Neighborhood foraging and “crop” maintenance.

[BPSabelhaus]

So one of my long term interests is NorthWest coastal peoples ethnobotany. I have always loved the concept of the forests, meadows and waters as simply providing if you know where and when to look. So on today’s walk around the woods with the dog I gathered some goodies to make some PNW teas for the holidays.



The large bundle is fireweed. The leaves will be stripped, mashed, fermented then dried to make a medicinal tea.
Next bundle with the alternating leaves is yellow yarrow.
Two sprigs of mint. It’s use is obvious lol A handful of rosehips. I need more and larger ones, plus mountain ash still. That will be tomorrow’s walk in the other direction. The bag is full of pacific Madrone bark.



Trail is full of bark. Just pick it up, no need to even bother the tree.





Fireweed. Near 7 ft tall. All in the woods and meadows around the house / housing developments. Just gathered on a nice walk with the dog. Once I process everything down, the fireweed stems will be (hopefully, first attempt) used for cordage.
These are patches that I visit and utilize throughout the year and have many more other plants to be used.

 

[MacZ]

Is it weird I read your post in the voice of "Atomic Shrimp"?
I'm looking forward to the results.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Hadn’t heard of him, but I’ll check it out after this doc on Cragside Manor that just uploaded and I kinda sorta need to watch it lol
Got all the leaves off and picked out the good stuff. Mashed it all up in my hands, stuffed it in a jar to ferment and have the sticks drying.
So I’m watching him make clay pots lol I have around 50 lbs just sitting around. Now I have some pointers

 

[RayClem]

It sound like you know enough botany to know which plant to pick and which to avoid. I might make a medicinal tea from a poisonous plant.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

It sound like you know enough botany to know which plant to pick and which to avoid. I might make a medicinal tea from a poisonous plant.

That’s exactly what I’m doing lol
The leaves are toxic as is, hence fermenting then drying

 

[RayClem]

Last night I watched a YouTube video about water hemlock, perhaps the most toxic plant in North America. It is fairly common in some areas. It is similar in appearance to wild carrot, also known as Queen Anne's Lace which is edible. With water hemlock, the roots are the most dangerous, so confusing it with wild carrot could be a fatal mistake.

 

[MacZ]

perhaps the most toxic plant in North America.

Worldwide in temperate zones. We have that stuff here too in Eurasia, it has also been introduced almost everywhere around the globe where it finds good conditions.
Here you can also mistake it for wild parsley and a few other edible plants.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

You could, but like most foods you shouldn’t eat it unless you know what it is. They certainly look identical at a casual glance. But the leaves look, feel and smell different. The stalk has red at the base where it meets the tuber. That said, if I even see hemlock in the surrounding area I don’t collect anything around it. Same with maintenance. It gets pulled out and put far off trail and nothing is collected that day just to avoid potential contamination (Socrates can tell you all about the benefits of hemlock tea lol )
When eating wild foods, you want to be as confident as you are about all foods. If somebody says have an apple then gives you a banana, you’ll question it, right?

I like to interchange the mushroom rule here.
“When in doubt, throw it out”

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Licorice fern rhizomes. Normally I would not collect runners of this size, but the trees are going to be heading to the chipper so I spent a few hours over the course of the weekend to harvest as much as I could with an emphasis on propagation of new plants. After sorting through two hiking back packs worth of moss those are what I kept for myself. The remaining plants were broken into roughly foot long sections of moss and spread around the area in good habitat. The moss and small rhizomes with a front were spread around my yard to help break down stumps and provide footing for other epiphytic plants.

These rhizomes made into a tea make a good medicine for sore throats, or it can be used as a sweetener or flavoring as well.

Pulled these small fir trees as well. Will train one as a Xmas tree, the others will be re-homed in the forest. These were growing on about an in of soil at most over a concrete sewer access that was made years ago.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Ok, not wild but, well I’ll explain. These are Ozette potatoes with pre-contact genetics tracing to Central America. The potatoes are owned by the Makah and Ozette tribes as a part of their shared culture. While there is no evidence of more inland people (like the Duwamish, on whose lands I live and do my work(?)) cultivating these, I am planning on growing them in a theoretical manner using local soil alterations etc… I’m working on sourcing two tobaccos as well to grow in the experimental plot. To that end I have been searching for the perfect stick to make a touke (digging stick). I need a fresh hard wood to make carving a roughly 3 ft long implement with a horn or antler handle. Plenty of Madrone around me, but mostly fir. Turns out, I was looking too far away. I’m just going to ask Alex nicely if I can trade. It’s actually the perfect shape as is, no handle needed. It’s Madrone drift wood from saltwater that is now dry and hard as a rock.

She loves that long stick. I’ll need to offer a nicer trade item.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

First violet harvest of the year. Most ended up in a salad with the rest for Alex.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Nettles are starting to sprout so I brought a basket home to dry for tea, decent amount of violets too. The potatoes are not technically wild. Those are pre-contact Ozette potatoes that I will be growing along with tobacco this year.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

My project just got much bigger and involved.

Lewis Lake Nature Park - City of Auburn

I am now the steward of this land and my proposal to the city to encourage berry and other food production using native species was approved! My lake project is pending further review and I agree, I need to do more work and now I can The lake has bluegill and bass.
That’s it. Not even daphnia in any sort of qty.
So it needs some baitfish etc… to be stocked before we can turn it into a kids fishing hole

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Nettles are starting to sprout so I brought a basket home to dry for tea, decent amount of violets too. The potatoes are not technically wild. Those are pre-contact Ozette potatoes that I will be growing along with tobacco this year.

Knobby, wonky, full of eyes. Knowing how to clean these fast and properly could land me a high ranking husband
3.74 lbs from the first two plants in the row.
Yay experimental archaeology! Still has some moss used in the mounding attached to it.


So far just letting the plants run feral with mounding seems to be the winner. The row that I built bramble fencing to contain has fewer tubers, but they seem to be on average larger as well.
Tonight’s dinner will be taters fried in butter and drizzled with a tin of sardines in oil that’s been mashed up. Traditionally they’re eaten raw dipped in smelt (eulochon) oil with a clay soil chaser to take care of the solanine poisoning. Pretty sure the wife and kid would not be ok with that lol
Last picture is the tobacco. Only got two plants out of the packet of seeds. But that’s two more than I had

 

[Fishfur]

Knobby, wonky, full of eyes. Knowing how to clean these fast and properly could land me a high ranking husband

3.74 lbs from the first two plants in the row.

Yay experimental archaeology! Still has some moss used in the mounding attached to it.
View attachment 886796

So far just letting the plants run feral with mounding seems to be the winner. The row that I built bramble fencing to contain has fewer tubers, but they seem to be on average larger as well.

Tonight’s dinner will be taters fried in butter and drizzled with a tin of sardines in oil that’s been mashed up.

Traditionally they’re eaten raw dipped in smelt (eulochon) oil with a clay soil chaser to take care of the solanine poisoning. Pretty sure the wife and kid would not be ok with that lol

Last picture is the tobacco. Only got two plants out of the packet of seeds. But that’s two more than I had

Doesn’t solanine taste very bitter?

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Doesn’t solanine taste very bitter?

Very much.

I don’t know the why (yet) just that it’s a traditional method

 

[Fishfur]

Very much.

I don’t know the why (yet) just that it’s a traditional method

I hadn’t realized potatoes had spread so far north from their origin as to become common in the diet but then people did manage to haul them to Europe didn’t they, so why not Seattle? -).

 

[BPSabelhaus]

I hadn’t realized potatoes had spread so far north from their origin as to become common in the diet but then people did manage to haul them to Europe didn’t they, so why not Seattle? -).

There’s a lot of Northwest coast agriculture that was completely ignored by Europeans and still is. That weird transition zone between Hunter gatherer and farmer. The genetics on these pre-exist European contact. Genetically these are from central Mexico originally and are different from the ones grown by the Chumash in Southern California (though closely related). So they either came from the Chumash and this is the result of acclimation, or they both come from the source in Mexico and split off. Either way works.

 

[Fishfur]

There’s a lot of Northwest coast agriculture that was completely ignored by Europeans and still is. That weird transition zone between Hunter gatherer and farmer. The genetics on these pre-exist European contact. Genetically these are from central Mexico originally and are different from the ones grown by the Chumash in Southern California (though closely related). So they either came from the Chumash and this is the result of acclimation, or they both come from the source in Mexico and split off. Either way works.

Fascinating. Makes perfect sense too.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Knobby, wonky, full of eyes. Knowing how to clean these fast and properly could land me a high ranking husband

3.74 lbs from the first two plants in the row.

Yay experimental archaeology! Still has some moss used in the mounding attached to it.
View attachment 886796

So far just letting the plants run feral with mounding seems to be the winner. The row that I built bramble fencing to contain has fewer tubers, but they seem to be on average larger as well.

Tonight’s dinner will be taters fried in butter and drizzled with a tin of sardines in oil that’s been mashed up.

Traditionally they’re eaten raw dipped in smelt (eulochon) oil with a clay soil chaser to take care of the solanine poisoning. Pretty sure the wife and kid would not be ok with that lol

Last picture is the tobacco. Only got two plants out of the packet of seeds. But that’s two more than I had

So, I tried hanging and they just don’t like it. So I’m letting them dry naturally and curl into sticks. That said, I had some bug or bunny nibbled pieces and small leaves that dried very quickly.

Being an untrained and unlicensed ethnobotanist (is there even licensing??? lol) man of science and curiosity, I uh did a thing. I can absolutely see how spirit quests etc…. come out of proper use in those matters.

From a purely scientific viewpoint my night vision is fantastic, as is my hearing. I’m normally not a fan of being in the dark, even within my fenced yard. Tonight I was out beyond the fence in the green belt that runs to the nature park I do work at, and the large watershed. But tonight I just had Rocket (my terrier) out with me just behind the fence. There is an access road for a Comcast substation. At one end across a road a guy feeds the crows, raccoons etc… so they use the road frequently.

Tonight I could hear a younger sounding yip coming from that house two more from the other side of Comcast and presumably momma between us (50 yds of thick hazel and roses)

I was fascinated. We stood there, Rocket on edge with his hackles up. Me just fully aware and enjoying it. We came back inside easily with no flashlights (phone hurt my eyes on dim) and just sat on the porch. There was one more vocalization, then after a couple minutes the juvenile owls started calling.


I guess my winter project will be constructing a proper traditional pipe.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Harvested the first tobacco seed pod today. More drying and developing on the plants. I might covertly plant some at the reservation smoke shop. They just redid their landscaping with imported plants instead of native.

And proper tobacco growing there just seems right lol

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Same ramekin only with unopened pods. This is maybe 1/4 what is still developing. Needless to say I have plenty of seed. These will get mixed into the mini prairie restoration at the park. At least some will. Many more will be guerilla planted around town and shared with people that want some.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Well, I applied for a grant and got declined (I'm not a business, but tried anyway) Even though I can't get the grant, they are interested in my work and want to feature it on their farming blog
Second season is coming up. Going to start that and then I'll maybe do a little story for them. Figure it can't hurt to get my name out there and make some contacts maybe

 

[BPSabelhaus]

No picture, but I just stuffed my face with a handful of violet flowers. It's so hard to describe the taste beyond very floral vitamin c / citrus taste. Such a perk me up.



Fresh young leaves and flowers are good raw (or for the flowers, dipped in egg white and powdered sugar then dried)

Older leaves like the one shown are a good cooked green.

 

[Fishfur]

So one of my long term interests is NorthWest coastal peoples ethnobotany. I have always loved the concept of the forests, meadows and waters as simply providing if you know where and when to look.

So on todays walk around the woods with the dog I gathered some goodies to make some PNW teas for the holidays
The large bundle is fireweed. The leaves will be stripped, mashed, fermented then dried to make a medicinal tea.
Next bundle with the alternating leaves is yellow yarrow.
Two sprigs of mint. It’s use is obvious lol
A handful of rosehips. I need more and larger ones, plus mountain ash still. That will be tomorrows walk in the other direction. The bag is full of pacific Madrone bark.
Trail is full of bark. Just pick it up, no need to even bother the tree.
Fireweed. Near 7 ft tall.
All in the woods and meadows around the house / housing developments. Just gathered on a nice walk with the dog. Once I process everything down, the fireweed stems will be (hopefully, first attempt) used for cordage.
These are patches that I visit and utilize throughout the year and have many more other plants to be used.

I’m curious about what you use mountain ash berries for and what they taste like.
I used to have this cool recipe book of all kinds of stuff you could make from wild collected things including syrup from sumac berries ( makes pink lemonade you’d swear was made from lemons and tinted pink) and jam from ash berries - never tried that one - plus a to-die-for Paradise jelly made from quinces, apples and cranberries. Tastes just like red currant jelly.

Wouldn’t any ash berries have been drying out since last fall?
Is the mountain ash the same as a Rowan tree? Always wondered about that. Also very curious about what fireweed tea would taste like. Sorry to be so nosy but stuff like this fascinates me.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

I harvested them fresh and froze them. Have not used them yet. Wife picked up salmon and I was going to use them for that as a glaze. But I didn't want to waste it on Atlantic lol I mean, why she would pay a premium for that to be shipped in when we live in the Seattle area and have two salmon hatcheries within a 30 minute drive and the river they feed runs through our valley.... lol

Not that I fish, but I do support our local fisheries at a lower price. Actually, I should hit the reservation grocer next time. They just opened their own place next to the new hotel and casino (gambling and cannabis money did them well. Glad they built something that looks cool) anyway I'm sure they have very local salmon which these berries (and madrone I have saved) will be very deserving of.


I made fish stew and mixed in some halibut with that salmon Still good. Used my potatoes too.

Sorry, Fireweed tea tastes a bit like a black tea only more floral. Like if you mixed it half and half with a blend of black tea and various herbs like nettle, bee balm, chamomile, echinacea etc... with a bit of honey. It's interesting if a little labor intensive. Gotta wait until the leaves are a certain stage to harvest them. Then you have to mash and ferment them. Then a slow dry. It's not hard work, just a lot of time sensitive work followed by waiting and watching lol

 

[Fishfur]

I harvested them fresh and froze them. Have not used them yet. Wife picked up salmon and I was going to use them for that as a glaze. But I didn't want to waste it on Atlantic lol I mean, why she would pay a premium for that to be shipped in when we live in the Seattle area and have two salmon hatcheries within a 30 minute drive and the river they feed runs through our valley.... lol

Not that I fish, but I do support our local fisheries at a lower price. Actually, I should hit the reservation grocer next time. They just opened their own place next to the new hotel and casino (gambling and cannabis money did them well. Glad they built something that looks cool) anyway I'm sure they have very local salmon which these berries (and madrone I have saved) will be very deserving of.


I made fish stew and mixed in some halibut with that salmon Still good. Used my potatoes too.

What do the ash berries taste like? We have loads of the cultivated versions of the trees around here- be easy to get some berries next fall.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

What do the ash berries taste like? We have loads of the cultivated versions of the trees around here- be easy to get some berries next fall.

When I have snacked on them raw, I find them a bit mealy and insipid. Not really something palatable. Like Oregon grape in a lot of ways. It's supposed to develop it's flavor with cooking in fats or sugar.

 

[Fishfur]

When I have snacked on them raw, I find them a bit mealy and insipid. Not really something palatable. Like Oregon grape in a lot of ways. It's supposed to develop it's flavor with cooking in fats or sugar.

Interesting. Maybe I’ll hold off on them . One year I made a point of picking crab apples off some very old trees that are now gone, more’s the pity.

But they made simply delicious jelly that was a glowing rich ruby red colour, thanks to the natural pigment in all those tiny crabapples.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Ignore the autistic handwriting, it's one reason I stick to typing lol

Trimmed some hazel nut shoots and have them rooting in the muck tub. Going to start a hazel fence around the garden leading back to the small pond and large fir tree. Will slow the dogs down and also just be a nice place to pick hazelnuts

 

[Fishfur]

Ignore the autistic handwriting, it's one reason I stick to typing lolView attachment 900489View attachment 900488

Trimmed some hazel nut shoots and have them rooting in the muck tub. Going to start a hazel fence around the garden leading back to the small pond and large fir tree. Will slow the dogs down and also just be a nice place to pick hazelnuts

Your ‘autistic handwriting’ looks remarkably similar to my ‘stiff arthritic fingers’ handwriting .

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Your ‘autistic handwriting’ looks remarkably similar to my ‘stiff arthritic fingers’ handwriting .

Not much difference to be honest. Fine motor control is fine motor control lol

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Grrrr
Squirrel stole two of my Camas bulbs. I saw nibbles on the greens of new growth (first new bulbs) a couple weeks ago. Today little holes with little paws.

I'm going for the silver lining lesson.

Going to put the blame on the endemic Douglas fir squirrel. I call them all Doug. So I assume Doug was teaching me a lesson about harvesting bulbs, just as his ancestors would have taught people how to harvest camas. Take the young bulbs, leave the main bulb and spread the seed.

Problem is that Doug is harvesting a bit early lol I don't think it really makes a difference. It's probably sweeter now for it anyway. But for humans, we harvest at seed. Collect the small bulbs, replant the main and plant the seeds around.

Then cook for something like 48 hrs IIRC. I will likely never taste camas, only preserve the plant. If I get to taste it, it would be a really special occasion.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Blackberries out, trillium, miners lettuce and western lily of the valley go big
One season ago that was all covered by blackberries and drowned out from the sun.

Edit: The native blackberries are bouncing back too. Just started to sprout, same with the saxifrage which I'll be harvesting for the potatoes mounding material for a couple weeks. Mounding is seasonal mosses, herbs and tree growth.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Picked up some new gloves today. This whole flattering men with oversizing is getting ridiculous. In real world gloves I'm a medium. Working mens gloves? XL is a bit tight lol

Ridiculous

 

[RayClem]

Picked up some new gloves today. This whole flattering men with oversizing is getting ridiculous. In real world gloves I'm a medium. Working mens gloves? XL is a bit tight lol

Ridiculous

I have noticed this trend as well. I do have rather large hands and have normally used XL. However, I tried on some a while ago and the XLs were too tight. I know we have "shrinkflation" when it comes to things like the size of ice cream containers, orange juice cartons, etc. but I never knew that it had migrated into the clothing world.

 

[Fishfur]

Picked up some new gloves today. This whole flattering men with oversizing is getting ridiculous. In real world gloves I'm a medium. Working mens gloves? XL is a bit tight lol

Ridiculous

Funny you should mention that - I have larger hands and generally find a men’s medium fits me better than even an XL women’s glove, assuming I can find an XL in the first place.
Sizing to flatter just might be the all time silliest of fashion trends.
I have long wished sizing could be standardized worldwide.

Blackberries out, trillium, miners lettuce and western lily of the valley go big

One season ago that was all covered by blackberries and drowned out from the sun.
Edit: The native blackberries are bouncing back too. Just started to sprout, same with the saxifrage which I'll be harvesting for the potatoes mounding material for a couple weeks. Mounding is seasonal mosses, herbs and tree growth.

I’d never heard of miner’s lettuce but now I’ve looked it up I think I’ll try growing some. It sounds pretty good. The things I learn on a fish forum .

 

[BPSabelhaus]

There are two varieties.
Miners lettuce with round leaves which is good raw or cooked.
Siberian miners lettuce has lanceolate (spear point shape) leaves which I find a bit off putting raw. It's a very green algae flavor. But it's like a cooked seaweed when blanched. Both grow here, but mostly Siberian in my immediate area. I have seeded plots with both, just one grows more widespread here.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Came across this western red cedar and some red Japanese maple seedlings growing in deep tire ruts from construction. So the maple are in a pot together and I decided to give bonsai another go. This time away from the dogs reach lol

 

[Fishfur]

Came across this western red cedar and some red Japanese maple seedlings growing in deep tire ruts from construction. So the maple are in a pot together and I decided to give bonsai another go. This time away from the dogs reach lol
View attachment 902384

I should be so lucky as to find Japanese maple seedlings. But there are plenty of Siberian elms and other maples are easy to find.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

I should be so lucky as to find Japanese maple seedlings. But there are plenty of Siberian elms and other maples are easy to find.

A lot of Japanese maple and cherry trees out here in Seattle thanks to pretty strong cultural ties with the Pacific region in general but especially Japan.

 

[Fishfur]

A lot of Japanese maple and cherry trees out here in Seattle thanks to pretty strong cultural ties with the Pacific region in general but especially Japan.

I can imagine. Same sort of thing in southern BC.

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Literally mid Vancouver's lol

 

[Fishfur]

Literally mid Vancouver's lol

Yep. Two of my nieces live in Vancouver. If it wasn’t such a long flight, never mind expensive, and finding suitable pet sitters and all that, I’d be visiting them often .

 

[BPSabelhaus]

I love how their version of "The Mountain is downtown" is pretty literal.
Our version is "Ew, why is it hanging out in Tacoma?"


Camas in bloom Now to not mess anything up until seeds lol Last year the one flower stalk bent over after I watered the pots and didn't finish development of the seed pod

This year I hope to collect seed and replant into a new planter just for them. Hopefully I can split a few new bulbs off too

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Yesterday's forage for a future project. Douglas fir pitch. Now to find some rabbit or deer poop so I can heat it all together with some punky wood in an air tight container.
I mean, where else am I gonna get a good glue?

When botany meets alchemy lol

 

[Fishfur]

View attachment 903104

Yesterday's forage for a future project. Douglas fir pitch. Now to find some rabbit or deer poop so I can heat it all together with some punky wood in an air tight container.
I mean, where else am I gonna get a good glue?

When botany meets alchemy lol

Believe it or not I’ve heard of making glue with pine pitch and ground up charcoal - I dated a guy who was into survival techniques and extreme hiking. (But not for long - hiking was all well & good but the extremes? not so much).

So I have to ask, why poop instead of charcoal?

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Believe it or not I’ve heard of making glue with pine pitch and ground up charcoal - I dated a guy who was into survival techniques and extreme hiking. (But not for long - hiking was all well & good but the extremes? not so much).

So I have to ask, why poop instead of charcoal?

Something to do with the additional minerals making the glue work a bit better. It can be done with just charcoal or punky wood but I think it comes out a little grittier or less smooth or something. I honestly haven't done a lot of reading on this just yet. I tried using the pitch by itself, but it takes forever to cure. Donny Dust suggested Neanderthal glue recipe, so I'm giving it a go and might try to work out the chemistry later.
If I had to figure out the genetics of the plants, no problem. Chemistry, math or electronics?
Nope lol

 

[BPSabelhaus]

Good morning sister salmonberry

 

[Fishfur]

View attachment 903284View attachment 903285

Good morning sister salmonberry

Do you make anything with them? I gather they’re a bit bland eaten raw.