Hey there,
Hope everyone was able to enjoy some of the beautiful weather before the rain over the weekend. We took the opportunity to have a quick camping trip at Rockwood Conservation area, which if you have never been, is a lovely hidden gem, tucked away in farm country. The first time I went I could hardly believe how beautiful and close a place like that is to our home.
The simple way that we camp doesn't come close to the real roughing it camping that I know a few members of our CSA do. I aspire to become more efficient, organized and adventurous one day with camping, but right now between the kids, and all the critters and seedlings at home, we opt for close and easy.
Something that I do while camping, while out in nature, and even just driving around rural backroads, I have a habit of watching the ditches and sides of the road/trail. Foraging has really blown up over the last few years, there are the big ones most people hear about; mushrooms, ramps, fiddleheads, as well as many other less well known edible plants. Even while walking on our own property, I enjoy IDing and knowing what and where things are. I would encourage anyone to be more aware of the plants around you, their names and their possible uses, as someone once said to me, not knowing your native plants/plants around you, is like not knowing your neighbours.
When we first moved here we quickly realized the abundance of wild and edible plants around us. We have picked ramps, fiddleheads, puffballs, wild raspberries, oregano, dandelions, day lilies, wild apples, chickweed, plantain, with a huge number of other plants we see but have never tried. There are a ton of neat resources and experts locally and online. One such person is Ben from fiddlehead nursery in Kimberley, ON. They are doing some really neat things with edible landscapes.
In other news in the garden, if it stops raining for a minute, it is onion pulling and curing time!
