examples include the seclusion of many berry-picking spots, or the physical spaces created by rows of corn plants.
As I look over the Table of Contents for my manuscript, I realise some poems will be stronger if placed within another theme. So I have moved, for example, a poem about picking berries over a three-week period from the theme on ‘relationships’ to a theme about ‘change’.
This consideration of the themes in my poetry has given me a good start to organising the poems, and identifying gaps I have to fill. I know now there are lots of gaps, and many poems yet to write!
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Bitter Blue
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of all the silvery summer days we spent none so warm sun on
granite boulders round blue berry field miles across hazy miles
away from hearing anything but bees
and berries
plopping in the pail
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beside you I draped my lazy bones on bushes crushed berries and
thick red leaves over moss dark animal trails nudged between rocks
baking berries brown musk rising to meet blue heat
or the still fleet scent
of a waxy berry bell
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melting in my mouth crammed with fruit sometimes pulled from
laden stems more often scooped from your pail full ripe blue pulp
and the bitter shock of a hard green berry never ripe
or a shield bug
with frantic legs
and an edge to her shell
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Published as: ‘Bitter Blue’, Summer 1993, The Amethyst Review 1 (2)
Published on www.nichepoetryandprose.wordpress.com on July 31, 2011
© 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.Pineapple Weed (Matricaria matricarioides (Less.) Porter.)
I bear weeds no ill-will. When I pull them in my garden, I am just helping my vegetables to get an edge in the great competition. Also, as you now know, I consider many ‘weeds’ to be edible and delicious. But, in one case, I cheerfully stomp on the weeds and consider the benefits to outweigh the sorrow.
When I went to meetings at our provincial Department of Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries, I had to follow a wide path of concrete slabs to get to the door of the building. In the cracks between the slabs grew a small, rather pretty weed. I loved to step on this weed, or pick it, to smell its fragrance. The weed is Pineapple Weed and, crushed, it smells just like pineapple. Its scent is also reminiscent of Garden-camomile, or Hay-scented Fern.
Pineapple Weed grows along roadsides and in waste places, wherever the soil is disturbed and competition from other plants is low. It is an inconspicuous cousin of Garden-camomile (Anthemis nobilis L.) and looks a little like Camomile except the flowers have no white ray-florets. The leaves of Pineapple Weed are very finely divided and feather-like.
The generic name Matricaria comes from the Latin word matrix, meaning ‘womb’, a tribute to its reputed medicinal properties. The specific name matricarioides means ‘like Matricaria’ since it was originally considered to be another species.
My husband tells me, as a child, he used plants of Pineapple Weed as miniature trees when he played with his Dinky cars!
To make a pale yellow, pineapple-scented tea, steep the fresh or dried flowers of Pineapple Weed in hot water.
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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Matricaria
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two in the morning
and the canister of Camomile
yawns empty
~
crush Matricaria
steep a sprinkle of flowers
in water, tea the color
of straw
~
surround of pineapple
hay-scented fern
sleep
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© Jane Tims 2012
limits of the tide #4 – Orach (Atriplex patula L.)
Orach (Atriplex patula L.) is a common inhabitant of coastal areas in New Brunswick. It lives in sheltered locations on the upper shore, out of reach of the highest tides.
The leaves of Orach are fleshy and arrow-shaped. The margins of the leaves are variously toothed and the lowest teeth point outward (‘hastate’, similar to the leaves of Sheep Sorrel in the June 8, 2012 post under the category ‘growing and gathering’). The leaves are grey to bright green and lighter on the underside of the leaf. Orach is a highly variable and poorly known species with respect to taxonomy.
Orach flowers from July to August. The flowers are like many seaside plants, inconspicuous and small, in the axils of the leaves.
Orach is tasty and salty. It can be used in salads, or cooked in boiling water for 15 minutes and served like spinach.
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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hunting the orach
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I know the place where the orach hides –
out of the way of the rising tides
between the rocks and deep in the sand,
with his halberd drawn, he makes his stand
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© Jane Tims 2012
limits of the tide #2 – Seaside Plantain (Plantago juncoides Lam.) – Goosetongue greens
One of the edible plants we found at Oak Bay (near St. Stephen, New Brunswick) was Seaside Plantain, also known locally as Goosetongue.
Seaside Plantain, also known as Goosetongue, ready to pick… they have to be rinsed well since the outgoing tide has left a thick layer of sediment behind…
Seaside Plantain (Plantago juncoides Lam.) grows in thick clumps, forming an intermittent carpet across the shore. The succulent, linear leaves of Seaside Plantain are grey-green in color. Inconspicuous green flowers, not present until later in June, rise from the rosette of leaves in a terminal spike. Seaside Plantain is in the same genus as Common Plantain (see the post for June 13, 2012, ‘Common Plantain’ under the category ‘growing and gathering’). Plantago is from the Latin for ‘footprint’ and juncoides means ‘rush-like’.
Goosetongue greens are pleasantly salty and are a local delicacy, eaten as a salad or pickle, or cooked like green beans and served with butter. For a vivid description of the experience of gathering and preparing Goosetongue greens, see Nature of Words (www.natureofwords.com/2011/07/goosetongue-greens/) by Deborah Carr, and the post for July 14, 2011, entitled ‘Goosetongue greens’.
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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Sunday Dinner at Maces Bay
Seaside Plantain (Pantago juncoides Lam.)
~
dig right in
says your father
and nudges the pitcher of water
in my direction
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I study the ‘goosetongue greens’ –
mound of green spaghetti
between spuds and chicken,
green eels diving
for the bottom of the plate
~
two things not in their favour –
they’re green,
they look a little like
the tongues of geese
~
I watch your Dad –
he adds a dollop of butter,
he weaves his fork to catch a little of each,
potato, greens and chicken,
chews with his eyes closed,
reaches for his glass of water
~
I sigh
and taste –
salt air and butter-cream,
crisp, the perfect crush,
mouth-feel, amazing
please pass the water
~
~
© 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 #1 – edible plants
Last week, our travels took us to the edge of the sea, where I looked for more edible wild plants. I found what I was looking for at Oak Bay, near St. Stephen. At the end of a little-used road, we came out on a gravelly spit of land jutting into the Bay.
mid-tide at Oak Bay… at high tide, most of the foreshore will be covered by salt water… at low tide, the clam-flats will be exposed
There, on the shoreline, were four plants to add to my larder of edible wild.
Three of the species formed a small community near the upper reaches of the shore: Seaside Plantain, Sea-blite and Samphire. All three are in the photo below… can you find them?
The Seaside Plantain (also known as Goosetongue) is the dense clump of long, thick, linear leaves in the photo above…
The Sea-blite is just starting to grow. Later in the season it will be as large or larger than the Seaside Plantain. In the enlargement below, Sea-blite is the small green plant to the right of the clump of Seaside Plantain…
The Samphire is also very small this time of year. Later it will be as large as the Sea-blite or Seaside Plantain. In the photo enlargement below, it is at the base of the clump of Seaside Plantain, at exactly 6 o’clock.
The fourth edible plant at Oak Bay is Orach. It grows on the upper shore, above the Seaside Plantain and beyond the limit of the tide. These plants often grow together along the coast, on salt marshes, tidal flats, dykelands and beaches.
Since the plants were not plentiful and not yet ready to pick, I took only one plant of each, for my drawings. I also took a bite of each type of leaf. Although there are subtle differences, all four were crisp and salty in flavour, a delightful nibble of the salty sea.
These are just a few of the edible plants living in coastal areas of New Brunswick. Over the next posts, I will explore these four species and a few others.
© 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 – the benefits of eating ‘very local’ foods
In 2007, Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon embarked on a year-long experiment in eating local. Their book, The 100 Mile Diet – A Year of Local Eating, introduced many to the idea of obtaining their food from nearby sources. It reminded people about the thousands of kilometers our food has to travel to make it to our tables. It pointed out some of the barriers to ‘eating local’ and showed how, with a little ingenuity and effort, our diets could be more environmentally conscious and sustainable.
Eating local foods is a sound choice in our illogical world. It supports local farmers and producers. It mitigates some of the energy costs associated with moving food hundreds of miles to the consumer. It honors our origins and connects us to our ancestors who lived their lives more simply and locally.
Into this concept of eating local, I include the idea of eating wild foods whenever possible. My mother grew up in a time when bulging grocery carts were unheard-of. Without subscribing to any particular theory of eating local, she supplemented her food with wild edibles as a matter of habit. In addition to using rhubarb and currents from her garden, she picked berries when they were in season, tried to convince her family to join her in eating dandelion greens and sour dock, and showed us how to pick spruce gum from spruce trees as a chewy treat.
Eating ‘very local’ has many benefits. The edible plants growing right outside our doors are filled with nutrients, many are very palatable, even delicious, and they are present in great variety, and in all seasons. They are free and are easy to harvest and prepare. Picking berries or chewing spruce gum puts us in touch with nature and helps us to understand our role as a member of the ecosystem. It honors the people who came before us and helps us connect with the way our parents and grand-parents lived their lives. Identifying and picking wild plants for food is an enjoyable activity and a way to show your children how to be thrifty, engaged members of the ecosystem.
In an upcoming post, I will look at some of the ethical issues around using wild plants as food.
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six bottles of jam
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I reach up, for a cluster of pin cherries
and stop –
above me, my grand-mother’s hand
dry as a page from her recipes,
age-spotted, worried at the edges
her ankles are swollen, but she is determined –
enough berries for a half-dozen
bottles of pin cherry jam
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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.snippets of landscape – evidence of old roads
This week, we drove to the south-west corner of the province and spent a little time at the Ganong Nature and Marine Park, at Todd’s Point near St. Stephen. The area is managed by the Quoddy Futures Foundation and is the former property of Eleanor and Whidden Ganong (Whidden Ganong was President of the Ganong Bros. candy factory in St. Stephen). The property is beautiful and good for the soul. We walked through the fields, identified wildflowers, listened to the birdsong, and were returned to a simpler time.
The fields along the path were yellow with Buttercup (Ranunculus sp.) and the largest population of Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus Crista-galli L.) I have ever seen. The flowers of the Yellow Rattle were bright yellow, but the inflated calyx was tinged with red, giving the field a stippled glow (for more information on Yellow Rattle, see my post for August 3, 2011, ‘along the country road #1’ ).
Yellow Rattle among the field flowers… the fused sepals are tinged and veined with red
The Buttercups were everywhere, but concentrated in certain areas of the field. One area in particular seemed to mark the path of an abandoned road. The Buttercups have found some aspect of the old road to their liking. Perhaps the soil is compacted and they have a competitive ‘edge’ on the other plants. Perhaps the hidden track provides some alteration in the water regime or a place where certain types of seeds concentrate as they are dispersed. Perhaps there are subtle differences in the soil chemistry.
an abandoned track marked in Buttercups… the red tint in the foreground is from the reddish coloration of the Yellow Rattle
Years ago, I visited a property where the roadway to a back field was clearly marked with Bluets (Houstonia caerulea L.). The owner of the property said he thought they grew there because he always took his lime in an open cart back to his fields, and enough had spilled to make the way especially attractive to the Bluets.
Perhaps you will have a look in your landscape for wildflower clues to past activities.
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Invitation to Tea
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in the afternoon,
I huddle over tea
and watch
the road
~
an old road,
rarely used –
walks scarcely part
the tangle of fern
~
I scan the woods,
I love the look
of ancient trunk
and horizontal green
~
and always,
in the corner of my eye,
the road
~
overgrown –
a narrow course of saplings
intercepts
the sameness
of maturity
~
I watch
expectantly
~
but the road is abandoned –
cart-tracks worn
to rivulets,
culverts buried
by fallen leaves,
rusted oil tins,
depressions in the mould
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© Jane Tims 2012
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