Climate Change

 

I am worried.

Our climate is spinning out of control. Two weeks of extreme heat forecasted with temperatures in the 40s. We had left a thermometer in the sun for a few hours and it read 60° Celcius. 46° C in the shade. That is crazy!

The saskatoons are just ripening now, but with the lack of rain and intense heat they shrivel up to nothing as soon as they ripen. Creatures such as bears, birds and insects rely on the wild berries to see them through summer and winter. If the berry crops fail it could impact them severely. Inside I am quietly freaking out. Global climate change is real and the consequences are going to be dire. We are all going to suffer from water shortage, crop failure and loss of species if we don't do something NOW. 

I feel that there is nothing as important as working towards a solution to this so here is my action plan:

The kids and I are posting the question to the community what their ideas are on what we can do on an individual as well as on a community level. We plan to take our findings and ideas to the mayor of Spallumcheen and to the mayor of Armstrong initially, and later on branch out and contact regional as well as national representatives. We will also post our findings here. We are hoping that by doing this we will show our leaders that climate change is an important topic for their voters.

If you have any ideas/want to join/chat about this topic please contact us on email: mikicannon@gmail.com

There is a song by Karliene called Mother Earth that speaks to me right now. Here is a link to the video with lyrics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caIo1UGSDgw

Rose petals

 

    The roses (Rosa spp.) are flowering along the roads and grace us with their sweet scent. There are many different kinds of rose. They can be tricky to tell apart. Luckily, the petals of all the roses can be used interchangeably. 

    I love making rose petal water with them. The scent infuses in the water and I use it to wash my face. It calms me and allows me to feel pampered. There are studies that show that rose scent has a calming effect on humans by lowering blood pressure and calming the breathing. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19370942/

 

 

Dog Rose petals (Rosa canina)

    The astringency in the petals help to close the pores and clean the skin while re-moisturizing it. It's a dreamy feeling. It's very easy to make. I pop a couple of handfuls of rose petals in a jar, fill it with water and let sit in a sunlit window for 2-3 days. Then I strain the petals out and discard them. The water will have the scent of the rose captured within it. I sometimes freeze containers with this water to add to body products later in the year or to add to Turkish delight candy made with Mountain Ash/Rowan berries (Sorbus spp.). Rowan is another member of the very large rose family, Rosaceae. Rose petal water also tastes great as a drink on its own and is a good remedy if you have diarrhea.

 

Western Mountain Ash (Sorbus scopulina)Turkish delight

    The petals taste great as a trail nibble. The kids and I took a hike up Mt Rose Swanson the other day and ate the petals of the various rose species we found along the trail--Prickly Rose (Rosa acicularis) and Baldhip Rose (Rosa gymnocarpa). Whenever we pick the rose petals we make sure to only take a few from each flower so that the bees and other pollinators can still find the flowers to do their magic. In the fall we reap the wonderful result- the rosehip.

 

Baldhip Rose (left), Prickly Rose (right)

      

    There are many recipes online for rose petal jelly as well as for rose petal jam. I have yet to make a successful jelly with rose petals, my experiments tend to be more syrup than jelly. The petals can also be added to sugar and left to impart their flavour there. The rose scented sugar is nice to use in baking or in a cup of rose leaf tea. I like drying both the petals and the leaves in early summer. These I use throughout the year as tea or in baking. 

    An infusion from the rose leaves is helpful to clean wounds in. It helps to disinfect as well as close the pores and enables the skin to heal faster. 

 

 

Prickly Rose bud

Large Dog Rose bush (left), formidable prickles of Dog Rose stem (right)

    The roses all have prickles. These differ from thorns and spines. A prickle is defined as "a sharp pointed emergence arising from the epidermis or cortex". A thorn on the other hand is, "a sharp-pointed, and leafless modified stem". To contrast, a spine is classified as, "a stiff pointed plant part that is a modified leaf or leaf part". These definitions are taken from the Merriam-Webster online dictionary.

    No matter what you call those spiky parts, they can rip your skin if you move around roses without caution. Luckily, the kind rose also provides medicine if you do get scraped. Chew up a couple of rose leaves and place the wad over your scrape and you will be good to go in no time.

Enjoy your summer and don't forget to stop and smell the roses.

Love,

Mikaela

Saskatoon

 

    I've been admiring the delicate flowers of the Saskatoons (Amelanchier alnifolia). I'm now praying that we get some rain so that juicy berries can form. It has been so incredibly dry lately. We need many days of good solid rain to get the forest's thirst slated. The heart-leaved arnica are looking wilted and the oxeye daisy leaves have barely grown this year. Even the stinging nettle down in the usually soggy field are looking parched! I am hopeful that June will bring rain. In the past that has been the pattern, although it is hard to say nowadays what kind of weather and precipitation to expect. It seems as if spring is coming earlier and that it's hotter. This troubles me. I worry that species such as paper birch won't be able to withstand extensive hot and dry climate. See blog entry on birch. 

    I am gladdened by the fact that many different kinds of bees are visiting the flowers, their back legs heavy with pollen. Thanks to their incessant collecting of nectar and pollen, the flowers become pollinated and fantastic fruit/berry follows.

    The saskatoon berry (pome) goes from green to light pink, to purple/pink to dark blue when ripe. They are juicy and delicious and can be used as you would blueberries. The berries won't be ready for a little while yet, here at the farm they ripen anytime from mid-June to mid-July depending on the year. Here is a recipe for one excellent use of the berries.

Gluten Free Saskatoon Cookies

1/2 cup coconut flour

1/2 cup buckwheat flour

1/2 cup rice flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup white sugar (I usually cut this amount in half)

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/3 cup liquid coconut oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup saskatoon berries

 

Mix dry ingredients together first in a separate bowl. Mix all the wet ingredients in the mixer. Then add the dry ingredients while mixing. Stir in saskatoon berries gently, 1cup (sometimes I add 1,5 cups of the berries if I have an abundance). The berries add juiciness and the seeds add a crunchy and nutty flavour.

Form into little balls, pat down and cook on greased plate in oven for 10 min on 350 °F / 180° C.

Enjoy!

Inside the berries are crescent-shaped seeds. They contain a small amount of cyanide just like an apple seed does. I usually eat them anyway. If you're worried, cook or dry the berry as the cyanide content then lessens or disappears. The leaves and bark also contain cyanide. The amount of cyanide is higher in the bush during a drought. 

The leaf is shaped a bit like an alder leaf and the name alnifolia means just that- alder leaf.

    There are a couple of bushes/trees that could be mistaken for saskatoon. One that often grows right next to it is the black hawthorn (Crataegus douglasii). The best way to tell the two apart are by the impressive thorns of the hawthorn. See pictures below of black hawthorn. The black hawthorn berries are also edible and they ripen a couple of weeks later than saskatoon does.

   seeds

 

All photos above: black hawthorn

    Another look-alike that is often planted in people's yards is Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa). I have not used it much myself, but it is edible.

 

    To conclude: we are fortunate to have so many delicious berries growing here in this region. Make sure that you have correctly identified anything before consuming. Another very important aspect of foraging is to harvest sustainably. That means not harvesting every single berry but rather leave enough for others who need them to survive, such as bears and birds. Tread lightly and care for the plants and they will be able to provide for you for many years. At the moment I give an offering of water to any plant I harvest from to show my gratitude for their food, medicine and material.

Hope this was helpful to you. Happy harvesting!

Dandelion

 

    Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) has it all! It is pretty and cheerful. It can grow just about everywhere. It is highly nutritious. It is good medicine. The bees love it and make delectable honey from it. What's not to love?

    At this time of year as the flowers dot the fields the kids and I collect the flowers and gorge on them. The kids eat them raw, savouring the sweet nectar inside the flower. My personal favourite way of eating the flowers is to coat them in flour and fry them in butter. They are just the right bite size and their taste is salty and sweet, a little chewy and oddly reminiscent of mushroom. We eat this treat almost daily when they are at their peak. I have even been successful at freezing them and using them this way in the winter. It's not as good as when they are first picked but they still taste great.

    I also like adding the flowers as filling to a quiche or in an omelette. When I make sweet muffins I pull the petals off the flowers and only use the yellow part. The green part of the flower can create some bitterness.

 

    The leaves are great eaten raw or added to any meal you are making. I also dry a bunch of them to have in my larder for winter. I use them as tea or add them to baking. The leaves are an excellent diuretic. They pull water out of your body but they do not deplete you of potassium in the process, rather they replenish it. The leaves will increase your urination and can also work as a laxative.

 

    The root is great for the liver. It helps to detoxify your body. Avoid if you have diarrhea as it is laxative. I like picking the spring root and I eat it raw or add it to casseroles. Some find it a little bitter. I find it to be a little milder in taste earlier in the year. The fall root tends to be bigger and are better to use for coffee substitute. Their bitterness is perfect for a coffee!

    That today's society seems to despise dandelion is peculiar given this plant's long standing history as a remedy and food. Search the internet for the history of dandelion and its uses and you will come across it being mentioned as a remedy in ancient Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Japanese and Chinese traditions. People have used it for food wherever it popped up. So instead of trying to rid ourselves of this gift, why not embrace it,  perhaps in the process we will even see some marked improvements to our health.

I, for one, raise my glass in a salute to dandelion. One of the best plants on the planet, if you ask me. 

Early Blue Violet

 

What a marvellous sight a clearing with the ground covered in vibrant blue violets is! The smell is soothing and the heart-shaped leaves welcome you to sit down for a while and relax. As the sunlight plays through the trees and the chickadees serenade one another with their spring "hi sweety" call, I marvel at the preciousness of this moment. This moment, I can feel completely at  peace hanging out with the Early Blue Violet (Viola adunca).

 

Description:   

Flowers have the distinct shape of violets; five petals -- two at the top and three at the bottom. At the back of the flower there is a spur, a rounded heel-like protrusion. It's approximately half the length of the bottom petals. The flower of this particular violet ranges between vivid blue to a more subtle purple. Their scent is unmistakable.

Leaves are heart-shaped with jagged edges. It is sometimes hard to see, but they are covered in tiny hairs. They are bright green when new and dark green throughout the summer.

 

Seed pod forms under the leaves, close to the ground. It is mottled white and purple and when the seed within it is ripe it catapults the seed away from the mother plant. Ants carry the seed underground, their reward, a fatty substance that coat the seed. They feed this to their babies and the violet gets a lift underground to perfect growing conditions as an exchange. How ingenious is that!

 

Root is a rhizome.

Do not ingest seeds and roots! They are poisonous and can cause respiratory and circulatory problems.

Important fact!

Viola adunca is hugely important for some Zerene fritillaries butterflies (Speyeria spp). Their larva feed solely on early blue violet. They also pupate in the violet debris. Without this plant they will no longer exist and many of the species are on the endangered list. These violets should be encouraged to take over our lawns to give these beautiful butterflies a chance of survival. Be mindful that what might appear to you as ugly old plant matter can be a nursery to a species on the brink of extinction. Don’t clean it away, leave it. If you wildcraft this species do it gingerly and make sure that any critters in and amongst the violets do not get injured! In some provinces this plant is considered vulnerable. If that's the case in your area, avoid harvesting any at all.

Here on the farm we are lucky to have several healthy patches of early blue violet. Now in April we harvest the flowers. I like putting them in a jar of water and setting that jar on the windowsill to infuse. After a day or two the water smells lovely and will keep its scent even through freezing. The water I like to use to wash my skin and drink. Sometimes I pull one of these jars out of the freezer in winter just to smell it. Instant transportation to spring! It can really lift your spirits in the darkest month of the year.

The flowers are also lovely placed in sugar and left for a few days. The violets will become coated in the sugar and the sugar will take on the mouth-watering smell and taste of the flowers. The sugared violets we use as topping for our morning yoghurt. The sugar we use to bake sugar cookies with. Make sure to not add any strong flavours to your cookie dough as it will overpower the violet scent.

Violets scent is magical, one moment it is there, the next gone, only to come back again after a few minutes. The reason for this is the ionone that gives the violet its scent. Once the ionone has stimulated your scent receptors it shuts them down temporarily. It shuts them off completely. A few more moments go by and the brain is not registering any scent at all. You are now experiencing anosmia (loss of sense of smell or smell blindness). Then the scent comes back and the brain registers it as a new stimulus and the cycle continues. That is why it so hard to pin down the scent of violet.

The leaves can also be used. I pick them throughout the summer and and cook them and add them to lasagna, quiche and spanakopita. Any recipe that calls for spinach works well for the violet leaves. Make sure to not consume too much though as it can cause digestive upset.

Enjoy your spring time and be sure to stop and smell the flowers, fleeting as it may be.💗

Sheep Sorrel

 

 

Sheep sorrel leaf, note the hastate/ arrow shape of the leaf.

    There's nothing as lovely as nibbling on a fresh sheep sorrel leaf (Rumex acetosella) in the spring sun. Its flavour is sour and refreshing, similar to rhubarb. They're related. Both are in the Polygonaceae family. Another relative, yellow dock (Rumex crispus) can also be found at this time of year. I love the leaves of sorrel or dock in a spring salad with some mustard greens (Sinapis spp.), dandelion leaves (Taraxacum officinale) and oxeye daisy leaves (Leucanthemum vulgare).

    Soon spring will be here in earnest and everything will be green but for now we'll have to settle for the few greens that are ready for eating. Somehow they seem the more precious because they're the first to come and they have been missed. In today's society here in the Okanagan there are fresh produce to be bought in the stores all throughout the winter but this was not always the case. The fresh greens in early spring must have been such a welcome addition to the winter fare, not to mention the nutritional benefits that the spring greens would have brought. Sheep sorrel is high in vitamin A and C.

Sheep sorrel leaves, spring onions and eggs in time for Easter.

 

Description

Perennial. Likes open spaces such as meadows and pastures. Forms colonies with its long skinny roots. Grows to about 30cm tall when in flower. Leaves are arrow-shaped with two distinct lobes at the base (hastate). Leaves form a basal rosette. They are juicy, kind of glittery and dark green, turning a vibrant red in autumn. Plant is dioecious, meaning that plants are either male or female. Male flower has 6 sepals, no petals and 6 stamens. Female flower looks the same, but instead of stamens it has a frilly white pistil. Plant is wind pollinated. Both types of flowers initially have green sepals that turn red as the plant flowers and sets seed. Seed is a papery achene. It is brown-red and has three angles.

Left photo. Comparison of female( left) and male flower (right).

Right photo: Close up of male flower.

 

 Caution /Warning

Sheep sorrel contains oxalic acid and should not be consumed in excess as this can interfere with calcium uptake in the body. Cooking lessens the oxalic acid. Many common everyday foods contain oxalic acids and we are not scared of them, examples are: spinach, rhubarb, chocolate, tea, parsley. If you eat this plant in moderation you should have no problem at all. If I eat many foods that contain oxalic acid in a week I increase my consumption of dairy to counter any calcium loss. People with kidney problems however should consume less of the plant or avoid it altogether. Also avoid if you have diarrhea since it is a laxative.

When you cook with sheep sorrel it is better to avoid pots made out of aluminium, copper or iron as the acid in the sheep sorrel reacts with these metals. Rhubarb does the same thing, turning from beautifully pink to ugly brown.

 

Often sheep sorrel leaves will have red spots on them.

Sulphur Cinquefoil

 

Today I thought I'd share with you about an early abundant spring plant that can be used for food.

 Sulphur cinquefoil (Potentilla recta) 

In our fields it is everywhere! Below is a quick guide to recognising it, as well as some uses.

Flower- note the heart-shaped petals in two tones of yellow

Sulphur Cinquefoil

Potentilla recta

Rosaceae

Synonyms:

Erect cinquefoil, Rough-Fruited Cinquefoil, Five Fingers

Description: Perennial herb that can grow up to 80cm tall. Likes to grow in open fields. 

Leaves are palmately divided into 5-7 deeply toothed and veined leaflets. The name cinquefoil, which means five leaf or five petal refers either to the five petaled flower or to the five leaflets that are arranged like fingers on a hand. Some people think that the leaves resemble marijuana leaves. Most sulphur cinquefoil have seven leaflets at maturity, but some have five. They are dark matte-green on top and pale below. The leaves form a basal rosette as well as forming an alternate pattern up the stalk. At each petiole there are two jagged stipules attached to the stalk. 

Stalk is woody and green/yellow. Both the leaves and stalk are covered in soft hairs.  

Flower is yellow in two tones, light yellow on petals and dark yellow towards the centre. It has five petals, each shaped like a heart. Flowers grow in flat topped clusters (cyme). Early in the morning the flowers are not yet opened; they open as the day progresses. 

Fruit is small and strawberry-looking and enclosed within a papery husk. This husk turns brown and dries in late summer. Inside are many small seeds that fall out once the husks dry up and open. The seeds are dark brown and wedged-shaped.  

Tap root is fibrous and woody.

 

 

Husk and seeds in August

Uses:

    This species is an introduced variety that can become quite widespread. The leaves, in early spring, or when they are immature, can be picked and added to any meal you cook. They are not suitable raw in a salad due to their texture and the fine hairs on the leaves. However, the dried leaves can be added to bread and muffins. They dry fast and are easy to crumble up. Their flavour is similar to strawberry leaves (Fragaria spp) or rose leaves (Rosa spp): Fresh, sour and drying. They are all part of the same family, Rosaceae.

    We also use the flower petals as garnish. They need to be added at the very last minute before serving because the petals are fragile and do not hold up to a lot of handling. They look like beautiful little yellow hearts. The fruit is small and covered in a papery husk. It tastes like an unripe strawberry. Once the husk dries up, the seeds from the fruit scatter freely and abundantly. If you pick the plant just before it has released all its seeds you can put it upside-down in a paper bag and gather the seeds for muffins or as sprinkling on your yoghurt. They taste a lot like strawberry seeds. The seeds are tiny, but there is usually a great abundance of them since the plant tends to grow in large patches. I find them worthwhile to gather.

   

    The leaves can also be used medicinally whenever an astringent is called for. The astringency in the plant helps to tighten the skin and heal wounds. I have used it with great success when I have bit the inside of my cheek and the puncture wound has become infected. I make an infusion or decoction of the fresh plant, stalk, leaves and flowers. I gargle with this liquid three times per day until I see an effect. After using it for only a day I can already see a marked improvement and the pain is almost all gone. A tea made from the leaves can also be drunk if you are suffering from diarrhea.

     

    Many people complain about sulphur cinquefoil due to its invasive tendencies and how it can make hay of inferior quality when it gets into the hay fields. We have found that the sulphur cinquefoil thrives in pastures with poor fertilizing and low irrigation. Here on the farm we run chickens in large movable tractors over parts of the fields and it seems as if the cinquefoil is kept in check where the chickens have been able to scratch and poop. Where they have not been, the land is much drier and has less grass and more cinquefoil. The hay from the pasture with the cinquefoil is popular with goat owners.

Look-alikes:

There are many different kinds of cinquefoil and they can be hard to tell apart. Below are just a few examples.

Graceful Cinquefoil (Potentilla gracilis) is a native species. The flowers tend be one-toned rather than two-toned in colour. Leaves are more finely divided and are more likely to be in a basal rosette rather than on stem. This plant can be used in the same manner as sulphur cinquefoil.

Sticky cinquefoil (Potentilla glandulosa). As the name implies, it has sticky glands. Flower petals are rounded rather than heart shaped. Sepals are very prominent. Also edible. See picture below.

Tomentil/Erect Cinquefoil (Potentilla recta) See caution below!

 

 Caution

Note that there are two species with the same common name and almost identical Latin names. Sulphur cinquefoil/ Erect cinquefoil (Potentilla recta) that we speak of here, (an introduced species from Eurasia) and Tomentil/ Erect cinquefoil (Potentilla erecta) that grows in Europe. Tomentil can not be eaten as food but has been used for medicine. Any amount over 1g can cause gastrointestinal problems and issues with absorption of minerals and iron in diet. I have not seen Tomentil here, but it may be around. An easy way to tell them apart is by the flower petals. Sulphur cinquefoil has five petals, Tomentil has four.

 

Sticky cinquefoil (Potentilla glandulosa)