Monday, June 7, 2010

Half Way


This week we got to 50. We are right on track and feeling pretty good. Our housemate asked us, "Did you think at the beginning of this project you would actually get to 100?" We both paused, realizing that we hadn't really thought about it that way; we were just excited about the project. But now, we have to think about it. Will we? Probably. But it may be close. Summer will certainly be busy.

Looking at our master list, we realize there are some plants that are going to be hard to find, but over the last several months we've been taking note of plant communities in our area, noting where things are so we'll be ready to harvest them at the right time. We have a few field trips planned this fall to find some plants not in our immediate area (notably wild rice and cranberries). We are still extreme novices in the mushroom department, but I think we can make 100 without many more. Road kill, fish, and insects have not yet made their way onto our plates, but we have definetly thought about them.

Foraging is definetly chaning our lives in ways I hadn't expected. I find myself needing to buy very few vegetables. Last week, I nearly let some broccoli and asparagus go bad because we had so many wild veggies in our nightly meals. We spread out on the floor with towels and scissor to process plants while we watch movies. We never leave the house without a plastic bag in our pockets. Baby Yub Yub goes to the door with a basket in the morning, saying, "Mama, pick." And every time Thag identifies a new plant, I ask, "Can we eat it?"

4 comments:

  1. I'm so happy that you all are having a great time with this project! I think that you will defiantly reach 100 plants by the end of the year, but when this is done what will you blog about?

    ReplyDelete
  2. We were just thinking about that. We're having so much fun that we want to keep going, but where's the compelling plot conflict without the goal? We think that if we're a success this year, next year might have to be about expanding our horizons into the realm of animals--bugs, snails, crustaceans, fish. Would you still read our blog, dear sister?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nooo! Please - no bug eating!

    ReplyDelete
  4. the cutest thing ever..."mama pick" awwwww!

    ReplyDelete