The original title of this blog came from my feelings of being one tiny voice amongst the millions of bloggers out there. If I write a blog in the middle of such a forest, is anyone around to hear it?
Interestingly though, one of the few topics I have some knowledge to discuss is one that such a title fits perfectly; edible wild plants.
I grew up in southeastern Montana, quiet and shy for the most part. One day, during a session in the high school library, we were told to find a book, read it for an hour, and write a summary. I don’t think non-fiction was the intent, but I stumbled across a book on edible wild plants. From then on, I was hooked. I lived on the outskirts of town, and was surrounded by farmland, brooks, and cattail swamps.
I was all woodsman (not woods”woman” or woods-person, I hate that!) back then. I picked up some companion field guides with pictures, and started identifying various edibles in my area. I was also a big fan of outdoor humor columnist Patrick F. McManus, and quite possibly the only girl at my high school with a subscription to Field & Stream. The little creeks in my neighborhood were a fisherman’s dream (not fisher”woman” or fisher-person, angler if you must), and I regularly came home with trout for dinner.
Then, in the spring of 1990, my mother announced that we were moving to the East Coast. I started junior year of high school in metro Boston, and pretty soon the edible wild plants thing faded into the background. I guarded my collection of outdoors books fiercely through the years, but the boom of PCs and the internet (online gaming, especially) took my attention away. I studied ecology, geology, oceanography, and other earth sciences in college, but no longer could I really call it an active hobby.
Flash forward to present day. Our lives are governed by technology, but I still carried that love for nature. I can’t remember why, but recently I decided to Google edible wild plants. Lots came up, but SO much of it seems to be websites selling something, be it guided tours, videos, or books, and I discovered a serious lack of information out there that conveyed the youthful joy I used to experience with this hobby.
So I decided to try and remedy that. I’m really looking forward to getting back to my roots. Literally. ;)
