Second wild forage of the new year: A chatty chat

Cross-posted from my Wild Bloomers Substack page

Today was my first wild ramble since injuring my back in the gym last week, and I want to write it down without tweaking curtains and judging, as my Irish friend Siobhan would say!

First, about the injury. In a hurry, I pumped out the first four reps of my first set of deadlifts, using poor form. I felt it in my lower back and stopped to correct my form. Finished out three sets of twelve reps with no problem. The rest of my leg workout was no problem.

Two days later, I woke up in agonizing pain. It took me an hour to get from my bed to my loft ladder, just a few yards away. I made it down the ladder and to my couch, thought I was going to vomit, and came to on the floor.

After more than a week spending most of my time out in my space with this view…

…my lower half immobile in the recliner with my legs elevated and a heating pad on my back, I was underslept and full of steroid, muscle relaxant, and pain meds.

I wasn't driving, of course, with the drowsiness, dizziness, and blurred vision, even when my pain was under control and I could otherwise function.

Then yesterday was the first day I experienced no pain.

My initial writing flow had slowed to a trickle, and I was nodding off over my books, unable to sleep more than a couple of hours at a time.

So when Carole offered to pick me up this morning and introduce me to a park where she walks and forages, I jumped at the chance!

The park is unkempt, strewn with invasives and tree carcasses, accompanied by a dispirited city river moving reluctantly, as if under duress.

I wondered aloud if I would have fallen in love with nature if that park had been my only exposure to her.

A nest!

We came upon some shaggy mane mushrooms that were disintegrating into inky droplets.

(My vision is temporarily blurred due to the muscle relaxant, as I mentioned, so thank you for kindly overlooking any reduced photo quality.)

As we meandered our way along, Carole pointed out a fallen tree on which she found dryad's saddle mushrooms last year, and sure enough! There were some delectable fruiting bodies awaiting us!

I forgot to photograph them before harvesting, so here instead is common stork’s-bill we spotted later. I found out later that the greens of this non-native plant are also edible, so next time!

Another side quest, this one on narrow deer paths through briar thickets, led us toward a treasure we almost missed.

Carole was ahead of me on the path, and I had just exclaimed over a splotch of deer diarrhea, when she said, “Are those ramps??”

They were indeed wild garlic plants, often referred to in our region as ramps! Our first time finding this delicacy! I was overcome! To the point of tears!

Photo taken for identification purposes using the PlantNet app.

Carole deserves accolades! They were pristine, and now we know where they grow! I'm tearing up again, writing this! Awe and gratitude!

We harvested (responsibly) and continued along our way full of chatter about how we could use them!

A side creek, also ailing, still glimmered faintly right at this spot.

After arriving back at our respective homes with our gifts from the wild, texts sped back and forth between Carole and me.

Carole made wild garlic butter, and ate some of it like so! She plans to use the rest with pasta.

My portion ^^^

Look how pretty!

Two duck eggs from my friend Joni’s flock, with dryad's saddle mushroom, wild garlic, and butter on toasted bagel. A perfect post-forage meal!

I made up some of the butter also, and some of it went toward these garlic smashed potatoes, yum.

There was about one cup of the wild garlic butter left, which is now chilling in my refrigerator, to be frozen into a log shape for easier slicing.

Oh, and did you know that wild violets are edible?

The purple, white, and purple-and-white flowers are edible, as are the leaves. The slope behind our home is blanketed with them.

(I took these photos before my injury.)

What luxury to lie out there, snacking lightly on violet blossoms! To me, they are comparable to fine salad greens. If you count that as foraging, I suppose today's finds are my third wild forage of the year!

And thus ends my tale! Thank you for the pleasure of your company today!