Finding Instead of Growing Food

Ah, the bliss of mild temps after a week of sweltering heat! I swear Mother Nature throws us these loops to enhance our appreciation of “normal” weather!

I have been very busy doing instead of writing lately, which is exactly why I had chosen September as my submission goal even though back in May that had seemed so far away. One thing I have learned over the years is that everything takes twice as long as I think it will. And that's without interruptions or distractions, of which there have been plenty lately.

I find it ironic that there has been progress on several fronts that are *not* construction, which I had intended to be my primary focus this year! But I'm never one to argue against progress, intentional or otherwise, as long as it is still working towards the basic underlying goal.

A third adult has joined to homestead here, bringing some valued skills along with the chaos such a move always entails. The most exciting from my perspective is probably her love of gardening. While I adore the idea of raising my own vegetables, the reality is I attend to animals much better than I do plants. I often joke it's because the ground is so far away, way down there under my feet! But in truth, I think it's the endless nature of weeding, which never seems to have an end point the way feeding animals does. I get far more satisfaction watching the animals grow than I do the weeds! Plus plants don't make the demanding noises that hungry (or just greedy!) animals do.

A couple weeks ago I attended a community lecture at the local town meeting house titled “Native Plant Knowledge”. The title has two interpretations – a knowledge of native plants, but also the Native knowledge of plants. It was less a how-to than a why-to, which surprised me, but the talk certainly did fire my enthusiasm to learn more about the resources that already surround me.

Another of my recent distractions was taking an on-line food storage class. A lot of information was packed into a few short weeks, and I'm still digesting (can't decide if the pun was intended or not) much of the information. It did convince me to finally invest in the Excalibur Dehydrator I have wanted for many years, which is also motivation to harvest, not just eat, wild (and cultivated) foods.

I enjoyed grazing on the newly ripened raspberry bushes for breakfast this morning. I intend to harvest some to dry with the goal of mixing the dried berries with meat to make pemmican. I am not a jelly consumer, so no need to bother with trying to can any. This is what appeals to me about Forest Gardening – the idea that I could encourage perennial plants to give me food with little need for ongoing seed starting, transplanting, watering, and weeding. Perhaps Forage Gardening would be a better term – encouraging naturally wild edible plants to grow in an accessible (and identifiable!) area.

Blueberries are also in season in this area, although I am not aware of any here on the property and will likely have to resort to a u-pick-em type source. The few wild strawberries went straight into my mouth without any pretense of saving some! Soon the blackberries will be ripening as well, but their quality varies considerably from year-to-year so I don't anticipate them as much as the dependable blueberries. Now I just need to learn and find some wild vegetables to go along with the berries. After all, woman cannot live on meat and berries alone! Well, okay maybe I could, but I'm a fan of variety – venison, pork, beef, lamb, chicken, turkey...