May project: foraging

May 2, 2013

It’s day 2 of the blog every day of May challenge. The topic today is educate us about something you know a lot about or are good at. I chose foraging. I’m not an expert by any means but having grown up in the woods and on a summer camp I’ve picked up a thing or two. If you’re starting from scratch though I would recommend a few things.

-DON’T ever just eat something you found in the woods unless you’re absolutely sure it’s edible and even then proceed with caution.
-take a foraging class with someone who has been doing it for a long time
-I don’t recommend foraging for mushrooms unless you’re with an expert (they are easily to mistake with deadly consequences).
-borrow from the library or buy some foraging books with good photos.
-it’s good to know which plants have poisonous look a likes.
-take a walk and test some of your skills but I wouldn’t recommend eating anything until you’re more than 100% sure of what you’ve found.
-when you’re more comfortable with identifying edible plants I would still start off with the most recognizable ones like wild strawberries, raspberries, blackberries or if you live in a place like Texas-pecans.
-if you don’t feel comfortable with what you’ve found just don’t eat it.
-I pretty much stay away from anything that looks like a wild carrot because it looks so much like poison hemlock and that is not something you DO NOT eat.
-if you’re looking for a more informed foraging blog to follow I recommend Langdon Cook’s blog. He’s a forager in my neck of the woods and he knows what he’s doing.

I’ve been foraging for years but I stick to what I know-mainly wild berries, cherries, apples, wintergreen and their berries, juniper berries (for tea not eating), sorrel, and a few others.

May project: my story in 250 words

May 1, 2013

Remember how I’m doing a different project every month this year? Well today I was trying to decide what this months would be when I ran across this post my Julie Ann Art. Jennie over at Story of my life is having a Blog Everyday of May Challenge! I figured this would be perfect! A great way to continue my project but also join in with this wonderful blogging community.

Day one of May: The Story of Your Life in 250 words or less.

{a few birthday moments}

I was born on January 1st, 1984 at 1:22 am in Grosse Point, Michigan. Because of this I have a complex about my birthday and can get intense when the day arrives. I have an older sister and a younger brother and we all drove each other nuts. We’re good now. Before any of us started school we were whisked away from the city to rural northern Michigan where my dad started and ran a summer camp for inner city kids for the first 9 years of my life. It’s where I did a lot of growing up and learning about the world. It’s also where my love of berries was cultivated. I went to a small school where everyone knows everyone. I graduate with about 60 people. I attended a community college and then got a mathematics degree from Western Michigan University. I spent the next year working at a health food store and doing nothing with my life. I needed a big change so I moved to Austin, TX with my best friend who was going to grad school. I found at job at the University of Texas, soon after I met Walker who also worked in the same office. I took a random jewelry class that was the beginning of my handmade business. After 4 years in Austin I moved with Walker to Seattle and pursued my business full time. I’m doing my best everyday to make it work.

Did I do it? Mmm maybe. See you tomorrow!

A creepy, crawly story

{Disclaimer: If you’re scared of bugs and stories about them being all up in your personal space then maybe don’t read this post. Otherwise if you enjoy the misfortune of others and funny after the fact stories please keep reading.}

Last week Walker and I went shopping for groceries and I was all set to buy the pre-washed and ready to use spinach when Walker insisted instead we buy the bunched spinach that’s covered in sand and dirt but overall would save us some money. In my mind, since I’ve been doing all the cooking lately, I would rather have it be a little easier than cheaper. We compromised that if he washed the spinach we could get the needs to be washed spinach.

Last night for dinner I needed the spinach washed so Walker took care of that and I made dinner. So far so good. Then today I reheated the leftovers and was enjoying them when I felt a rock like thing in my mouth. Ah ha! Walker didn’t wash the spinach well enough and there were 2 little rocks in my food. I put them on the counter to show him the error of his ways when he got home. Still overall not so bad since I didn’t break a tooth or anything.

I continued eating while catching up on a tv show. I put the fork to my mouth and took a bite and crunch. For a split second I thought maybe I had bitten into a cardamom pod (it was a curry like dish) and considered eating it. But then I remembered there were no cardamom pods in the dish, no whole spices at all for that matter. I removed the “spice” from my mouth to discover that I had just chewed a STINKBUG! Ah!

I made some really unhappy sounds, spit all the food from my mouth into the sink, rinsed quickly, ran to the bathroom while trying not to be sick, brushed my teeth furiously, and then tried to calm down a bit. I attempted to confront the bug again that I just chewed a little but got the creeps so I did what any angry, sick to my stomach girlfriend might do. I immediately called Walker to blame him for this having happened and confirm that next time we’d be buying the pre-washed, ready to eat spinach!

I have one more creepy story for you but maybe I’ll save it for next week. Creepy, crawly stories part 2? If you have a creep story I’d love to hear it! We can commiserate together.

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