Foraging with friends.

Ian, Dorette, and Rich in North Carolina

Foraging is often a solitary activity but it is fun to do it with friends.  While in North Carolina last week five of us went hiking/foraging.  We visited Rich's bee hives and he taught us about the different plants the bees prefer.  I was wondering why there were some beautiful bushes in bloom that smelled lovely but there were no bees around them.  Rich explained that the mouth parts of bees can only access certain types of flowers and the flowers on these bushes had a shape that excluded bees. As we walked along Dorette noticed plants that I missed seeing. She picked out a vetch and we did a little trail side snacking. It tastes just like the pea greens I had grown in my basement this winter.  

vetch

We not only saw great plants we also ran into some critters.

Almond Millipede

This creature is also called a cyanide millipede because when he is disturbed he gives off a small amount of cyanide gas - which smells like almonds.  This is a defense mechanism to protect it from predators.  I asked Ian and Kevin to pick it up and shake it so they could smell it but I had no takers.  They thought the millipede would defecate on them.  Well, I guess that was a possibility but I just wanted to demonstrate how it gives off the cyanide gas. :)

newt

One more treasure we saw was an Eastern newt in its eft stage. This is the stage of its life when it lives on land and it lasts for up to four years. The adults live in the water, mate and lay eggs in water. The larval stage has gills and lives in water then it matures to the eft stage where it lives outside of water but must stay close to a water source because it will die if its skin gets too dry. After four years it returns to the stream and lives the rest of its life in and out of the water. Newts, like the millipedes, have poisons in their skin to protect themselves from predators.

A day is not lost if you learn something new, rejoice in nature, or share it with friends.