Alexander's ComAlt Field Study

I was exploring the hills outside of a small town in Oregon called Gates.  The land is used to produce lumber.  These tree farms have been called “Working Forests” or “Family Forests.”  I think they are being too generous by calling them forests when their actions demonstrate a disregard for any species that is not making them a profit.  These are farms.  Even the Forest Service, a government agency that some people believe to be protecting our public lands, is under the Department of Agriculture.  The Forest Service’s main task is to facilitate the harvesting of trees by leasing public land to private timber firms.

The Douglas fir, also known as Psuedotsuga menziesii, is the favorite tree for farming in Oregon. It grows in the early stages of succession and rapidly grows in it’s first decades of life.  The rotation time for harvest on a plot of land is 40-100 years.  These plots are treated just like other farms, often being sprayed with biocide after a harvest to stop any competition for the Douglas Firs.

As I drove through the farmland I stopped on the side of the road to harvest the freshly sprouted needles of the Douglas Fir.  I had just recently read that in spring the bright green fresh needles can be eaten like berries or steeped in water for a citrus tea.  I found a sunny spot with a plethora of fresh needles at picking height.  The soft needles taste like sour candy with the texture of thin rice noodles.  Douglas fir is a widely abundant tree in the Pacific Northwest making the needles a convenient spring snack.  I am drying the needles to add a kick of vitamin C to future tea blends.

Sources:

• “Associated Oregon Loggers, Inc.” Associated Oregon Loggers, Inc. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 May 2017.
• MacKinnon, A., Pojar, J., & Alaback, P. B. (2004). Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Edmonton: Lone Pine Pub.
• Deur, Douglas. Pacific Northwest Foraging: 120 wild and flavorful edibles from Alaska blueberries to wild hazelnuts. Portland, Or.: Timber Press, 2014.

Backpacking trips into the depths of the forest are my inspiration for studying at Evergreen. Both,the trips and Evergreen, have encouraged exploration and growth. My time outdoors has allowed me to reflect back on urban life from an outside perspective, which has been invaluable. I enrolled in my first program, “NW Developments”, to gain an understanding of the environment we choose to live in.  In Spring, I dove into a program, “Nature Writing,” to explore the history and the future of humans in nature.

Natural areas embody the meaning of sustainability and reciprocation. There is no waste created, a contrast to modern human life. In the wild, I was keenly aware of the modern resources keeping me alive and I stopped taking them for granted. I developed insights into the luxuries we enjoy and the cost they really have. Even with minimal luxuries, I have been happier in the woods than I ever have been anywhere. Experiencing this brought up the question, “Where does true happiness come from?”

For me, happiness is a state of mind-in-body and body-in-nature.  When I return home from the forest with dirt on my boots I show kindness to everyone I meet. Such experiences have led me down a trail towards becoming a positive force of change for others and the planet. This motivation is the reason I enrolled at Evergreen.

Joining “Introduction to Environmental Studies”, I stepped into a scientific perspective on the world. The most valuable learning I did in this program was gaining an in-depth knowledge on the science of climate change. This knowledge affects everything in my life. I’m learning the skills and gaining the credentials to be an effective activist for wild places in a warming climate. Learning, for me, involves getting dirt on my boots.

As a staff member at The Evergreen Outdoor Program, I practiced interacting with people in the wild. I loved sharing my knowledge and giving people the opportunity to challenge themselves. In the Spring of 2015, I packed a bag and left Olympia to spend 10 weeks at The North Cascades Institute. There, I was a Mountain School Intern. My days were spent exploring the old growth forests of the North Cascades National Park with 5th graders and learning with them about the plants and animals that live there. My independent project focused on the stages of succession in the forest, which developed into a curriculum for the students. This experience impacted me profoundly. I knew environmental education would be in my future.  It gave me a creative outlet for my knowledge and advocacy of wild places.

When I returned to Olympia, I was ready to learn as much as I could about plants so I enrolled in an upper division program called “Plant Physiology and Ecology.” This gave me a solid grasp on the scientific understanding of plants. Come the Spring of 2016, I couldn’t wait to get back into the dirt with students. At the Internship Fair I found my opportunity: a non- profit called “Seed To Table” which specializes in Edible Education. The curriculum is based around growing and preparing plants for food. At the same time, I became the co-chair of the Food Systems Working Group, a committee focused on creating a better food system on campus. My passion for environmental justice and my love of plants and food led me to this position. The committee works on developing policy to affect the collective impact of the school.

My final year at Evergreen, I engaged a program called “Adaptations.” It explored biology through an evolutionary lens. This class taught me to think critically about what makes organisms the way they are.  Like, why do plants flower at different times of the year?  One answer: To compete for pollinators.  This would drive some angiosperms to evolve a biennial or perennial reproductive pattern from an annual pattern to flower in early spring before the other flowers. “Adaptations” allowed me to form a confident understanding of biological phenomena.

The crown on the end of my education has been an Independent Learning Contract that explores the wilderness by asking, “How can we take care of ourselves using wild plants?” These wild plants present alternatives to store bought products. I learned to make a salve from the leaf buds of the Black Cottonwood tree.  The salve is used topically for sore muscles and skin health.  Projects like this give me the skills to be independant and strong.

My Evergreen education has informed my lifestyle and my lifestyle is committed to education and advocacy.

Sometimes, the side of the road is the best place to find edible plants.  I was on my way out of the wilderness going to Portland when I spotted a HUGE patch of Sorrel.  I quickly stopped and grabbed a paper bag to harvest.  Sorrel is abundant throughout Washington and Oregon as a ground cover in the temperate rainforests.  It is my favorite tangy trail snack.

I paired the Sorrel, also known as Oxalis Oregana, with my Mother’s homemade spanikopita.  The lemon apple notes of the Sorrel was a delight paired with the buttery spanikopita.   The leaves can also be mixed in a salad with other greens to add a tart character.  Sorrel is a great spring green to forage for and can also be transplanted into home gardens.  It does contain Oxalic acid which can cause stomach aches so don’t go too crazy.  I had no problems when I ate around 20 stems and leaves.

In hip restaurants in Portland, people pay big money to have their plates garnished with wild greens.  That’s fine, but it is so much sexier to harvest your own!

Sources:

• Deur, Douglas. Pacific Northwest Foraging: 120 wild and flavorful edibles from Alaska blueberries to wild hazelnuts. Portland, Or.: Timber Press, 2014. Print.

Have a fever?  That’s your body’s intentional defense against hostile bacteria.  The bacteria that intends to invade your system is adapted to live at a normal body temperature, around 98 degrees Fahrenheit.  So if your body gets hot enough you can kill the invaders.  And have a miserable time… Ginger can help along a fever by making you sweat.  It encourages secretions and cleansing.

I am drying the velvety leaves of wild ginger in a paper bag to use as tea in the future.  With the roots, I cleaned, chopped, and set to soak in vodka to make a tincture.  The roots can also be used in recipes in the same way you would use store bought ginger that grows in tropical regions.

I harvested the leaves and roots carefully to insure future harvests.  I picked my handful of leaves from four separate patches.  Though some damage is unavoidable, while digging up the roots and the lateral rhizomes, I attempted not to kill the plant.  This looked like always leaving a few leaves left on a rhizome.

Sources:

• Moore, M. (2001). Medicinal Plants of the Pacific West. Santa Fe: Red Crane Books.
• Deur, Douglas. Pacific Northwest Foraging: 120 wild and flavorful edibles from Alaska blueberries to wild hazelnuts. Portland, Or.: Timber Press, 2014. Print.

Why am I interested in wild plants? Because the wilderness is beautiful!  It provides us with clean air, clean water, and a stable climate. Wild food in the Oregon wilderness is highly seasonal and can be scarce but it is highly nourishing to the human body and places us back into the native ecosystem. Agriculture, where most of my food comes from, too often pollutes air and water and is the leading contributor to climate change on our planet.

Rather than paying for wild food, I gain from the harvesting, processing, and consuming.  I gain joy, knowledge, and health.  It brings me joy to connect with a place by eating from it.  It is also joyful to feed myself and feel the independence.  I gain knowledge from the books on my desk and the firsthand experience of identifying and harvesting plants.  No book can replace digging up and feeling a plant. Once you have spent hours processing a plant, identification becomes easy. I harvest from a healthy old growth forest with cleanest air and water available.  In addition, wild plants are often dense with nutrition because they have not been bred to be sweet or starchy like store bought potatoes or corn.  It is healthy to eat wild plants, for our ecosystems and our bodies.

As the first half of the quarter comes to an end I feel that my work is strong and on an uphill trend.  This is my first time having a very full time job and doing some academics on the side.  It is working nicely and both experiences are complimenting each other.  After becoming familiar with the website, I have become fond of it.  I appreciate the act of posting on the website to share it.  Thus far, I have prepared two different plants into medicines, Cottonwood and Wild Ginger.  I am very satisfied with my progress.

For the second half of the quarter, I want to harvest some wild, edible greens to make into salads.  I also want to make a post that explores the hunting/gathering lifestyle vs the agricultural lifestyle and where indigenous Oregonians are on the spectrum.  I have been consistently dedicating my 5+ weekly hours to the goals in my ILC and will continue to do so.

 

 

My Co-Workers and I found the biggest Cottonwood tree I have ever seen.  It was the mother tree of all the surrounding Cottonwoods and it had dropped some limbs in the recent windstorm.  It’s leaf buds were developed but not yet open; the perfect opportunity to harvest.

Black Cottonwood leaf buds can be used to make a topical oil/salve.  The oil has anti-inflammatory, pain relieving, vasodilating, and anti-microbial properties.  The compounds found in Cottonwood buds are relatives of Aspirin.

Cottonwood trees are adapted to live on the riverside.  They purposefully shed twigs from their top where they might land in the river to be swept away and replanted on a  far away shore.  Cottonwoods are capable of asexual reproduction, cloning, and sexual reproduction.  When rivers flood the banks where the cottonwoods live, Cottonwoods are capable of sprouting new roots out of their trunk if they get partially buried by sediment.  Amazing trees!

Today in the U.S.A. medicine is most often something you buy in the store or from the pharmacy.  Before the days of factories and pharmacies, medicine was gathered and prepared from plants.  The more I learn about mainstream western medicine the less I want to be a part of it.  I’m glad it’s there in case I get really sick but for the most part I strive to rely on preventative care and making medicine from plants.  When you gather and prepare your own medicine, like food, you can know and monitor your impact as well as trust what you are ingesting.

To extract the medicinal properties of the leaf buds into oil:

1. Crush or chop your leaf buds.
2. Mix 1 part leaf buds with 1 part Olive oil and 4 parts water. Simmer for one hour.
3. Filter the buds and decant the oil on top of the water.

5 parts oil can be mixed with 1 part beeswax to make a salve.  Or just the oil can be applied topically to skin ailments and sore muscles.  The oil has a shelf life of a few years.  Olive oil is long lasting and gains even more protection from the properties of the cottonwood.

Sources:

• Moore, M. (2001). Medicinal Plants of the Pacific West. Santa Fe: Red Crane Books.
• Stettler, R. F. (2009). Cottonwood and the River of Time on Trees, Evolution, and Society. Seattle: University of Washington Press.