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I thought y’all might be interested in what I’m up to on my little homestead these days, other than smacking the fresh batch of skeeters the beaver pond across from me is hatching. You see, spring planting is only one of my activities, and not the most important. I don’t want to say that I could plant in my sleep, because I can’t, but you get the drift. Planting is what I know.
I am serious about preparedness, so I’m more interested in what I don’t know. I reflect on what knowledge I need to develop. Every spring, there is an awesome opportunity that comes your way: to tune up your plant identification skills!
In addition to tuning up this skill, I will also share what I’m cleaning up both inside and out. Let’s get started!
Identify Earlier, Earlier, Earlier
If I’m ever going to be starving, it’s not likely to be in the middle of summer when a host of forageable plants are available in my area that I am well familiar with. Nope. If I’m ever going to be starving, it could be in the earliest of springs.
What happened? Use your imagination. Another family member showed up on our doorstep, and we used up our winter stores a month early. We were raided by another local group with more firepower. We decided to save our lives and hand over those prized potatoes. Despite our best efforts, rodents got into our above-ground vegetable clamps. The list goes on and on.
I’ve shared before about the importance of plant identification. This is a more advanced version. That’s great if you can identify, for example, milkweed once the distinctive pink flowers are out. YAWN….What about when those milkweed shoots are first coming up? Yes, those are edible and might save your life.
One friend, who grew up in a farm family of 10, remembers when the potatoes would run out in the spring and his mother would be out in the snow, looking for some skunk cabbage to help feed her family. The secret to learning early identification is to challenge yourself. It doesn’t matter if you have your own land or live in the city. You can use a vacant lot with weeds to practice!
How I Learned
Although I had been learning about herbalism for two decades when I arrived on my land, I had less experience identifying native plants in the wild. The first spring, everything looked the same. I got two detailed plant identification guides and got started on teaching myself. (A field guide with color photos is a must!)
At first, I have to admit, it was pretty slow going. I wasn’t a natural to all those technical terms that identify the different types of leaves and attachments to the stem. As I know I am a visual learner, I played to my strength. I made sure that I looked at the pictures and drawings and then read the description. Back and forth. Back and forth.
In the early days, I could only identify plants when they were in bloom. I wasn’t very good with the leaves and the shapes. I got to know my land and the vegetation fairly well by walking around and looking at the ground a lot.
Early in the spring, I would look at those first green sprouts and challenge myself to make a guess. What is it? I would make a mental note of the location, or (when too difficult to find later) I would mark it with a small construction flag (used to identify in ground cables) and note my guess on it. That way, I could come back and check if I was correct.
By doing this year after year, I can now identify many early rosettes of plants without getting out my book. It feels good. This year, I am challenging myself to add further medicinal uses to my noggin files for each one. For most of the plants on my land, I know a primary use and sometimes a secondary use. Those are the ones that I’m usually relying on for my own health. What about others who may be in my community and need help? I’m dedicating time to memorizing more herbal applications for common health issues.
It’s my opinion that if you aren’t growing your knowledge, it’s probably up there composting. But that’s just me…
Spring Clean Up
I decided to get rid of a lot of stuff out in the yard. I had a lot of ideas for projects that I thought I would get to. Some, I don’t have the money to complete. Others, my priorities have changed. I had a huge pile of scrap wood that grew too huge. I can’t burn for various reasons, including the fact that I border a meadowland that belongs to my neighbour.
A lot of what’s out there is an eyesore and some it is was a fire risk. It has been time consuming and expensive (ouch! dump fees) to clean this up. However, it has felt freeing. By letting go of some of the rubble around, I am freeing up space for planting some native berry bushes and other perennials that I will truly enjoy.
Spring Clean Out
While I am cleaning up outside, I am also cleaning out my insides. Spring is a great time to do some mild cleansing. I find that tender dandelion greens are what I crave this time of year, along some of the root in soups.
I also look forward to the offerings of my wild asparagus patches. I was never a fan of asparagus until I ate my own wild stuff. Quite honestly, so much of what you get in the grocery store is already half dead.
The flavor of the wild asparagus is so delicious that I started a new tradition. When I cut each stalk from the bed, I always thank it by taking a nice big bite off the bottom. Yep. I eat them like an apple. They are that good.
I read up on the nutritional value of asparagus on the former “World’s Healthiest Foods” website (you need to use the Wayback machine to access it, sadly), and it is impressive! To read more, access the internet archive here and then paste this link [ http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=12. ] into their browser and locate a scan of the page on the calendar. Beware: someone has taken the whfoods.org address and is hosting another page there not connected to the original one!)
Another plant I use in the spring is Stinging Nettle. I find that this helps my allergies. In order to really get a benefit, I drink four cups of tea made from the fresh nettles each day. Another bonus to this plan: nettle is highly nutritious, to boot! For more info, check out this great blog post on the amazing health benefits of stinging nettle from Dr. Patrick Jones.
Spring Into Action
Spring is a great time to tune up your knowledge and clean up, inside and out. How would you rate your early plant identification skills? What plants do you like to consume in spring? Are you doing any spring cleaning at your place? Please tell us in the comments below.
About Rowan
Rowan O’Malley is a fourth-generation Irish American who loves all things green: plants (especially shamrocks), trees, herbs, and weeds! She challenges herself daily to live her best life and to be as fit, healthy, and prepared as possible.
