EarthSkills (Blogophilia 11.16)

 Dandelion salad you say?

As long as the leaves are picked small and are well washed, I'll eat it.

The thing about dandelions is they are the cockroach of plants. Once they are established in a landscape, nothing short of nuclear warfare will get rid of them. They are amongst the first plants to grow after a controlled burn. And because puffball seed heads, a plant's prodigy can spring up several miles from its origin. 

I learned a lot about Dandelions and other foraging plants from a teacher named Snow Bear. He is an old Hippie who adopted many of the old Cherokee ways. He taught which were medicine and which made good seasoning. He also taught me which woods are good for fire and which were toxic to burn (Rhododendron and Azalea). Over the years, I've taken a dozen of his classes and each time I come away with something new about the nature and woods around me. 

I'm not going to be able to attend, but he is doing classes at EarthSkills in October. Maybe in the spring, I'll be able to sing chants with him. 

Meanwhile, I'll go down to Morgan Falls Dam and remember making out with Ginny.