The Nature of Things

Nature's Breadbasket

Fall is here, there's a chill in the air and mornings are brisk. The plants are brittle and comng to the end of their yearly life cycle, getting ready to move into hibernation. And with the seasonal change, plants also are expending their energy on the creation of seeds to ensure the abundance of future generations.

When I drive along the canyons or walk along the trails, I see the plants not only for their seeds, but the food they can provide. Look around and you will see a plethora of sustenance. The oak rees are dropping acorns, the manzanita berries are ripe, and pine nuts are ready to be eaten.

I also see many of the smaller overlooked plants, such as California buckwheat and curly dock, in full harvest. These two plants are commonly referred to as weeds, and often plucked out of a garden. In the autumn, however, they attract your attention by the brilliant red color of their seeds. The plants are responsible for the deep rust reds and burgundies you see dotting the hillsides amongst the rest of the golden brown foliage this t ime of year.

California buckwheat (Eriogonum fasiculatum) is a perennial that grows as a low lying shrub. Its branches are from 2 to 4 feet long. The leaves along the branches are linear to oblong and approximately -inch long. The leaf color alternates between green and white. Often times the leaves will be mistaken as needles. Many flowers are clustered together in tight balls at the end of a long leafless stem. The flowers are tiny and difficult to distinguish individually, and the stem is anywhere between 1 and 4 inches long.

The flower bundles appear white to pinkish when they bloom from May to November. And as they dry in fall, they turn to a deep rust-red color. The California buckwheat is found in the coastal sage brush as well as open chaparral.

Buckwheat is an edible plant, including the shoots, which can be eaten from February to May, and the seeds, which provide an important source of protein. The tiny seeds are collected, winnowed and then crushed to make buckwheat cakes. For yesterday's agrarian family, making buckwheat ready for the table was a monumental task.

In addition to being a food source, buckwheat is a useful medicinal plant. A strong drink can be made from the leaves and ingested as a cure for headaches and stomach ailments. The white flowers steeped in water also can be used as an eyewash or a drink to clean out the intestines. A tea made from the plant was said to cause the uterus to shrink, inhibiting spotting and dysmenorrhea.

Another plant in the Polygonaceae family ready to be harvested is curly dock (Rumex crispus), originally from England.

To identify curly dock, look for an herbaceous plant that grows up to 4 feet tall. The small green flowers grow in a spire off of a long slender stem. By the time of harvest, one plant can produce up to 40,000 seeds. The leaves are the color of green grass and shaped like a lance with curling, wavy edges. The long leaves grow between 1 and 11/2 feet and appear primarily at the base of the plant.

This perennial plant arrives in the spring and sends up tender leaves that have a slightly sour taste. The leaves can be eaten raw, or steamed, or cooked in soups, but as the leaves get older they become tough and bitter. The plant also sends up long shoots for its flowers that can be eaten raw or boiled.

During this time of year the deep red seeds of the curly dock can be collected and ground into a meal to make flour. Be warned, however, that the plant has high oxalate content. The oxalate crystals can penetrate tissues causing skin irritations and in some extreme cases ingestion and nausea. The oxalate crystals can be broken by freezing or boiling the plant.

Like buckwheat, curly dock has several medicinal uses. A poultice of the roots can be used to treat iron deficient anemia. It also is used for liver ailments and as a blood purifier. As an astringent it can be placed on the skin for treatment of wounds, bleeding and skin irritations, such as stinging nettle.

As you journey about the mountains during the cool fall days, try to notice not only the changing of seasons, but the abundant land with which we are blessed.

The word harvest also means to achieve a goal as the result of effort. What goals could be achieved if we were to harvest deep from our ancestral memories our lost knowledge of plants?

What if we took the time to harvest the seeds of creativity within ourselves?

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