native north american fruits

 grapes

 

 

blackberries

 

 black raspberries

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://utopia.org/guide/14-native-fruits-of-north-america-and-where-to-find-them/

 

 

 

red raspberries

 

 

 

asters and honeybees

 

blueberries -- the MOST HEALTHFUL fruit

Blueberries

 

WiLd StRaWbErRiEs

Fragaria Vesca

 

If you ask my children what their favorite fruit is, they will most likely answer: strawberries! The smell, alone, as you walk through a field of them is practically intoxicating. They, to me, are undoubtedly the sweetest "berries" of the season.  

The wild strawberry is a perennial herbaceous plant in the rose family that grows naturally throughout much of the Northern Hemisphere. 

Evidence from archaeological excavations suggests that Fragaria vesca has been consumed by humans since the Stone Age.

You may know that the June full moon is called the Strawberry Moon.

June is when wild strawberries are ready for picking here in North America.

Long before the adoption of the 12 named months of the Gregorian calendar people lived by the seasons. Native Americans marked time by the appearance of full moons. Each full moon of the year had a name that marked a natural or community event. 

According to the Farmers’ Almanac, some native people called the full moon in June the Strawberry Moon, because it coincides with the ripening of wild strawberries.

Native Americans used strawberries extensively. The Mohawk name: noon tak tek hah kwa means "growing where the ground is burned." Those that grow in meadows flourish after a brush burnoff. 

The Anishinaabemowin name: Odeiminidjibik, meaning "root of the heart berry-seeds" gives its name to the month of June, Odeiminigiizis, the strawberry-gathering moon. 

Although these plants got their name due to their trailing stems that have the appearance of straw, in cultivating them, the straw serves as mulch around the developing plants and tiny buds.

Wild strawberries are a lot smaller than store bought berries, which are a hybrid of wild and European species of strawberry.

A Frenchman named Duchesne managed to cross breed the Chilean strawberry (fragaria chiloensis) with the Virginia strawberry (fragaria virginiana,) and that formed the basis for the large, red strawberries we see in supermarkets today (fragaria ananassa.)

Animals that eat strawberry leaves include eastern cottontail, white-tailed deer, nematodes, mites, slugs, stinkbugs, spittlebugs, weevils, and others. Animals that eat strawberry fruits include: crows, catbirds, sparrows, wild turkey, cedar waxwings, red-bellied woodpeckers, blue jays, mockingbirds, starlings, robins, cardinals, opossums, skunks, chipmunks, voles, mice and box turtles.

There’s quite a lot of competition out there!

Strawberries are believed to have many healing properties.

The roots, boiled for five minutes are used to treat canker sores and sties, and the berries themselves, can be made into a facial scrub. The tiny seeds act as an exfoliant. The leaves can be made into a tea which serves as a remedy for diarrhea. The fresh fruit removes discoloration of the teeth if the juice is allowed to remain on for about five minutes and the teeth are then cleansed with warm water, to which a pinch of bicarbonate of soda has been added. A cut strawberry rubbed over the face immediately after washing is said to whiten the skin and remove slight sunburn. 

If you’re up to the challenge, certain gourmet markets will pay up to $25 a pound for freshly picked wild strawberries. It may take a while, so if you’re picking, be prepared to spend a few hours or all day.

After all, a good portion of the berries most likely won’t even make it to a basket. They just might be detoured right into your mouth. 

A quick and easy recipe for strawberry jam:

In a heavy saucepan, combine 1 quart of berries with 4 cups of sugar. Stir over low heat until it “juices up” and then raise the heat to medium. When the mixture bubbles, time it for 15 minutes. When the liquid begins to set, slide the pot off the heat and allow berries to cool uncovered. Add the juice of ½ a lemon over top. When cool, stir lightly and fill sterile canning jars.

Calendula

Field Marigold (calendula arvensis)

Petals are edible. They contain flavonoids: quercetin and lutein. Can be made into an eyewash for pink eye.

Used for skin and mucus membranes for wound healing, inflammation. It is antimicrobial and protects the skin from radiation damage/sunburn. Used to treat various skin conditions such as eczema, dandruff or cradle cap.

Relieves diaper rash, insect stings and radiation induced pain. It heals burns and wounds and promotes new skin growth. Used for scar reduction -- such as in chicken pox and other rashes. 

May also be taken internally healing gastrointestinal ulcers and other damage.

Used for liver support, lymph cleanser and to treat colon cancer, leukemia and melanoma.

learn how to use it

 

mock strawberry

 

mock strawberry or false strawberry (potentilla indica) is similar to true strawberry -- also in the (rose) rosaceae family -- but has yellow flowers unlike the white or pink flowers of the true strawberry. 

the fruits point upward as opposed to the hanging (more concealed) fruits of the wild or true strawberries. 

the fruit of the mock strawberry is edible but comparatively dry and flavorless. it can be used in juices, jams and jellies. some report it to have a mild watermelon flavor. 

they are high in vitamin c and also have various medicinal benefits. 

leaves can be added to salads or made into tea. they have been used to help treat snake bites, insect bites, eczema...

Read More: https://www.tastingtable.com/1296711/how-to-spot-mock-strawberries-what-do-with-them/

ground ivy

Ground Ivy (Glechoma hederacea)

is a non-native, perennial plant in the mint family. Europeans brought this plant to North America, and it naturalized. 

 

Also known as creeping charlie, ale hoof, field balm, tun hoof, gill-over-the-ground, or run-away-robin.

It was used in brewing traditional herbal ales (gruit) in the middle ages. It was a common addition to beers before hops. 

 

Has been used to treat coughs, headaches, tinnitus, kidney diseases, fevers, flu, sunburns, diabetes, asthma, and indigestion.

 It has anti-inflammatory and diuretic properties. 

 

 

 

WEEDS

Taraxacum

Let me make the case for "weeds." 

One, in particular, that was and is still considered a delicacy in some places, and that many people use medicinally, that has been proven to help heal disease, harmless as air (depending on what air you're breathing) and chock full of nutrition, and so many other benefits, yet some people just can't wait to get out there and destroy them. What does it say about "the person" that makes it a mission to kill something that can ultimately only be beneficial? 

Brainwashed? Propagandized? 

When I look outside in April and see those little, yellow beauties peeking out from the newly growing grass I just get happy. The perky, sunshiny color, the sheer tenacity -- they seem to delight in just being alive... and then I notice the bees loading up on pollen and nectar and I AM SO, SO HAPPY... AND HOPEFUL. I can't wait to get out there and grab some greens or blossoms or maybe some roots and MAKE SOMETHING USEFUL AND VALUABLE! 

I know winter is finally over and I know how exceptionally good dandelions are as a food and a medicine for honeybees and other pollinators and also for humans. They contain so many valuable vitamins and minerals and are so versatile! Every part of the plant is useful! It is just about the PERFECT FOOD AND MEDICINE!

While people through the years have been propagandized and advertised and tricked into believing having a picture perfect "lawn" is a sign of being a "good" gardener or having good taste or high standards, nothing could be further from the truth. 

Number one: lawns are BAD for the environment. If short, crop-topped grass was good for the earth, it would cut itself. Period. 

Second: The amount of energy, time, money, toxic chemicals, etc. it takes to get a perfectly colored and manicured outdoor carpet is WASTEFUL in every way, shape and form. 

Not only is it wasteful, it is HARMFUL to the environment and any living thing in and around it for the most part.  Baby bunnies are hidden out there!

Golf courses, for example, are notoriously deadly.

There are legal proceedings going on right now based on scientific studies proving weed killers and the chemicals they contain CAUSE CANCER.

People have been brainwashed to believe the chemicals, tools, machines, etc. are necessary and good when they are, in fact, for the most part, completely unnecessary and there really is nothing good about them except that they make a shit ton of money for chemical companies. 

Traces of these toxic chemicals persist in the soil and water supply. Therefore anyone eating food grown in the soil and drinking water from land downstream is affected. These chemicals are shown in studies to negatively affect hormones and immunity, digestion and cause inflammation .and cancer.

Mother nature loves a mess. There is a reason. Diversity makes everything come together so that there is NO NEED to interfere. Diversity is what makes it all work. It makes for a healthy environment. 

There is nothing healthy about the way agriculture has evolved into monoculture crops, dependent on chemicals rather than implementing other regenerative, natural methods that work as well or better and actually make the output a hell of a lot healthier for human and animal consumption and that helps to enhance and fortify, rather than deplete the soil. 

People have been forced to forget that our IMMUNITY comes from the soil. Healthy soil is not DIRTY, it is LIFE! Natural foods, wild foods and herbs are not pagan magic, witchcraft, primitive quackery. Edible wild plants and herbs are free, effective and nutritious medicine. All the chemicals that KILL bugs and "weeds" are killing our own natural defense system and best nutritional sources. 

 People once believed cigarettes were healthy!

 

Edward Bernays

 

Not a lot of people know about permaculture or forest gardening, no-till gardening, foraging, re-wilding, etc., sadly, and that is by design.

Violets

Wild violets are native to North America.

They grow best in moist, fertile, cool and shady areas, but they grow in abundance as ground cover on sunny hillsides and fields, as well.

Classified as weeds they are considered very hard to control.

They are perennial, and have a very dense root system that can be hard to eradicate by pulling.

Violets grow where most grass will not.

The flowers are edible.

The blossoms are generally deep purple, but lighter shades and white variations are also frequent, and various tints may sometimes be discovered in different plants growing on the same bank.

Violets are said to represent faithfulness and devotion.

The violet is among the many herbs that were considered powerful against 'wykked sperytis.' Macer's Herbal (10th Century)

Violet was also used as a remedy for insomnia:
'For they that may not sleep for sickness steep this herb in water and at even let him soak well his feet in the water to the ankles, when he goeth to bed, bind of this herb to his temples. Askham's Herbal

Syrup of Violets was used for epilepsy, inflammation of the eyes, sleeplessness, pleurisy and jaundice.

The parts used medicinally are the dried flowers and whole plant fresh.

The flowers have a slight laxative effect and the leaves are an old popular remedy for bruises.

Preparations of fresh violet leaves have been used both internally and externally in the treatment of cancer. It is believed that violet leaves can allay the pain in cancerous growths, especially in the throat.

An infusion of the leaves in boiling water (1 in 5) has been administered in doses of 1 to 2 fluid ounces.

A syrup of the petals and a liquid extract of the fresh leaves are also used, the extract is taken in teaspoonful doses, or rubbed in, locally.

The seeds have been used as a purgative and diuretic and in cases of urinary complaints.

The chief use of the violet today is as a coloring agent and perfume.

Recipe:
Violet Salad
For pizzazz and color, simply add a few blossoms to a tossed salad. They go very well with endive.

 

March Madness

Legend has it that people learned about maple syrup from the animals, particularly the red squirrel, who, due to its ability to climb through the limbs of the sugar maple tree, easily helps itself to the sweet substance that sometimes oozes from natural cuts in the tree. After being exposed to the sun for a time, the sap thickens into syrup and eventually crystallizes into sugar as the water evaporates from it. 

 

Pure maple syrup is a precious treat, but well worth the price it fetches. (The real good stuff goes for as much as $10 a pint and more.) Apparently, this is why many people choose to purchase Log Cabin or Mrs. Butterworth’s instead. But, do they know that good ol’ Log Cabin and Mrs. Butterworth have been keeping a big secret all these years? They are not at all even close to being real maple syrup. In fact, the ingredients label on a bottle of Log Cabin Syrup reads as follows: Corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, water, and contains 2% or less of: caramel color, salt, natural and artificial maple flavor, cellulose gum, preservatives (sorbic acid, sodium benzoate), sodium hexametaphosphate, mono and diglycerides. Whew! That’s quite a lot of stuff that ISN'T maple syrup! 

Since I have been blessed by the presence of a beautiful, old sugar maple tree right next to my home, I decided to experiment one year and see just what it takes to make real maple syrup. The first attempt took all day and produced about a shot glass full of the golden substance, but that didn’t deter me, in fact, I have pretty much become obsessed with the whole process and since by the time March rolls around I’ve completely had my fill of winter, it’s pretty much the only thing I think about right about now when the sun has enough strength and the nights are still cold enough to get the whole process going. 

 

 I procured some “official” maple syrup collecting supplies (three buckets, three spiles and some hooks to hang the buckets) and am now able to proudly state that I’m a full-fledged maple syrup maker. Woohoo! I’m quite content to patiently wait as the water boils off and creates a completely pure and delicious natural treat that can be used from anything to flavoring a loaf of bread to sweetening a cup of coffee, and yes, topping off a fresh, hot stack of pancakes, too!