Random acts of wildness are not something I’m really good at. Oh, I’m all about being in the wild, and my attention is easily diverted by any random thing when outside. Mushroom! Snake! Bat! But my forays beyond my yard tend to be…planned. Dog. Leash. Water for me. Water for dog. Destination selection. Coordinating friends, who all love the idea of wilding away, but, but, but something else is almost always going on. Meanwhile, nature carries on, heedless of my attention or lack thereof. Which is good…
…because their are treasures to be found. The bloodroot leaves have grown bigger than my hand, and the verdant green provides a backdrop for some of Iowa’s rare treasures.
When I was a kid, I loved the smooth, perfect swells of the orchid blossoms, the way they could grow in the air, and the way they needed perpetual heat and humidity year round. Despite sweltering Midwestern summers, the frigid winters made the landscape inhospitable. I would repeatedly buy ones that “could” live indoors, and I would take them home, where they would never flower and gradually die.
But I was oh-so-wrong about one thing. There are actually 32 species of orchid that live in Iowa, and a woodland treasure hunt this month at the Indian Creek Nature Center revealed two.
Showy orchisYellow lady slipper
The yellow lady slipper is far more rare than the showy orchis. Because of their beauty, people are tempted to dig them and take them home. Because of their strong underground mycorrhizal associations, they seldom survive transplant-leaving a hole in the woods they came from, as well as a hole in the receiving garden. Not quite The Orchid Thief, but I only found one lady slipper on my walk. The beautiful rare delicacy of these flowers reminds me that if I just go outside, nature will provide the random wildness.
Forests in the not-too distant-past once provided primary sustenance for people, not just the other mammals and the birds. Today, agriculture and urbanization have made that relationship more challenging. The felling of many trees has reduced both the size and species composition of the woods. Forests are increasingly unhealthy, and lack many of the sustenance-providing species they once held. Among the foods we do eat regularly, it is a crop’s harvestability and transportability that have become valued over many other traits. Foods are increasingly single-sourced, and bear little resemblance-including nutritional value-to the myriad of plants on which we once depended.
This spring, we planted six cockspur hawthorn¹ (Crataegus crus-galli) trees at Indian Creek Nature Center, as part of a woodland restoration project. For restoration purposes, the hawthorns are native trees that only grow about 25 feet tall, easy to overlook when we discuss the grandeur of the mighty oaks and hickories. Yet they provide a lot of ecological benefits, with their thicket-like tendencies that protect young nestlings, blossoms for pollinators, and edible berries for wildlife.
For human guests, the hawthorns² are the latest addition to the native edible forest at the Nature Center. Both the blossoms and berries are good to eat. The trees were planted in a wide circle, forming a grove around one of the maturing oaks. In the not-too-distant future, guests will be able to come, spread a picnic blanket in the semiprivate shade of the grove, listen to the birds all around them, and harvest a handful of berries³ for tea later that evening.
A few notes:
1. The hawthorns serve as a host plant for Cedar Apple Rust, which is hard on apple trees.
2. To find out if a species is native to your state, visit www.plants.usda.gov
3. Consuming hawthorns can help lower blood pressure. To learn more about the medicinal benefits, check out an herbal book, such as the Woman’s Book of Healing Herbs. If you’re under the care of a doctor for a blood pressure condition, talk to your doctor first.
When I think about nature, the impact it has on me, and the relationship I have with it, I tend to think about the joy of being in nature, and that all-encompassing sensory experience that we can only barely begin to understand. But I suspect, if nature were to think about me, the relationship is less positive. I drive on paved roads; I put things in the landfill that will never decompose; some of the products I use leach toxins into the water; and, I predominantly burn coal for my electricity. Now, I also work full-time to care for the environment, I am making great improvements in the products I choose, and I am conscientious about my energy use. But that doesn’t change that homo sapiens are by far the most ecologically invasive, permanently destructive species on the planet-and I am part of that problem.
The solutions are often neither obvious or easy. So I am thrilled to be part of Indian Creek Nature Center’s new construction project that is rising to meet the standards set by the International Living Future Institute’s Living Building Challenge. Not obvious and not easy (and my posts are likely to be far less frequent). But being on the leading edge of the green construction revolution will help us-all of us-live in better harmony with the environment and sustainably care for our natural resources.
The ruby-throated hummingbirds have returned. I haven’t seen one yet, but I’ve been keeping a casual eye on http://www.hummingbirds.net/map.html to track their migration north, and they have definitely been spotted in this area over the past few days.
That means it’s time to put up the hummingbird feeder. The hummingbirds will stick around for the summer and find plenty to feed on without our help. Putting out the feeder gives us an opportunity to watch their aerial acrobatics up close on a regular basis. They have distinct personalities, and don’t hesitate to find us in the yard and complain loudly if we don’t keep sugar water in the feeder. We have columbines planted for them as well, but the flowers haven’t quite started to bloom yet.
My challenge in loving nature isn’t usually the “getting outside” part, its avoiding the poison ivy that thrives in the woods. Poison ivy is beautiful, especially in the spring and fall, but the oil causes my skin to break out in open, weeping, ever-expanding, never-healing sores, which causes me to go to the doctor for prednisone, which wreaks havoc on my immune system. Last summer, I avoided the doctor/prednisone, and I am going to do my best again this summer.
Step 1. Identify.
I nearly walked into this poison ivy branch, hanging face-high from a tree.The fine hairs on the main vine gave it away.
Step 2. Avoid.
The young leaves in the spring are a deep red.
Step 3. Wash thoroughly, assuming avoidance wasn’t good enough. Always a good idea after playing outside, because it provides an opportunity for a thorough tick check.
If I was in the general vicinity of poison ivy, I just use soap and water. If I’m fairly sure I actually contacted the plant, I use Goop first, which binds with the oil.
Step 4. At the first sign of breakout, start drinking copious amounts of tea made from reishi mushrooms, stinging nettle leaves, and budding goldenrod flowers. The challenge is on-we’ll see how this season goes!
The stinging nettle leaves that emerged mid-April are getting too big too harvest, but there are young plants still coming up around the edges of the nettle patches.
For National Arbor Day, I decided to plant some “mushroom trees.” I have healthy, mature oaks. I have young northern pecans, Kentucky coffeetrees, and Ohio buckeyes. I also have, typical of Iowa’s woodlands, forest areas so overgrown that trees need to be removed, not planted. And, while I continue to work on improving the diversity of the woodlands, planting a typical tree for National Arbor Day seemed counter-productive this year.
Shiitake “plug spawn”. Dowels inoculated with mycelium
Dying trees are critical for the health of a forest. They provide habitat for cavity nesting birds, screech owls, bluebirds, and wood ducks. They serve as roosts for bats and feeding stations for insect-eating birds. A dead snag hosts a tremendous variety of decomposers, from fungi to ants, which gradually break down the hard wood into soft, rich organic matter in which new life can grow.
Mycelium rapidly expanding around the dowel
I thought deliberately turning a dead log into a mushroom tree would be a fun way to celebrate the spirit of National Arbor Day, without adding a tree where it shouldn’t belong. It will celebrate that the value of a tree extends far beyond the life span of the tree. As a benefit, I will
1) expand my knowledge of mushrooms, and give me a close up, regular look at the decomposition process
2) provide me with something healthy and tasty to eat
3) provide organic material, when the tree is completely broken down.
Drilling the holes in the oak limb, a casualty of a recent wind storm
In the past, I’ve grown portabella mushrooms in a box in the house, and thought this would not be too much more difficult. And then, when I got my shiitake, maitake, and reishi mushrooms from Fungi Perfecti…I realized that it may not be more difficult, but it is certainly a bit more specific and detailed.
Tapping the plug snugly into the tree.
I’ll be sharing pictures as the mushrooms grow! Have you ever grown your own mushrooms?
Sealing the plug into the tree with a bit of melted beeswax. There are definitely more efficient means of melting beeswax than a torch (the directions recommend melting the wax in a pot, and painting it on the plug). Now, we wait!
Thank you! We’ll nominate our own favorite blogs soon, but in the meantime, a bit about us in answer to the questions posed by Seedling — Lee in blue, Jean in red, and Gabe (the elusive illustrator of Hunting Red) in green!.
What is something that you appreciate today and why?
Lee: Eating outside on the front porch in the sunshine.
Jean: Everything. Life should be lived in appreciation. Specifically, there is a flower blooming in my yard that I don’t recognize.
Gabe: Today? I don’t have to go to work or class!
Do you recognize this flower?
What is something that you recently learned?
Lee: How to post to twitter — @pocketmousepub!
Jean: How to make charcoal. My knowledge heretofore has been theoretical.
What is something that you love about yourself and why?
Lee: My cursive handwriting. It’s legible, uniform, and well, lovely. Sadly, none of my children have inherited it.
Gabe: I taught myself to be ambidextrous (after reading The Queen of Attolia).
What is something that you had always wished to do and achieved?
Lee: I always wanted to homeschool. I heard about it while I was in high school, and now I have two who have graduated and four I’m still homeschooling.
Gabe: Complete the full 50,000 word NaNoWriMo this past November.
What is something that you still wish to do before you pass on?
Lee: Travel the world with my husband on a sailboat or catamaran.
Jean: I try to avoid bucket lists. If there is something I want to do or experience, I try to prioritize it for its own sake and create a plan for making it happen. If it doesn’t happen, it should either be because 1) I never got beyond the wishful thinking stage to fully develop it, or 2) I decided, consciously or not, that other priorities were more important.
How many languages do you speak?
Lee: Just English. I know a little Latin and a smattering of Ancient Greek from learning alongside my children. Not that those will help me while I’m sailing!
Jean: I’m fairly adept at English and appreciate etymology.
Gabe: Not Spanish or Latin (sorry, Mom). I’m creating my a language for world I made — check back in 5 years to see if I speak it yet.
Sketch from a World created by Gabe
If you made a New Year’s Resolution this year, are you still working towards it? If so, in what way?
Lee: Not a New Year’s Resolution but back in mid-February I made a commitment to get my children out into nature every day. We haven’t missed a day yet! Of course, not everyone goes every day. Getting 8 people around the dinner table at one time is hard enough, let alone out for an hour in the woods!
Gabe: I resolved to keep working on my 50,000 word NaNo novel. April is Camp NaNo, and I’m adding at least 30,000 words to scenes I skipped in November.
What is one way in which you live authentically?
Lee: My priorities are my own. Reading aloud to my children daily and only buying quality dark chocolate are high on my list. Dressing stylishly and dusting the house are very low.
Jean: I am developing a better understanding of the plants around me on a deeper level. Specifically, I’m focusing on their nutritional and medicinal value, and how valuing them can bring me into harmony.
What is one of your own ‘natural highs’?
Lee: Being near rushing water: from the babble of the creek running over the rocks, to the thunderous noise of the rapids on a big river — I love the sound.
Jean: Riding in the fields with Frank, my horse. Hiking in the woods with Nitro, my dog.
Gabe: Riding my bike downhill very fast. Hitting people with sticks — SCA heavy-combat style, of course.
What is your wish for the world and how do you work towards it?
Jean: Sharing the joy, learning, and wonder that come from being in nature. That passion was the basis for writing Hunting Red and why I’m the Land Stewardship Director at Indian Creek Nature Center.
Thanks for reading, and when we get those questions & nominations together, we’ll share!
This is a magical season in the forest, as the spring ephemerals are just beginning to bloom. When we think of forest, our minds immediately go to the trees. Right now, with the trees in various stages of budding out, there is not a leaf to be seen. But there is a whole rainbow of color to be found.
Cottonwood tree inflorescence, brought down in a windstorm (Red).OK, I haven’t seen any orange butterflies yet, but these fun chairs are sitting outside Indian Creek Nature Center’s Butterfly Hoop House, beckoning a visit. Or……set 1/2 an orange out on a tray feeder or deck railing to attract the Baltimore Oriole. This one, painted by artist Brenna O’Hara, is a permanent resident along ICNC’s woodland trail (Orange).
Lots of life is beginning to emerge from the ground. Wildflowers of Iowa Woodlands by Sylvan Runkel and Alvin Bull is a great resource to put in your backpack before setting out. If that’s too big, try the laminated Woodland in Your Pocket pamphlet. Finding flowers is fun: knowing what you’re looking at is thrilling.
Bloodroots are one of the first spring ephemerals to explode in the spring (Yellow).
Delicate, small forbs take advantage of all of that sunlight streaming through the bare branches to send up their own leaves, flower, and reproduce.
Wild Ginger is just beginning to peek out, with soft folded leaves (Green). Open your copy of Hunting Red to preview the ginger in bloom.A blue jay was here. As the feathers of most birds are protected, take pictures, not the feathers (Blue).
To help identify feathers you find, visit the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s free online Feather Atlas.
These bluebell flowers have not fully opened, but show some of the great diversity of color within the species (Indigo).The petals of the wild violet are edible, and are a beautiful edition to any salad (Violet).
Spend Earth Day outside, exploring what is happening with the earth as spring surrounds us in a rainbow of color. What colors will you find?
Pick nettles that are approximately 8″ tall, taking the top 6″.
By mid summer, moist woodlands are thick with stinging nettles. Long pants and long sleeve cotton t-shirts are a must, to keep waist-high plants from assaulting skin with trichomes. But right now, the stinging nettles are just beginning to emerge. Celebrate Earth Day by enjoying hunting for, gathering, and eating this delicious plant.
The leaves are tender and full of iron, vitamin A and vitamin C. The tiny hairs are just beginning to produce trichomes, so they aren’t nearly as painful if you break them off into your skin. Grasp the plant gently at the base and break the stem cleanly off. It won’t hurt the plant. If you can’t seem to get the knack of it without getting stung, wear a pair of gardening gloves or use a pair of clippers. As the nettles are a ubiquitous invader throughout the woods, stick a paper sack in your pocket to collect them in.
Once home, rinse them off and boil them for about five minutes. The boiling breaks down the toxins, making them safe to eat. Treat the leaves like spinach, adding a little bit of butter, salt, or lemon juice before serving.
Dry the rest. The trichomes also break down as the plant dries. Add a teaspoon of dried nettle leaf to the teapot whenever you make a cup of tea, to take advantage of the nutrients in the plant long after the plants leaves are large and tough, and the trichomes are vigorous about defending it.
This book is older than I am, but the information in it is still a great foundation for foraging for food in nature.
Pocket Mouse Publishing 