Edible Plants Talk

I knew of Leenie Hobbie through mutual friends on Facebook, but I had a chance to listen in on her edible plants talk when my neighbor hosted a "Yoga and Weeds" event at Foxwalk Farm.  I wandered toward the barn, which has a large art studio above the stables, hoping  to have missed the yoga.  I was a little late for the edible plants introduction, but I was pleasantly surprised to learn just how much of the abundant local fauna was indeed edible.  Leenie often mentioned plants that were valued as liver "tonics" or kidney tonics.

In my recent post on Garlic Mustard I mentioned that I like my medicines and their dosages clinically tested.  But I also took a chemical ecology course in graduate school in which the overriding theme was that even when chemicals can be synthesized in the lab, it's rarely more efficient than harvesting the chemicals from their natural sources.  Moreover, having a command of natural medicine can save lives in extraordinary situations where modern medicine is unavailable.  So I paid attention, but I'm not going to get into the business (or liabilities) of listing such things here regularly.

When I returned home I noticed all of the irises next to the boathouse were in bloom.

Irises in bloom along the boathouse driveway.