The Free Radical

Even though the lack of recent rains begins to take its toll, individuals the Forest over are taking a chance on tomorrow and tomorrow’s morrow.

Ungentlemanly, the Gentians are saying “Fuck it! It’s time for flowering.”

Meanwhile, Stonecrop– a rare succulent– sequesters water in its tissues for another non-rainy day. If for some reason I couldn’t get to the river, Stonecrop would keep me alive.

The Forest seems to be devising strategies on the fly… creating a situation I’ve honestly never seen before.

As the Gooseberries have already nearly completed their full cycle, exhibiting the sour green berries I love, the Wild Rose bushes who are well intermingled with the Gooseberries, are just barely putting out their first leaves. Roses are perhaps the most abundant plant species out here, so I’ll assume that they are choosing to delay their own development this season so that the other plants can utilize the residual moisture left over from winter’s melt instead.

Most often, the Tent Caterpillars are to be found within the Choke Cherry bushes… But since the Roses are deliberately holding themselves back, they expose themselves to opportunists like these. (I’m always tempted to cut these tents down when I find them… But who am I? The caterpillar police?)

The Choke Cherries are just now coming into full bloom. Their sweet subtle fragrance is literally everywhere! This is the first time I tasted the blossoms, and I’m happy to report that they are delicious– once the flowers have fully opened. Prior to opening, the pre-flowers have a strong almond flavour which either indicates the presence of hydrocyanic acid– a non-accumulating poison– or the presence of amygdalin– the anti-cancer molecule, central to laetrile therapy. I’ll just eat the opened flowers… and later the dried cherries. (Drying them eliminates bitterness and astringency.)

And speaking of fragrance, the False Solomon’s Seal is also coming into full bloom which just saturates the air around them with the most pleasant citrus aroma. (And now the leaves grow hairy and tough, so the foraging of these delicious greens comes to an end.)

And for more than two years I’ve been consistently expressing my love for High Bush Cranberries. I’m very pleased to see so many of them this year flowering profusely! (The flowers have virtually no flavour, but the ripened fruit yet to come is an absolute favourite, tasting very much like sour cherries.)

And finally, the baby birds we found in the nest on the ground more than a week ago seem to be doing fine, despite the drying conditions. The dogs are still curious, but I make sure to hurry them along– and to watch where they step!

The campfire ban will likely come into effect very soon… Boo!