Tuesday, May 17, 2016

So much more than food



Foraging is about so much more than finding food-
it's about finding your place in th' world, in your community,
and ultimately, it's about finding yourself-



I stood by th' river and watched a heron hunting. 
He was looking for food, i was looking for food. 
We watched each other stalk around, 
i felt honored to be in his presence-
i wonder how he felt to be in mine. 



I followed th' river in th' direction of it's flow, 
came across a couple of large bull thistles,
favorite food of th' gorilla, 
favorite food of mine.



A little further along- 
I'm wondering at a Cow Parsnip, how it got this low in elevation-
there are two of them next to each other-
i taste some, grab a stalk to take home and share, 
leave th' rest there- 
this is a plant that will stay with you forever.


I decide to check on our resident hemlock population-
a deer watches me cross th' field- 
i find a dead beaver, 
and chewed willow mixed up in th' hemlock patch
animals are a lot like us, i think.


I move on-
snack on some spruce tips- 
head for th' linden trees which brought me out here.


I find some linden leaves ripe on a tree i'd not seen before,
collect a salad's worth, and head home-
plans change, 
i never made it to th' trees i thought i was heading towards-
still i found something worth taking home-
and a little bit of food too. 

5 comments:

  1. Pray tell your comment concerning Cow parsnip, " this is a plant that will stay with you forever." Might you explain?
    thanx,
    chask

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. it's just very special to me- i really don't know how else to explain it- it was eaten by the natives who lived here before, and it grows (usually) in some of our favorite places- i love th' taste and really everything about it- also i've never found it in town, only in the mountains, which is why i was so excited to find it growing so low in elevation-

      Delete
  2. I just found your blog! I am going to make the plum apple fruit leather tomorrow.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I just found your blog! I am going to make the plum apple fruit leather tomorrow.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi fellas,
    Thank you so much for this wonderful article really!
    If someone want to read more about that survival I think this is the right place for you!

    ReplyDelete