Sunday, April 27, 2014

Pennypack Trust: Wild Edibles Walk

 Totem pole or tree?
 Readying for our walk. Six people, including me and Scott.
 Our leader, Dana Ward, is a trained botanist, who also works at Churchville Nature Center. Read his bio here.

He's digging up some ginger for us. At least, I think it's ginger.

After completing our walk, Dana ran another walk at PERT..... A Salamander Walk.

As kids, we used to catch salamanders back in Cleveland.




May apples. The apples, which grow underneath the leaves, are only found on plants with a certain number of leaves. The apples, said Dana, aren't very tasty but can be made into jelly.
"Heal-all" - above - is ubiquitous in this area and in my front yard. It's edible, but when you come over for dinner, don't expect me to put it in our salads.
Onion grass, which sticks up on the lawn and smells delicious when you mow it or pick up a handful, is edible. Now this I will put in the salad.
Ginger, I believe.
The roots - rhizomes - are edible. I declined b/c I can't take the chance of eating 'microbes' due to my kidney t'plant.


This was really interesting! Insects make "galls" on plants and then deposit their eggs in there. The larvae eat their way out. This was the incubator for gnats.

Actually, this is incorrect, but I'm leaving it here anyway b/c it could be a gall.

Instead it's the shell of a nut from a beech tree. It tastes like spearmint. Wrigley's Spearmint Gum used to be made from beech tree nuts.


The edible Trout Lily.


Above are spring beauties. As soon as they are pollinated they wither up and die.
Persimmon tree. The fruit is borne in the fall. Dig that scruffy bark!

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