I Like What They Call "Weed".

I have missed being a morning person. I woke up around four this morning and I never went back to sleep. Instead, I got up, got dressed. Then, I went out and got Wood and we went foraging. Guess what we found...

...that is wild garlic (Allium Vineale). It grows well here and it's considered a weed even though it is edible because some crops, especially grains like wheat, can pick up it's pungent flavor. Even the beef of cattle who eat it can be tainted. It has a stronger aftertaste than garlic, which some people don't like. But, it is grown in herb gardens for it's strange blooms and, because it is allium, it still carries positive health benefits. Also, it is fairly common in the delta, because the structure of the leaves withstand chemical herbicides.

Earlier in the week, I took my grandfather to his doctor's appointment in Memphis. We were in the waiting room for a while, but I didn't complain. I discovered what is probably my favorite magazine now, Gun&Garden. I know what you're probably thinking if you've never read an issue...I thought it was probably a bathroom basket reader. It may be. But if so, I think that the gunmen and gardeners who subscribe are probably spending a lot of time in their bathrooms. The journalism is fantastic. Anyway, I particularly enjoyed several articles, and I managed to locate this one online: http://gardenandgun.com/article/forager. It struck a fire under me to spend a lot of time trekking around to collect and identify plants, and to figure out what kinds are edible and to be able to differentiate between those good for herbal remedies and those that are poisonous. We certainly don't want another Christopher McCandless.

In the process, I've discovered that both sides of Josephine are essentially nothing but dewberry briars, wildflowers, and johnson grass. I've enjoyed going out to pick with my family, our friends, and just with Wood. Yesterday, I took Hallie and Winn out, and they had a grand time. I think more berries made it to their mouth than their bags, and they both picked half a bushel. When I took them home for baths, we had to scrub their purple faces and hands.

My agenda for the afternoon is going out for another collection, and maybe taking a trip to the library. Here's to the hopes of finding some arrowhead, wild strawberries, violets, bellflower, mallow, and virgin's bower, to name a few.