The Free Radical

(The title should be read in the voice of Frank Costanza.)

Wow! What a difference two days of warm weather followed by a night of rain makes! Suddenly it’s all coming alive!

The crocuses have burst onto the scene. In the next few days the Mesa will become covered in them!

Sitka goes in for a sniff and asks “You can make ecstasy from these, right?” Yes*. Smart dog. The yellow stamens are a precursor to certain interesting amphetamines when reacted with ammonia… but we don’t go in much for that kind of chemistry anymore. There’s quite enough to get genuinely excited about without the need for powerful mood enhancers.

The Mesa is also revealing a shocking proliferation of wild onions. I’m learning that in the earliest part of spring they’re really easy to spot because the underground bulb which overwinters is filled with energy which sends up numerous green shoots as soon as the ground thaws. I was actually looking to see if the wild tarragon was beginning to regrow, but found numerous onions instead.

I ate six of them that were pretty much growing directly on the trail and were in danger of being trodden upon, so I feel I was rescuing them from such a banal fate by taking them on a human trip instead. Look Ma, I’m an onion!

The true feasting begins now. In the coming days and weeks, the amount of food that will be literally springing up between my toes promises to be astonishing. Knowing that the forest provides far more than I could ever avail myself of while still taking perfect care of all the forest critters gives me a happy, abundant feeling.

As we crossed the swamp on the way to the Mesa, two ducks startled us by flying up suddenly from the water. This is actually a fairly common occurrence in springtime. As masters of emotionality, Duck reminds us to be thankful– or even ecstatic– for all of the free stuff being provided to eyes which have learned to look. I will just reiterate that not too long ago I thought that this place, especially the Mesa, was a rather barren and desolate region. After a year of serious foraging however I have come to know with total certainty that I was dead wrong. The abundance is astounding!

*Update April 23, 2014: Actually, upon further investigation, these flowers commonly known as Prairie Crocuses are not in fact true crocuses. They are a different species (pulsatilla spp. “pasqueflowers”) and are not directly related to crocus sativus from which saffron is derived. (Saffron is indeed a precursor to making ecstasy.) Additionally, all parts of pasqueflowers are considered poisonous, including the yellow stamens.