Black Raspberry Picking

Early July is one of my favorite times of the year! Mulberries are usually still going strong and black raspberries are usually ripening. We have a little patch of black raspberries on our property. It doesn't seem like we usually have enough to make anything with our raspberries, as four boys and their momma like to snack on them whenever they're out in the yard, eating them freshly picked from hand to mouth. They are delicious!

Morels!

Earlier this spring, a friend took me under his wing to learn about morels. We went in late April or early May, before the big rush appeared. We only found 5 while we were out that day, yet he was able to share his MANY years of experience morel hunting with me.  He lives over in LaGrange, so took me places he knows, like Mongo Fish and Wildlife Area and the woods near his house. He told me stories of hunting the woods with his family as a child and a special time hunting with his aging father in a patch closer to the road. My friend grew up with morel hunting as a way of life and has only missed a few seasons in his 70 years.

Mushrooms, Anyone?

This weekend, I stopped by Better World Books in Goshen for an author talk by Stephen Russell, who wrote The Essential Guide to Cultivating Mushrooms. My sister and brother-in-law had done some cultivation in the past and were interested in what the author had to say. I decided to tag along and learn what I could learn. I have been following the Hoosier Mushroom Society online for some time, so was familiar with what they are doing. I had found an article about the event online from Flavor 574, which piqued my interest in learning more.

Acorns!

I had a great dinner tonight! It only cost $3, included an educational aspect, and highlighted the humble acorn! I remember our family roasting an acorn when I was 11 or 12. As I remember, it didn't taste so great. However, Andy, from Elkhart County Parks, made tasty treats for us!

He usually has a few hand outs to help us understand the topic better. I have several copies of this dichotomous tree chart from various programs by now. It really is handy to identify and classify the tress in our area. Andy talked about red and white oak families. He said the red oaks are especially bitter. These have stipules or pointy tips at the ends of each leaf section. These are also called bristle-tipped leaves. Red oaks include black, red, in, and shingle. The white oak acorns are a little less bitter and include bur, white, chestnut, cinquapin, and swamp white oak trees.

As far as using acorn, Andy shared how he prepared the acorns and several recipes. Here are several acorns which have been dehydrated after they were soaked (draining water each day) for several days. The tannins are leeched from the acorns through this process. You can see the color in the jar of liquid below. It was used to cure hides at different times.

When using acorns, discard the one with worms. Watch for any fungus that might be growing. Another option is to sprout the acorns first. I think this is a great approach as we have done sprouts of other kinds in the past with one son even using them for his science fair project last year.

This is what the acorns looked like when they were ready to process after several days of removing the tannins with cold water. Andy used a food processor to grind break them up into smaller pieces. 

He then roasted them in an electric skillet to enhance the nutty flavor. They didn't have too much flavor, though added a lovely texture and crunch to the foods we ate. He added them to a mushroom soup for one of the dishes. 

We also tried them roasted with a little salt. I might need a little more salt. :-)

This is a my plate, with several acorn treats. We had acorn mushroom soup, peanut butter acorn cookies, an acorn dip, and acorn banana bread. They were all very good! 

To top off the night, we made acorns with small vanilla wafers, chocolate chips, hershey kisses, and frosting. I've seen these floating around Pinterest--it was fun and tasty to make them myself. 

Andy mentioned that Native Americans ate acorns by "the ton". The acorns were often broken open, placed in a basket, and dropped in the river for several days to leech the tannins. The left over water with tannins would have been used to tan hides or as an antiseptic. He wrote an article in the current Currents (but it looks like you need to see the hard copy to find his article) that mentioned the Japanese collected a million tons to supplement their meager food in the mid 1900s. Acorns need a cold spell to germinate. Only 1 in 10,000 acorns actually become trees. They start producing acorns at around 20 years and stop producing around 80 years old. It's best to gather them just as they start falling, trying to take them off when they are still green on the tree. 1 oz. of acorns is 142 calories. They have been feed to pigs to fatten them up. I've also read that acorns that are "planted" (should say cached!) have a higher germination rate than acorns planted by humans. If they are planted by humans, they do need a cold spell (keep in the fridge in a plastic bag) in order to germinate, as do many seeds. In programs, I've done with preschoolers, I've also learned that bluejays have great beaks for cracking open acorns. There is an acorn woodpecker (does not live in this area) that actually hammers acorns into a tree to store them for later. 

It was nice seeing a few people, too. I saw a lady from the Flying Wild and Children, Art, & Nature program, two great teenagers who were part of the Junior Indiana Master Naturalist program this summer, and a couple of others I've seen at various festivals and such around the area. It was great to chat with others interested in similar things. I shared about the Indiana Master Naturalist program again and also shared the Eat Wild group with several. 

Eat Wild Potluck

This week, I gathered with others I've met online through a local foraging group on Facebook, called Eat Wild. We met at Junk Evolution in downtown South Bend. They have an eclectic mix of decor, clothing, and other items. Some are repurposed, yet others are just looking for a new home to love. They base their work on green living and share tips on how to live gently with nature. While we gathered to feast on food, we also feasted with our eyes through the lovely displays and items for purchase. The owners did a great job of decorating the tables with a seasonal and foraged theme. Osage orange, acorn squash, tree cookies, and personalized leaves dotted the table. Nature was a part of the meal on many levels.

Photo by Liz Smith

Wild Edible Cub Scout Hike at Ox Bow

I dropped my oldest off earlier this week for Cub Scout Day Camp at Ox Bow County Park. This is his second year attending. It has been well run and a good experience for the children and adult leaders. One requirement is to take a hike and learn about poisonous plants. Andy took us on a walk to also learn about a few wild edibles.

Wild Edibles

In 2012, I was able to go on several wild edible hikes. While I've always enjoyed a hike when the guide knew what plants were okay to eat, I became interested in wild edibles recently again after reading The Hunger Games trilogy. The main character, Katniss, is named after a tuber that grows in the water. She was told she'd never go hungry as long as she could find herself.

I first went on a hike with Elkhart Local Food Alliance last spring. I went home with garlic mustard (an invasive species--eat it up!) and other edibles, a few sketches and photos, and an introduction to a few resources on the topic. I tried to drag my husband and three (at the time) boys along with me, but they didn't last long. I learned that sketching the plants gave more details and helped the learner remember the key characteristics better. My sons wanted to pull garlic mustard (that weed we can eat) from the backyard all spring.

About this time, Edible Michiana, a cool local foods magazine, printed an article on foraging and wild edibles in the area which included a recipe for wild ramp pesto. We love pesto at our house! The article had key tips, cautions, and suggestions for foraging. There is also a local foraging Facebook group called Eat Wild. I've just been following this for a few months, but it's been great to know what is in season at the current time, ask questions, and connect with others that are knowledgeable on the topic.

I also went on a couple of hikes with my kids through Elkhart County Parks. The naturalists are always helpful and made sure WE KNEW why it was okay to eat a certain plant. We even ate cattail trail mix cookies as part of one. My son really enjoyed the mint and sassafras teas as well. We also did a fall fruits hike which introduced to some of the fruits available in the woods during the fall.

Can you believe there are games to learn wild edibles? Here is a good basic book on the topic, too!

                                         

Have you ever eaten food from the wild? How did you know it was safe? What resources do you use to learn about wild edibles?

Watch for upcoming posts on how to learn about wild edibles in the area! Check the calendar for hikes on Sunday!

Mother, Sons, Wild

 

Have you ever seen Man, Woman, Wild? I started watching an episode tonight before the kids went to bed tonight and in no time I had three boys engrossed in the show. What's not to like? A man and woman and are dropped off in different wilderness situations around the world. They need to survive for several days with very limited provisions. The couple find water, make shelter and fire, procure food, etc. It might be a bit squeamish for some--they were eating snakes and salamanders on the episodes we watched. The first episode even had a snake that had a mouse still inside as they prepared to eat it. So, I guess there is the gross factor, isn't there?

While watching the show, this young man went outside and grabbed a bunch of grass, as seen above. He picked out all the green leaves and ate them so he could be like the couple on Man, Woman, Wild. Hmm . . . these were his leftovers, I guess he could have used these to help him start his fire, but he decided to return them to the wild front yard. He helped pull garlic mustard, that tasty invasive last spring and went on several wild edible hikes this last year. Might be time to talk a little more in depth about what's okay to eat out there. But, it's only grass, not weed, right?

Are there any loosely nature related television shows you like to watch?

Winter Wildflower Hike

When we entered Kalamazoo Nature Center, the person at the front desk mentioned a Winter Wildflower hike. My mind thought, "Wildflowers in Winter?" and my mouth asked, "Did you just say wildflower?" Indeed, wildflowers in winter.

Love the textures on this wall! Find their trail map here, with descriptions of what might be found on the varying hikes.

Peter J.F. Stobie, the Education Director led the hike. He is an excellent interpreter, or teacher in my world. Yes, I googled him . . . awards, publications, quotes, etc. There is a reason he is the Education Director. He used voices, props, jokes, story telling, acting, tools, etc. to engage his mixed age audience. Check out the cute hats on the kids on the right--these were hand made by someone at their recent art and gift show. Who doesn't want a blue jay hat? Seeing these are enough to inspire me to attend the show late in 2013 . . . and admission was free on this day in 2012!

On to our hike . . . we looked at many seeds on the wildflowers. Our leader reminded us numerous times that, "Every plant has a purpose, every plant has a story."

We saw several plants. One was a type of goldenrod. This post has several good pictures of varying goldenrod at the end. We also looked at bottle brush grass with its triangular shapes/placement of seeds and flowers.

One small tree had over 20 galls. An insect laid an egg in the stem and secretes saliva to protect the egg. These insects will emerge in the spring. The galls do not do significant damage to the trees, yet are part of the natural cycle of things.

We visited another fen on this hike. He explained a meadow is like a meadow with water coming into. In contrast, a bog is similar yet only has rainwater to add to the water. In this case there is a spring and river that flows through it. The water here is alkaline or acidic, like orange juice rather than water in our terms. There were several questions throughout the hike. One was about the green plant growing in the water. It's an evergreen, called watercress. It's popular in salads. He cautioned to only use wild edibles when with an expert and to know where it comes from. He said it was best to eat it fresh from a local restaurant that sources the product. You can even grow your own, as it's highly nutritious.

I loved seeing this gorgeous red on our last hike at Pokagon State Park in their nature preserve. However, it's one of the plants that starts creeping in when a fen starts its natural progression to change. They use prescribed burns here to keep the redosier dogwood at bay from the fen. The center uses habitat management to attract certain wildlife. One of the families on the hike mentioned being on the trails and being able to see part of this recently--what a sight!

This was a neat find . . . we have raspberry canes in our backyard so I knew the waxy red stems with thorns easily. What is interesting is the egg sac.  Of course there was some acting involved, yet we learned this was a praying mantis egg case, holding around 100 eggs. He talked about the foam the mother secretes to protect the babies, much like insulating foam spray we might use in household construction projects.

I've often seen this plant on our walks at Leiber Nature Preserve. I immediately knew the leaves of the mullen plant would be fuzzy from previous interaction, yet I also learned it can be abrasive. It has been known as Quakers Rouge in the past as women would rub the bristles of the leaves on their cheeks to produce red cheeks as a natural rouge. He cautioned this would not be a good toilet paper! It has also been called Candlewick as it has been dipped in animal fat or wax to be used as a torch or candle.

We also looked at thistle, after an interesting story on Scotland and Vikings. I didn't realize we were going on a history tour, too, but it all weaves together to tell the stories of the plants. The thistle is now the national symbol of Scotland and thistle is a tiny black seed often used in birdfeeders. This Michigan Wildflowers index has several pictures of thistles, yet I'm not sure which exact species is below.

Evening primrose was another star of our show. It has a beautiful yellow flower, sweet smell, and blossoms at night. Moths pollinate it, so it has been used in various studies with moths.

We also looked at Queen Anne's lace and heard another story of the Queen of England tatting lace, pricking her finger, and a spot of blood landing on her project. There are often spiders or earwigs in the flowers, along with a tiny purple flower. It's also known as wild carrot, as the root smells like carrots. This is a non-native plant.

Our fearless leader found a few Goldenrod Fly galls in this area of the hike. The first one had a hole pecked by a woodpecker to eat the pupa inside.

He had us step back so he could use his knife and cut the gall open.

We were then invited to take a closer look . . .

And see the Goldenrod Fly pupa up close and personal!

We also checked out wild bergamot. To see pictures of these in summer is quite different! We smelled this. It is also known as bee balm.

A bark beetle took a liking to this tree as we saw natural hieroglyphics.

My kids weren't on this hike, so it was interesting to see other moms struggle with similar issues we have, such as younger kids keeping up (needing to carry the 2-3 year olds often), boys (and girls) wrestling along the trails, kids getting cold, etc. While there may not be solutions to all of the issues, it's worth it to get out. Our children benefit from it! We benefit from it! I enjoyed talking to the other moms and hearing what they're doing to get their children outside in the Kalamazoo area.

Back at the center, a display was put up to test our skills and knowledge and extend the learning experience. I'm definitely learning more!