Viki Mather

All About Snow                                                                          

by Viki Mather

Snow! Don’t you just love it! In case you hadn’t noticed, I do. Snow in February is perfect. Snow is also good in late November, all of December, January, March and into early April. All the creatures that stay in the forest for the winter have adapted to snowy winters. Including me.

Snow is quiet, snow is warm, and snow blankets the forest floor, keeping the frost from going too deeply into the ground. When temperatures plummet to the low  -20s in the middle of February, we can crawl into a snow cave to find the relatively warm temperature of –5 C.

Individual snowflakes hold an endless fascination. The big fluffy ones that fall on a quiet winter’s day invite closer observation. Is every one of them different from all the others? I look out the window at what must be several hundred billion snowflakes - on the ground, on the trees, on the hillside, and even in the air. Snow is falling gently as I type. Is every snowflake unique?

Viki Mather

Living on solar power makes us naturally energy conscious. Especially during the six weeks surrounding Winter Solstice. December is filled with cloudy days when we gain no power at all.  And on the few days each week when the sun does shine, it is low in the sky. By the time it rises above the trees in the morning, and then shrinks below the trees in the afternoon, there may be only 5 hours of productive energy accumulation.

At the beginning of June I started this series on Edible Wild Plants. We’ve ventured into swamps and forests, gardens and roadsides. We tasted wild teas, fruits, and garden weeds. We’ve taken a cautionary peek at mushrooms, and had a reminder that not all plants are edible.

Our journey began at the beginning of June, with a review of two books: Lee Allen Peterson’s “Field guide to Edible Wild Plants”, and Euell Gibbons “Stalking the Wild Asparagus.” You can read the entire 20 article series on the Kukagami Lodge website (see hotlink below). We’re going to end this year’s look at what’s good to eat in the wild with a closer look at those ‘wild asparagus’.

Mid-autumn may seem to be an odd time to be talking about wild asparagus. After all, it will be next spring before it can be gathered for the table. Yet the key to knowing edible wild plants is getting to know where things grow. Often, the best time to see the most deciduous plants is long after the best time to pick them. Wild asparagus is one such plant.

If you have cultivated asparagus in your garden, you be well aware of the tall, lacy plants as they appear in autumn. In my garden the mature asparagus plants stand more than a metre tall. The lacy branches are brilliant gold, and a few of them support dozens of small red berries that hold the seeds.

Over the winter, birds will come to take these seeds near and far. That’s how “wild asparagus” gets planted. This seed dispersal has been going on for as long as people have been planting asparagus in their gardens. There are more than a few places to find these wild patches, and right now is the best time to look for them. They are easiest to see along roadsides, and most predominant along country roads.

While you are out and about over the next few weeks, keep a look out for the tall, lacy asparagus plants. Generally they grow in dense clumps with a dozen or two stems. Make a note of where you see them, then go back next spring to bring in some of the first ‘edible wilds’ of the year.

Like most edible wild plants, wild asparagus will have a much finer flavour than anything you can buy in the store. This is partly because of the joy you get from finding such treasures, and partly due to the minimal time between picking and dining.

I hope you have enjoyed reading the last five months of dining in the wild, and I hope you took some time to gather a few of the gifts from Mother Nature. All too often in these modern days we lose track of what is important. Taking some time to forage from the wilds can bring back a joy of life that is so easily lost in the shuffle of busyness that overwhelms us.

Cranberries                                                                                                      

By Viki Mather

It is a good year for cranberries! There are almost enough of them to make up for the sparsity of blueberries.

Cranberries are easy to find after you have seen the first patch of them They grow on low-lying vines at the edges of wet places They are especially fond of boggy areas, but can also be found along lakeshores in protected coves.

Cranberry vines are tiny. The threadlike stems support tiny, long, oval leavesThese have smooth edges that curl in a bit All summer long the leaves are green, but as we reach into the cool days of October, they become as red as the cranberry fruits The fruits are abundant this year, which makes it even easier to find the plants.

Wild cranberries are the same size and colour as those you buy in the store In fact, wild cranberries are so perfectly created, that there has been no need to generate hybrids for marketing They are grown commercially in managed wetlands

With Thanksgiving being a bit early this year, our local wild cranberries have not yet fully ripened to their full maroonish-red colour Still, if you can find a patch of wild cranberries, you can pick enough of the nearly ripe berries to make a nice sauce for your Thanksgiving dinner.

A simple cranberry sauce is made with berries, a little water and some sugar Simmer gently until the berries break, stir and chill

An interesting treat for Thanksgiving dinner, or any fancy meal is Cranberry Pie This is also very simple Fill a piecrust with fresh, raw cranberries Add a cup of white sugar, a teaspoon of almond extract and a few dots of butter Cover with the top crust, sprinkle a little sugar on top, and cut enough slits to allow abundant steam to escape.

Bake at 325 F for 45 minutes or so The cranberries will get bubbly, and the crust will turn a golden brown To be truly decadent, serve this pie warm with a scoop of pure vanilla ice cream

Collecting cranberries from the wild is a great excuse to get out for an autumn hike Take a trail that wanders by some wet areas, and keep a sharp eye out for that maroon colour of the leaves and berries Once you find the first patch, your eyes will know what you are looking for, and some you’ll see many more.

 
Viki Mather is owner of Kukagami Lodge, a northern Ontario wilderness resort at the southern boundary of the Temagami forest. Web: www.kukagamilodge.com <http://www.kukagamilodge.com> , email: lodge@kukagami.infosathse.com Viki has lived in the wilderness for 26 years, without electricity or running water. Read these columns monthly to discover wonderful ways to live in harmony with nature, bring edible wilds into your kitchen, thrive without plugging into the grid, and enjoy a healthier life.