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OpinionI’ve just added Abundantly Wild: Collecting And Cooking Wild Edibles Of The Upper Midwest
Don’t let the title fool you, much of the information and recipes in this book can be found in my local area, New York’s Hudson Valley. (more…)
I collected a large amount of tree ear (Auricularia auricula) and black jelly roll (Exidia glandulosa) mushrooms during this past week’s January thaw. Of course they may all be Exidia glandulosa.
As mycology evolves and knowledge is gained, much of what was once published is now being revisited. I’ve been enjoying my first fungi of 2010 in a rich mushroom soup perfect for a bitter cold winter days.
When everything else is dormant or frozen, it’s nice to find something new to go with my pine needle tea.
Heavy rain washed away the snow, exposing some interesting features of the rock surface of area mountains. This morning’s snow is laying down a fresh palette for wildlife tracks.
As for the rocks, when I saw this, I wondered if it had been split by temperature extremes:
But what really happened is that the tooth-like calcium deposit was not solid like this rock:
Moisture filled in between the gaps of the calicium “teeth” of the first rock.
I’ve spent a great deal of time hiking two mountains located less than 10 miles from each other which are composed of different geological materials. One is conglomerate rock with distinct vegetation and evidence of glacial movement.
The bedrock on the other mountain is precambrian gneiss outcroppings with mica and feldspar inclusions along with embedded microcrystalline quartz.
I’m preparing tracking programs – age of participants and size of group varies. Despite the bitter cold, the snow has not been deep, making it a spectacular winter for tracking. Now my photos look like what I study in Tracking and the Art of Seeing.
I understand my subject matter. Making it memorable, in the way that Gary Lincoff or Tom Volk does – that’s my present is to show, not tell while speaking.
Since tracking actually involves all the senses, what can I do that’s engaging and memorable before we hit the trail? One option is coffee cup tracking, although I plan to use yogurt cups.
It’s rare to get snow conditions that reveal as much track detail as I’ve seen this year. It’s even more surprising to be able to watch the animals move in their tracks and then have those tracks to study.
This group of wild turkeys were in a relatively open area.
What caused one turkey to spread its wings?
Here are a few more images: (more…)
When my mom or grandmother would say, “Once in a blue moon,” I always understood it as a metaphor for a rare, but unpredictable event.
Today’s full moon is the second one this month. The moon was also full on December 2, 2009.
It’s another fun reason to stare up at the sky while musing on the end of a year, the end of a decade and the occurrence of something, according to NASA, that I will not see again until August of 2012. (more…)
The Lacuna: A Novel
Barbara Kingsolver’s ability to weave the predictive elements into the plot is so subtle, that I’m compelled to find out what happens next. I pick up more details on every read-through. It’s a lot like traveling that perfect cross-country ski hill. After the first “woo hoo,” I go back to the beginning to enjoy the subtlties of the curves and dips of the hill.
The ending of The Lacuna
I did finally recover enough muscle memory to cross country ski without falling, so I took my camera out to photograph tracks.
The bitter cold temperatures have kept the snow a powdery texture, protected from wind in the woods, subject to amazing drift in the open areas.
The patina of snow made the details of this fox track very clear.
And the activity in this sector has me guessing a bird of prey may have caught a rodent.
Compare the following two photos and see what’s different in the few minutes between when the first and second photos were taken:
Here are a few more photos from my solstice week trek: (more…)
There are few things that would lure me out of the woods when conditions are perfect for both cross-country skiing and tracking. Cookies made from acorn flour and dipped in chocolate and black walnuts – I never had a chance.
Baking does not come naturally to me, so I appreciate the mastery of fellow forager Jim Capossela. I don’t know him well enough to even hint that I’d like the recipe.
Any opportunity to hear Gary Lincoff speak is a worthwhile investment. You’re learning without even realize it while being entertained.
Know Your Mushrooms
I’m not a DVD collector, so I don’t fork over the cash unless the product is worth watching over and over.