I’ve developed a bike/run routine where I ride my bike about 5 miles, then run/shuffle a few miles to get to my mushroom spot, a grove of tan oaks, bay trees and redwoods. The ground was saturated with water, after recent rains. Creeks rushing, ponds full; in one spot on the trail, water was bubbling out of a hole. Zilch in the mushroom department, maybe they’re waiting for some warmth, or maybe the recent cold weather has knocked the chanterelles underground until next year. I did gather some fiddlehead ferns, but just read that many varieties are toxic, so will proceed w. caution.
I realized yesterday, that it’s not just getting out in the woods or beach that I love, but the search for something to gather — food, flowers, bones, feathers — the hunter/gatherer genes. If all else fails, I gather images with my camera.
In beauty may you walk.
All day long may you walk.
Through the returning seasons may you walk.
On the trail marked with pollen may you walk.
With grasshoppers about your feet may you walk.
With dew about your feet may you walk.
With beauty may you walk.
With beauty before you, may you walk.
With beauty behind you, may you walk.
With beauty above you, may you walk.
With beauty below you, may you walk.
With beauty all around you, may you walk.
In old age wandering on a trail of beauty,
lively, may you walk.
In old age wandering on a trail of beauty,
living again, may you walk.
It is finished in beauty.
It is finished in beauty.
-Traditional Navajo prayert
I've read that the proper way to prepare fiddleheads is to blanch them several times in different batches of water, and then saute them. It makes sense that you would get a lot of the toxins out and down the drain if you did that.