Woodland Salads
When we first bought this house, almost 3 1/2 years ago, and the tiny forest that comes with it, i was fascinated with all the wonderful plant life around me.
I spent hours and days and weeks scouring the internet and taking pictures of my plants and trees, in order to identify what is around me and what it's good for. I dreamed of learning to use the forest as a natural pharmacy to treat minor ailments, scratches, burns, allergies....what have you.
I learned a few things, but i was also learning about raising a thousand chickens and how to butcher chickens and how to survive without running water, and .....what have you.
The dream remained, but was dormant.
This past weekend, i was happy to attend a Wildlife Workshop, put on by Texas Parks and Wildlife at a nature center near Houston. The entire day was very interesting, but the real reason i went was for the optional extra at the end of the day: Edible Weeds Nature Walk.
Oh BOY!!!!
A fascinating gentleman, with a name that will force you to speak with a European accent, Dr. Vorderbruggen, took us on a seemingly haphazard walk around the nature center's yard, next to a small wet woods, and told us how to eat virtually every other plant we saw. Thankfully, he also pointed out the ones that would keep us on the potty for unpleasant periods of time.
Very helpful. And the absolute most fun of the day!
If you live in my area, and actually even if you don't, you might find this website as wonderful and fascinating and helpful as i do. Dr. Vorderbruggen also goes by the name Merriweather, and this is his beautifully indexed and informational foraging site:
www.foragingtexas.com
On that site, you can also find a link to Merriweather's facebook page, where he helps with plant identification and highlights items that are in season at the time. Tons of fun!!!!
And now i'm looking forward to making completely free salads from the impossible to kill weeds in my yard. I might even propogate them!
Woohoo!
Yes, i'm a little giddy.
I spent hours and days and weeks scouring the internet and taking pictures of my plants and trees, in order to identify what is around me and what it's good for. I dreamed of learning to use the forest as a natural pharmacy to treat minor ailments, scratches, burns, allergies....what have you.
I learned a few things, but i was also learning about raising a thousand chickens and how to butcher chickens and how to survive without running water, and .....what have you.
The dream remained, but was dormant.
This past weekend, i was happy to attend a Wildlife Workshop, put on by Texas Parks and Wildlife at a nature center near Houston. The entire day was very interesting, but the real reason i went was for the optional extra at the end of the day: Edible Weeds Nature Walk.
Oh BOY!!!!
A fascinating gentleman, with a name that will force you to speak with a European accent, Dr. Vorderbruggen, took us on a seemingly haphazard walk around the nature center's yard, next to a small wet woods, and told us how to eat virtually every other plant we saw. Thankfully, he also pointed out the ones that would keep us on the potty for unpleasant periods of time.
Very helpful. And the absolute most fun of the day!
If you live in my area, and actually even if you don't, you might find this website as wonderful and fascinating and helpful as i do. Dr. Vorderbruggen also goes by the name Merriweather, and this is his beautifully indexed and informational foraging site:
www.foragingtexas.com
On that site, you can also find a link to Merriweather's facebook page, where he helps with plant identification and highlights items that are in season at the time. Tons of fun!!!!
And now i'm looking forward to making completely free salads from the impossible to kill weeds in my yard. I might even propogate them!
Woohoo!
Yes, i'm a little giddy.
You never cease to fascinate me, Beth. Your salad sounds wonderful.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds amazing!! How fun!
ReplyDelete