Volume 26 • Number 1 Fall/Winter 2014 ISSN 1083-7299
the givers of life ByOaks Vickie Shufer -
“If there could only be one tree, what would it be?” I was asked. Without hesitation, I responded, “It would have to be the oak.” With branches that spread out to nurture you and a buttress to nestle within, it provides strength and comfort. Its fruits are life sustaining and its bark is healing. r fe u As I snuggled into the hollowed out base of what used to be my favorite L h iv S e e O ki ak c oak tree, I was reminded of these gifts. “Feed the people” echoed in my mind. a Vi co by rn oto And indeed, its fruits are food. The fruit of the oak is an acorn, which is a nut s Ph and contains protein, fats, and calories - that which will keep you alive. It is the giver of life. Oaks are one of the first trees that I got to know growing up. Those and In the fall the nuts covered the forest floor hickories. They often grow together as a part of the mature hardwood forest. on the family farm in rural Kentucky where I spent my days. The hickory nuts I would gather to crack and shell to make cookies and cakes. But the acorns I gathered because they were beautiful, with shades of yellow, green, brown, and orange. I had tried eating one once, but discovered it was extremely bitter, sour, and dried my mouth out. It was only years later that I learned about their edibility and how to prepare them for food.
CONTINUED ON P. 3 Live Oak (Quercus virginiana) Photo by Vickie Shufer
IN THIS ISSUE Oaks – the givers of life ...... p. 1 Survival ...... p. 9 The Changing Forest ...... p. 2 POETRY: Tansy ...... p. 9 California Fan Palm ...... p. 4 Predicting the Weather ...... p. 10 FOOD FARMACY FORUM ...... p. 6 Events ...... p. 11-12 ZMapp or Garlic... 2 THE WILD FOODS FORUM
IThe watched, asChanging the oak tree fell, in slow Forest motion. As its branches touched the wires, sparks flew and the top of the tree burst into flames. At the same time that I’m witnessing this tree falling, a whole forest of trees was falling. The loggers had arrived on the farm where I have been living for the past 30 years. The first forest to go was the old oak forest with trees that were more than 400 years old. As I walked among their remains, I recognized each one. I knew them all personally as well as the understory trees and shrubs. But even as I walked I was seeing new growth emerging from the forest floor. Around the stumps, coppices had formed from the sprouts emerging from the roots that were still alive. In the open, sunny areas, succession was occurring. Annuals are among the first to appear in an area if you start with bare dirt and here I was seeing purslane forming a ground cover. The seeds had been in the soil just waiting for the to the ground. In the springtime, songbirds opportunity to sprout and grow. Poke was also abundant and at the right perched on the branches over my head and sang to stage for eating. Vines were starting to grow. Muscadine grapes, me each morning while underneath me I could feel passionvine, yellow jessamine, and crossvine were among the most the moles crawling through their tunnels. In the common. Among the woody plants were the winged sumac, sassafras, summer, deer fed in the fields nearby along with pawpaw, beautyberry and lots of oak and hickory seedlings. The forest numerous other animals that I only heard but was still there, just a different form. could not see in the dark. As the forest was changing, so was I. Having spent most of the past As the year comes to a close, I think of the year in a tent under a sumac grove, I had felt like a caterpillar in its oak trees, the forest, and the changes that have cocoon undergoing a transformation. I experienced and felt the occurred. I have emerged from my cocoon and, changing seasons – from winter to spring and then summer, and finally just as the forest is experiencing new beginnings, to autumn. Underneath me I could feel the earth and when the storms so am I. came through it vibrated. The tent would glow during the lightning Wishing everyone a storms and the winds would howl, bending the sumac branches almost Happy and Productive New Year!
The Wild Foods Forum Published by Eco Images • P.O. Box 61413 • Virginia Beach, VA 23466-1413 Phone: (757) 421-3929 Email: [email protected] • www.ecoimages-us.com Vickie Shufer, Editor The Wild Foods Forum is a publication whose purpose is to provide and share information with fellow wild food enthusiasts. Readers are invited to send letters, articles or news on wild foods-related topics to the editor. Opinions expressed in The Wild Foods Forum are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of WFF. Responsibility for correct identification and safe use of plants lies with the reader. Subscription - 4 issues: $20.00 • Single issue: $5.00 Printed on recycled paper
© 2014 The Wild Foods Forum Old oak tree vs THE WILD FOODS FORUM 3
leaching often produces better tasting nuts and works best OAKS, CONTINUED FROM P. 1 if the acorns are shelled and ground first. Once the tannins Types of Oaks have been removed they can be ground and used as flour or There are many types of oaks (Quercus spp.), with more than eaten as nuts. 300 species, not counting the hybrids. Oaks are in the beech Its astringency makes oaks especially useful for diarrhea family and are mostly deciduous trees that occur in the or dysentery. My Dad had once told me, “If you get diarrhea temperate, subtropical, and rarely tropical regions in the when you’re in the woods, use your knife to cut off that northern hemisphere (Weakley, Ludwig, Townsend, 2012). thin strip of bark from the white oak tree and chew on it. It Oaks bloom in the spring, with the staminate flowers forming will stop the diarrhea immediately.” The thin stip of bark slender catkins from buds on the previous year’s growth. The that he was referring to is the inner bark. It is through the pistillate flowers are small and inconspicuous and develop in inner bark of the branches, trunks, and roots that the sap the leaf axils on the current season’s growth. Pollen is carried containing the food material that is manufactured in the by the wind, and once pollinated, the tiny flowers develop leaves is distributed (Grimm, 1962). Tannins are also anti- into acorns (Grimm, 1962). All oaks have acorns, which are inflammatory and antiseptic (Hoffman, 2003). It was nuts. Nuts have an outer hull, a shell, and the nutmeat is traditionally used as a gargle for sore throat and a wash for within the shell. For the acorn, the outer hull is the cap. skin eruptions, poison ivy, rashes, and burns (Foster & Oaks are basically divided into two groups, although the Duke, 2000). A tea can be made by decocting one teaspoon dividing line is not always clear. There are the red oaks, with of bark in one cup of water, bring to a boil and simmer for veins extending beyond the margins of the leaves, forming 10-15 minutes (Hoffman, 2003). A lukewarm solution of bristle tips. It takes two years for the acorns to mature with a the tea forms a seal that can protect the skin against velvety lining on the inside of the shell. The nut is extremely infections (Mills, 1991). bitter when eaten raw. Then there are the white oaks, with Plant/Animal Relationships smooth edges on the margins of the Oaks are one of the most beneficial trees for wildlife, leaves and nuts that mature in one supporting both vertebrate and invertebrate species. year. These nuts are much less bitter Acorns supply a bulk of the nuts for deer, raccoons, than those of the red oak group. The turkeys, mice, black bear, and squirrels. Hollowed out live oak is generally classified as a cavities are homes for nesting birds while numerous white oak and its acorns are low species of insects use oaks as host plants (Tallamy, 2007). enough in tannin that they can be eaten raw when fully mature. Galls White Oak (Quercus alba) There are many types of oak galls that are produced after a wasp or other insect has deposited its eggs on the leaf Properties of Oaks buds. The forms they assume are many and may occur in All oaks contain tannins. It is found in the bark, in the nuts, all parts of the plant. The one most used for medicine as an and in oak galls. Tannins are one of the main plant con- astringent is Quercus infectoria (Grieve, 1971). stituents responsible for astringency and have historically been used to tan hides to make leather. Astringency is drying OAKS, CONTINUED ON P. 8 and constricting. Ingesting tannins results in a puckering of the protein lining the mouth and tongue (Mills, 1991), leaving a dry, unpleasant sensation in the mouth. The Field Guide to Acorns can be transformed from a bitter, astringent nut Native Oak Species of to a sweet, nutty tasting food. Tannins are water soluble and Eastern North America, can be removed through a leaching process that involves published by the USDA soaking the acorns in water. When the water turns dark, it is Forest Service, is available strained and the process repeated until the water is clear. online and can be downloaded There are a number of ways to do this and either hot or cold from http://www.fs.fed.us/ water can be used, each producing different taste results. foresthealth/technology/pdfs/ Using hot water speeds up the process and doesn’t necessarily fieldguide.pdf. require shelling and grinding them first. However, cold water 4 THE WILD FOODS FORUM California Fan Palm The Wild West (Washingtonia filifera)
Christopher Nyerges
Nyerges is the author of the newly-released “Foraging California,” and 12 other books on foraging and self-reliance. He has conducted weekly ethno-botanical classes since 1974. He can be reached at Box 41834, Eagle Rock, CA 90041, or www.SchoolofSelf- Reliance.com.
Everyone knows the date palms, which produce the sweet and delicious dates which you can buy anywhere these days. Many are grown in the low desert of southern California, not far from Palm Springs. A dried date from a health food store is a delicious thing and I enjoy all varieties. But fresh dates freshly picked sold at a roadside store is quite another creature, and is heavenly. And then, if you have the rare privilege of picking fresh dates from a palm tree, it is an unequaled experience. Once, while spending a week in the desert with a friend, we found a rest area where we could park somewhere on the out- skirts of the Colorado River and spend the night. The edge of the rest area was planted in date palms, and lo and behold, they were ripe at the time. They were just slightly beyond our reach, so we took a large 55 gallon drum that was being used as a trash can, upended it and placed it beneath the palm tree. I was able to get up and reach the dates. I picked one of the soft and sticky fruits and ate it. It was like eating sweet butter, nothing at all like a dried date. To this day, I cannot remember anything quite like it! I picked a large bowl of them to take home so my family could enjoy this sweet nectar-like fruit. In the 24 hours that it took for us to get home, the fresh dates had already lost a bit of their incredible fresh-picked appeal, even though everyone at home declared them delicious. Though date palms are common in commercial orchards in the desert, they are not generally widespread throughout the state. Still, you can hardly go anywhere in California without seeing some variety of palms somewhere, mostly planted, though some are native, and many are feral. Our only native date is the California fan palm (Washingtonia filifera), which is most concentrated around the Palm Springs and lower desert area. It is also planted as an ornamental throughout California. Though not as common as the Mexican fan palm, the native fan palm can still be seen widely throughout Los Angeles and other Counties. This palm was the hardware store to the Cahuilla people who lived in the Palm Springs area and the surrounding desert. The leaves were thatching for the roofs and coverings of their homes. The leaves were used for traditional sandal-making. The dried flower and leaf stalks were used for making fire; they were made into drills, hearths, and bows, and used in the bow and drill method. And the fruits, though small, were edible. There are many ways to use the small black but abundant fruits of the native palm. You can just pop the little fruits in your mouth and chew them, and spit out the seed, which is most of the fruit. The pulp is a little fibrous, and sweet, but not as sweet as the commercial dates. According to Bean and Saubel (Temalpakh: Cahuilla Indian Knowledge and Usage of Plants), each palm tree could contain as many as a dozen of the fruit clusters, with each one weighing from 5 to 20 pounds each. These were eaten fresh, or were dried and then stored in pots for later use. A flour was Photo by Rick Adams THE WILD FOODS FORUM 5 made from the entire fruit, flesh and seed. This palm seed flour was mixed with other flours and cooked into a mush. A beverage was made by soaking the fruits in water. Jelly was also made from the fruits. Bean and Saubel report that also the palm heart was sometimes used as a famine food, which was boiled before eating. It most likely involved killing the palm tree to get to the tender pith inside. One method that I like is to boil a bunch of the black fruits in water. For starters, you could try boiling about a cup of the fruit in two cups of water for about 15 minutes. Then taste a little of the water. It has a unique flavor. Let it sit on your tongue to capture its subtle essence. It’s sweet, but has its own flavor too. The juice could be made stronger, and would make a good sweetener for coffee, or even pancakes. Then eat a few of the boiled fruits, letting them roll around in your mouth while you Ripe black chew off the thin flesh. The flesh is sweet, with a palm fruits good texture, and very satisfying. Everytime I try it I can see why this plant was so valued by the desert natives. Alan Halcon shared with me an interesting recipe that he Cluster of immature palm fruits both photos by Christopher Nyerges developed using the California native fan palm fruits. He boiled the fruit and saved the water. The water had a subtle sweetness, but not overly sweet. He added the water to his Foraging California bannock mix (essentially, wheat flour), and cooked it up. Finding, Identifying, and Preparing Halcon said that this definitely improved the bannock flavor Edible Wild Foods in California with a mild, subtle sweet flavor. I asked him if he had a name An all-new, all-color guide to identifying and utilizing for this recipe. Halcon smiled and said, “Yes, it’s called California’s wild foods Halcon bannock.” by Christopher Nyerges Worldwide, there are about 200 genera of the Palm Family (Arecaceae), and about 3000 species. These are very Foraging California is the 14th book by Nyerges and is an conspicuous trees throughout California, widely planted as a all-color guide to edible wild flora of California. street and park tree. Typically, there is the large trunk, which Organized by families, it includes wild foods from the could be fat or somewhat skinny, and can rise about 65 feet desert, the mountains, the ocean, and throughout the urban (in the case of our only native, the California fan palm) or as areas. From acorns, cactus, and yucca to mesquite, man- tall as a five story building (in the case of the Canary Island zanita, and lamb’s quarter, date palm, which is not native but has widely naturalized in with recipes included, California). There is typically the trunk with the fronds Foraging California is a arising from the crown. The fronds are either palmately-lobes beneficial guide for nature or pinnately-lobed. The palmate leaves are formed on a stem, lovers and outdoor enthusiasts. and these are the fan palms. The pinnately lobed leaves, or ISBN: 978-0-7627-8684-8 feather-fronds, is the other way in which the leaves form. 256 pages • Cost: $22.95 The fruits are usually drupes, and are generally – but not For information about always -- called “dates.” There is the common date palm Nyerges’s classes and books, with the sweet fruits and two-lobed seed, and there are also visit www.SchoolofSelf- the little black round to ovate fruits from the native palm. Reliance.com. California has two genera of the Palm Family. 6 THE WILD FOODS FORUM Food Farmacy Forum
ZMAPP or Garlic or both for Ebola???
Dr. James A. (Jim) Duke, Botanist Green Farmacy Garden Green Farmacy Garden 8210 Murphy Road Tours and/or personal consultations Fulton, MD 20759 by appointment. Available for Phone: (301) 498-1175 consulting (in-depth reviews of [email protected] herbs of interest). greenpharmacy.com
We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt... CDC, FDA and Big Pharma conclude there is no money to the onions, and the garlick: Numbers 11:5-6. be made in the natural phytochemicals. So they ignore them Do you realize that the hype has commenced? The news and look elsewhere for their next buck. Resistance is not media are in in coordinated concert with BigPharma, and the likely when using a mix of many natural phytochemicals as taxpayer-supported CDC, FDA and presumably FTC federal in the Biblical Garlic. As I recall, most of the American agencies. They are trying to manipulate the American taxpayers Ebola patients were African missionaries. If they realize into believing that we should fast track some patented unnatural there is a small chance that garlic can help a bit, in African drug. That pharmaceutical is supposed to save us from Ebola Ebola, they should encourage the investigation I urge. in America. Actually a few intelligent Americans believe that Compare the cheap garlic with its dozens of antiviral phyto- Ebola may never become a problem out of the humid tropics. chemicals to the expensive ZMapp. Which is better for the But our government still hints, fearmongeringly, at the potential health of the African citizen, the African economy and the for an Ebola epidemic in America. And of course they play African health care system? I cannot imagine our feds being on benevolent emotions saying the US and the world needs smart enough to look before they leap. Compare the garlic to support the epidemic-struck humid tropical Africans cocktail with the ZMapp cocktail to determine which is better where the epidemic is real. But is this corporate hype with for the health of the American citizen, the American economy which they confront us now charity- or profit-oriented? Is it and the American health care system. These needs should fact or unfounded speculation? receive higher priorities, not the needs of Big Pharma and I retired from the government (USDA) in 1995, but I left FDA-approved pharmaceuticals which already kill more than behind an online database, rarely updated, which I consulted 100,000 Americans a year. My herbal safety manuals list no today, Sep. 3, 2014. And I see that my database is now still fatalities due to garlic. So we can truthfully say FDA- online at USDA. (Phytochemical Database; http://www.ars- approved pharmaceuticals kill several orders of magnitude grin.gov/duke). Even then my database listed nearly a dozen more Americans, taken as prescibed, in hospitals, than garlic antiviral garlic compounds (phytochemicals). Some of these kills, if it kills any. And garlic can control many viruses. might possibly help significantly, some trivially, against The purpose of my Green Farmacy Rant, triggered by many viruses, including the Ebola virus: ajoene, allicin, the media hype, is to urge you to write your congress person ascorbic-acid, caffeic-acid, chlorogenic-acid, diallyl-sulfide, asking him/her to make sure that our taxpayer supported feds diallyl-trisulfide, ferulic acid, kaempferol, beta-sitosterol, ensure that they study carefully whatever expensive drug and stigmasterol, e.g. There are more today in my proprietary they elect to fast track, making millions of bucks for their Evibase, many backed up my pubmed citations. See concluding corporate alLIES in Big Pharma, but saving few lives. They table of antiviral phytochemicals in garlic. need to show us taxpaying Americans that the proposed Predictably Ebola resistance will evolve rapidly if treated synthetic is significantly better than garlic for Ebola, taking with a solitary synthetic compound. I think Big Pharma finally into account cost, efficacy and safety. We don’t know. We knows this now and has resorted to the “cocktail”. Maybe deserve to know before investing billions in another unnatural drug. resistance will evolve slower treating with a cocktail of three One widely mentioned candidate is ZMapp, a synthetic antibodies (as in ZMapp). Regrettably but possibly correctly, cocktail of three antibodies. At least three antibodies, pre- THE WILD FOODS FORUM 7 sumably antiviral, are usually better than one alone. That’s why they use the word cocktail. Question? Will this mixture GARLIC ANTIVIRAL PHYTOCHEMICALS of three antibodies perform better than the natural garlic (FROM UPDATED GARLIC EVIBASE) cocktail of natural antivirals. We don’t know! We need to Numbers following chemical name are lo to hi ppm know before we take off, hell-bent, fast tracking ZMapp. So reported (APB-ZMB); Numbers preceeded by X are far the study sample sizes have been extremely limited. pubmed serial numbers. ZMapp seems to have cured the two physicians now released AJOENE BU: 411/ PDB TEU from Emory and being widely interviewed. A third ZMapp ALLICIN: 1,500-27,800 BU LAW PDR recipient died. The biblical garlic has not killed anyone to the ALLITRIDIN: X23341371; X23426791 best of my knowledge (although some people are allergic to ALLYL-ALCOHOL EO PDR WO2: XX8343148 it). The ZMapp antibodies were unknown to our human ALLYLMETHYLTHIOCYANATE: XX1470664; genes until quite recently. The garlic phytochemicals have APIGENIN: 693 BU PDF JAF49:3106 been known to us since Biblical times, perhaps much longer. ASCORBIC-ACID: 100-788 BU CRC PDF X18494496 On the federal pubmed database, there was only one pubmed CAFFEIC-ACID: 7.9-20 BU LAW PDB X18494496 citation for >ZMapp AND virus> There were more than 25 CHLOROGENIC-ACID PL PDB: X24049489 authors to the one ZMapp paper. No e-mail addresses were CITRAL BU: X17199238; posted. That one citation concludes: “ZMapp exceeds the DIALLYL-DISULFIDE: 16-634 BU PDB X24972622 efficacy of any other therapeutics described so far, and results X25026173 X25176258 warrant further development of this cocktail for clinical use.” DIALLYL-TRISULFIDE: 870 BU PDB X24788927 There were 104 for
The author concludes, rightly or wrongly, with a final sequelae of Filovirus (such as Ebola virus; EBOV) infection” word on viruses in general: (X22143789). And another group said, “For highly Q. Do you know how many Viruses modern science and pathogenic viruses, such as Ebola and H5N1 influenza virus, medicine has been able to cure? the need for antivirals is ... urgent due to limited therapeutics A. Zero! against these viruses (X22140608). And “Filoviruses (Ebola Q. Do you know how many Viruses have been eradicated and Marburg viruses) cause severe and often fatal haemor- with medicines or vaccines? rhagic fever in humans and non-human primates. The US A. Zero! Yet.... we are all still here! Centers for Disease Control identifies Ebola and Marburg viruses as ‘category A’ pathogens (defined as posing a risk to Whether the naysayer is right or not, I am going to dig in national security as bioterrorism agents) (X21281425). You and improve my antiviral suggestions, not antiEbola suggestions. get the picture. None of the ten citations discuss any herbal My search designed to elicit pubmed citations of AntiEbola alternatives. herbs and phytochemicals [[Ebola* AND (plants, medicinal OR angiosperms OR “plant extracts” OR drugs, Chinese herbal OR phytotherapy* OR Ayurved* OR TCM)]] produced HERBISTATINS only 10 pubmed citations. None named any potential herbal Herbal Alternatives to remedies. Synthetic Statins Ebola test gets FDA approval though vaccine not expected Edible Herbs That until 2015. The Food and Drug Administration has approved Raise the Good HDL and the use of an Ebola virus test, but officials say a vaccine is Lower the Bad LDL unlikely until next year. “Specifically, the test is intended for Cholesterol use in individuals with signs and symptoms of infection with James A. Duke with Ebola Zaire virus, who are at risk for exposure to the virus or Judith L. Snyder who may have been exposed to the virus,” said spokeswoman Illustrated by Peggy K. Duke Stephanie Yao. Los Angeles Times (tiered subscription 1 1 5 ⁄2 x 8 ⁄2 • softcover • 192 pages model)/Science Now (8/6). 29 b/w line drawings • 30 color illustrations Ebola virus (EBOV) causes a lethal hemorrhagic fever ISBN: 978-0938423-07-2 • Cost: $20.00 for which there is no approved effective treatment or prevention Published by Eco Images, P.O. Box 61413 strategy (X22238300). In 2011 they said “No countermeasures Virginia Beach, VA 23466 currently exist for the prevention or treatment of the severe
OAKS, CONTINUED FROM P. 3 References Beetle Larvae Foster, S. & Duke, J. A. 2000. A field guide to medicinal plants When gathering acorns, look for the ones that have a and herbs. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Co. small, round hole drilled into them and remove them. Grieve, M. 1971. A modern herbal.New York: Dover The hole was drilled by the female acorn weevil who has Publications, Inc. a long snout for drilling. Then she lays 2-4 eggs which Grimm, W. C. 1962. The book of trees for positive hatch as larvae and feed on the nutmeat (Unger, 1999). identification.New York: Hawthorn Books, Inc. Hoffman, D. 2003. Medical herbalism: The science and practice Growing Oaks of herbal medicine. Rochester, VT: Healing Arts Press. Growing an oak tree is easy. All you need is dirt and a Mills, S. Y. 1991. Out of the earth: the essential book of herbal seed and a place to let it grow. If it is a member of the medicine.London, England:Viking Arkana. white oak group, it will start to germinate within a few Tallamy, D. W. 2007. Bringing nature home: How native plants days. Sometimes the root starts to develop while still on sustain wildlife in our gardens.Portland, OR: Timber Press. the tree. If you put them in a plastic bag and leave them Unger, L. 1999. Acorns for Rent. UK Department of Entomology. for a few days, they will sprout. Plant these in the ground Retrieved from http://www.uky.edu/Ag/ or in a pot and next spring they will send up new growth. Entomology/ythfacts/allyr/yf804.htm. Oaks from the red oak group germinate the following Weakley, A. S., Ludwig, J. C., & Townsend, J. F. 2012. Flora of spring (Tallamy, 2007). Virginia. Fort Worth, TX: Botanical Research Institute. THE WILD FOODS FORUM 9
Survival Tansy The past year has been a year of surviving. Basic survival needs: food, water, (Tanacetum vulgare) shelter. But you also need space – just as important as shelter. Space for yourself – a place to be. A place to go within and a place to expand. Tansy, tansy Shelters offer protection and cover from the elements – rain, wind, sun, no relation to pansy cold, predators. They are essential for survival. Traditionally shelters were built grows by the side of the road from natural materials found in the surrounding area. Along the coast and in bordering fields of hay wetland areas, there is an abundance of shelter materials from the reeds and grasses that grow in the marshes. Bright yuellow flowers loom tall One of their folk names Phragmites Says it well – “golden buttons” I hurry to stop, pick some When given the task of making a thatched roof for the Tiki bar for a luau that was taking place in the state park where I do programs, I looked around and saw At home the fresh stalks extensive stands of phragmites. It is one of the most common reeds in the hang from the ceiling marshes and also the most invasive. There is a native phragmites but the one of my herb drying room most commonly seen is the non-native species. It is larger, more dense, but also Soon the fragrance better for shelter building. Phragmites was my choice for the roof. of fern-like leaves Gathering the phragmites gave me an opportunity to explore the marsh permeates the air where it grows. I’ve always secretly loved phragmites marshes. Following the In fall my tansy animal trails, I found the otter lodge but I also found a whole community of will enhance a dried arrangement plants living in the shade of the phragmites – marsh ferns, arrowheads, groundsel Once I joined a healing group bush, mallows, etc. Removing the phragmites exposed them to the light and We bathed one another’s feet gave them space to grow. in a kind of tansy tea Jim Duke has often said, “If you want to get rid of something, find a use for before working on foot reflexology it.” I thought about this as I cut the phragmites and waded across the bay back to land to make the roof. But I also looked at the large patches and thought of Tansy often planted the labor it would take to remove it all. One patch at a time ... one roof at a time. near kitchen doors Phragmites is also a source of food. The inner stalk of the young shoots is known to repel ants tastes very similar to cattail shoots and if there had been enough time and can be used as insecticide enough young shoots I would have made a salad for the luau. Tansy, tansy Vickie Shufer no relation to pansy you have your own distinctive plant personality! Sandra Kocher Spencer, MA
Robert W. Freckmann Herbarium, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Wisconsin Plants web site: (http://wisplants.uwsp.edu).
Thatched roof from Phragmites vs 10 THE WILD FOODS FORUM
Predicting the Weather What kind of winter are we going to have? Ask the persimmon tree – she will tell you. The secret lies within her seed Cut the seed in half and inside you will find either a fork, a knife, or a spoon. If it is a fork, you can expect a mild winter with plenty to eat. If it is a knife, it’s going to be biting cold, so cold it will cut through you. If it is a spoon, you’re going to be shoveling snow. So what are we finding this year? Spoons! All spoons. According to the persimmon tree, you better prepare for snow. Vickie Shufer
Crawdads, Doodlebugs and Creasy Greens Songs, Stories, and Lore Celebrating Photo by Todd Elliott Knife Fork Spoon http://dougelliottstory.wordpress.com/2010/11/20/shake-them-%E2%80%98simmons Illustrations by the Natural World Doug Elliott, 1995 by Doug Elliott Possum up a ‘simmon tree, raccoon on the ground, Raccoon says to the possum ”Sir, please shake those ‘simmons down” Doug Elliott is a naturalist, herbalist, and storyteller with books and How do you know when persimmons are ripe? When you start finding recordings available for purchase undigested seeds in the scat of possums and raccoons on the trail. online. For information, visit When the fruits turn soft with a somewhat mottled color, they are ripe. www.dougelliott.com/products.html.
Tasting Tours Backyard Tasting Tours Hoffler Creek Wildlife Preserve with Vickie Shufer Portsmouth, VA • www.hofflercreek.org 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. • Suggested donation: $10/person Winter Foraging: Sunday, January 25, 2015 Spring Salad Tasting Tour Saturday, April 18, 2015 Spring Greens: Sunday, March 17, 2015 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Email: [email protected]; Phone: 757-421-3929; Enjoy a morning of identifying and picking wild greens URL: www.ecoimages-us.com in the fields and forest of Hoffler Creek Wildlife Preserve and combining them into a tasty and nutritious salad. The Everything Guide Blackberry Tasting Tour to Foraging Saturday, July 18, 2015 Identifying, harvesting, and cooking 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. nature's wild fruits and vegetables A morning of picking wild blackberries and making home made ice cream. Discover the nutritional benefits by Vickie Shufer of these and other summer berries. Published by Adams Media Page Count: 304 • Size: 8 x 9.25 To register for the Tasting Tours, call (757) 686-8684. ISBN: 978-1-4405-1276-6 Cost: $10/person non-members; $5/person members. Retail Cost: $18.95 THE WILD FOODS FORUM 11 Sacred Plant Calendar of Events Traditions Mountain Foraging GEORGIA, Dahlonega Charlottesville, VA Weekend Jan. 10-11: Wilderness Survival Skills www.sacredplanttraditions.com in the Blue Ridge (Part I), $125; [email protected] Feb. 7-8: Wilderness Survival Skills (434) 295-3820 Mountains of Virginia (Part II), $125; April 24-26, 2015 One-Day Classes Feb. 21: A Study of Winter Trees, $60. Jan. 19: Tongue and Pulse Diagnosis Join Vickie Shufer and Kathy Led by Mark Warren, Medicine Bow, with Matthew Wood; Monaghan for a weekend to work Ltd.; 706-864-5928; June 20: The Art of Fermentation; and play. Acombination of identi- Email: [email protected]; June 25: Herb and Prescription Drug fying, gathering, and preparing www.medicinebow.net. Ingteractions; wild plants for food and medicine and clearing areas for new plants to NORTH CAROLINA, Reidsville June 27: Designing an Herb Garden; grow. For information, contact April 24-26: Wild Foods Weekend - June 28: Kitchen Apothecary; Vickie Shufer at (757) 421-3929 or with keynote speaker Leda Meredith, Aug. 12: Inflammation & Insulin email [email protected]. author of Northeast Foraging. For Resistance; information, email Debbie Midkiff at Aug. 13: Herbs for Cognitive Function [email protected] and Herbal Considerations for Traditions, A Center for Herbal Geriatric Clients; Studies. Call (434) 295-3820 or visit Aromatherapy Sept. 23: Field Botany For Herbalists www.sacredplanttraditions.com; Classes, with Lorna Mauny-Brodek. email:[email protected]. Certification Six-Week Classes Weekends and Spring Session: April 15-May 20 Weekly Events Seminars Summer Session: June 17-July 22 New England Area Santa Ynez, CA Introduction to Herbal Healing; Wild Edible Plant Walks with Russ Feb. 28 & March 1: Aromatherapy Cost: $250, includes all material and Cohen, Phone: (617) 626-1543 (w); Blending, $525; text. (781) 646-7489 (h);Email: San Francisco, CA [email protected]. April 9-12: Natural Perfumery Class; Ninth Annual Gaia http://users.rcn.com/eatwild/bio.htm April 18-19: Spa Seminar - Herbs & Gathering for Women Aromatherapy, Level 1 certification; May 1-3, 2015 New York Metro Area May 9-10: Aromatherapy Blending: Wild Food and Ecology Tours with Blending Essential Oils for Health; Charlottesville, VA A weekend of classes, plant walks, “Wildman” Steve Brill, For June 6, 13, 18, Oct. 20: Distillation of medicine making, drumming, and information, call (914) 835-2153 or visit Aromatic Plants & Demonstration more. Sponsored by Sacred Plant www.wildmanstevebrill.com. Aromatherapy, Alchemy and the Art of Distillation; Aug. 15-16: Learn to Enfleurage Green Farmacy Flowers and Maceration of Gardenia. Garden Tours For information, call Jeanne Rose Garden tours are offered to the public (415) 564-6785 or visit to help support the garden and go http://www.jeannerose.net/. with a minimum of 5 persons and a Facebook pages include Herbal maximum of 25 people. For updates, Knowledge, Aromatherapy & visit the The Green Farmacy Garden : Herbal Studies Course, Copper http://thegreenfarmacygarden.com/tours Stills and Essential Oils, and -and-events or contact greenfarmacy- Jeanne Rose Aromatherapy & [email protected]. Copper Stills. PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE
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Coastal Getaway Herbal Conferences Wild Women Weekend Herbal Educational Services • (541) 482-3016 False Cape State Park www.botanicalmedicine.org Virginia Beach, VA Southwest Conference on A beach, dunes, marsh, and Botanical Medicine maritime forest adventure at April 10-12, 2015 • Tempe, Arizona False Cape State Park ~ The Soutwest Conference is presented at the Southwest the wilderness of Virginia Beach College of Naturopathic Medicine in Tempe, AZ. CE credits. Lectures, workshops, walks and more. Early bird May 1-3, 2015 registration before March 4. Discover the natural and cultural history of False Cape, located in the wilderness of Virginia Beach. The Wild Medicines from the Earth Women Weekend is an outing for women only. May 29 – June 1, 2015 Participate in hiking, nature explorations, kayaking, wild Black Mountain, NC food gathering, and herbal preparations. A weekend of education and inspiration at the Blue Cost: $200 includes food, lodging, transportation into Ridge Assembly in Black Mountain, NC. Lectures, herb the park, and educational materials. For registration walks, demonstrations, and more. Early bird savings information, call the park at (757) 426-7128. before April 17.