Foraging Further Afield

…in which I go into the woods.

So, having been unable to find greenbrier in sufficient quantities in my own backyard, I decided to head across the road to see if I could find a large enough root to make beer. Back at my other home I would have just slipped on a pair of sneakers and gone off to ramble. Here there are snakes and thorns and who knows what all else just waiting to assault so I donned my sturdy pants and heavy rubber boots and packed a knife that could kill a small wild hog but not a large one and a pair of gloves and set on my big adventure. Twenty feet away from home.

Into the woods to forage for edible roots.

Into the woods to forage for edible roots.

I sharpened my eye for sign of greenbrier. I looked up to see if it was in the trees. There is a great variety of trees.

I credit my friend Lynn for teaching me to look up from time to time.

I credit my friend Lynn for teaching me to look up from time to time.

Aah, and here we have some greenbrier, a good hearty plant with a thick stem. I take a handful near the root and pull. Shouldn’t be that hard; the trees are all growing in sand. Perhaps there is something down there holding on the other end.

Greenbrier, actually a climbing shrub, not a vine.

Greenbrier, actually a climbing shrub, not a vine. It has thorns like darning needles.

I decided I would go home to get a spade to dig the root but in the meantime I explored a little. Is that caribou moss I see? Surely not.

Reindeer moss. I looked it up; tasted like aspirin and will give you a stomach ache if not prepared properly. I'll pass.

Reindeer moss. I looked it up; tastes like aspirin and will give you a stomach ache if not prepared properly and even then it is not very palatable. I’ll pass.

Looks like the woodpeckers have been busy but not as busy as the bugs which got there first.

Some heavy duty chewin' goin' on.

Some heavy duty chewin’ goin’ on.

Not far from that dead stick was a hole. It was about eight inches in diameter. I knocked but no one came out.

Our Northside neighbours. Possums I expect.

Our Northside neighbours. Possums I expect.

I sat in this little clearing for a spell to see if any critters would go by. Not a one.

The spind

The spindly pine caught my eye; more of a tuft than a tree.

A couple of pretty pics.

 

IMG_7436

 

IMG_7428I was never very far from home; you can see the house through the trees.

The woods are really not so wild as they look. In the daytime.

The woods are really not so wild as they look. In the daytime.

When I got home I looked up the recipe for greenbrier root beer again in another source. I now realize that any alcoholic beer made from a root is considered root beer and beer can certainly be made from greenbrier but to make it taste like our favourite soft drink you have to add sassafras. That means harvesting another wild plant and I have yet to get the first ingredient. Methinks I will just file the information on greenbrier in the back of my head and use it later if I am stuck in the woods and just dying for a brew. Remind me to keep a package of yeast in my backpack, right next to my book on edible wild plants; my memory is not to be trusted.

© Judy Parsons 2016

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