Edible "Weeds" in Jackson County

Watercress is used most often as a peppery garnish and salad component, but it also has been touted as a health food and a medicine. Long used to stave off scurvy for its high vitamin C content, watercress may also help inhibit tobacco-related cancers and other lung diseases. In addition to vitamin C, the plant is rich in vitamins A, B, and E and also contains both calcium and iron. Considered a traditional Southern treat, watercress is used in sauces, sandwiches, soups, salads, stuffing, breads, vegetables, and main dishes. - See more at: http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1812#sthash.s4pml9gM.dpuf

 I recently watched a video about foraging for food and it got me to thinking about what kinds of foods I could find in my own backyard, or in close proximity to it anyways. Here are a few things you can find in wild right here in Jackson County.

A Mess of Poke

…Poke Salad…Pokeweed…or just plain old Poke.

I can remember my mom going out to gather “a mess of Poke salad”, but I’ve never eaten it. I was able to find it in abundance.

Here are some fun facts about poke salad:

Poke Salad is edible when cooked. Leaves of young plants may be used as a substitute for greens and spinach and the young shoots (boiled in two changes of water) taste like asparagus. 

It was used by some Native Americans as a witchcraft medicine because they believed it expelled bad spirits. ( Because eaten raw it causes diarrhea and vomiting)

Native Americans also used the red dye from poke berries for painting.

Rootstock can be used as a soap substitute

Here is  recipe from the Smithsonian Folklife Cookbook

(found at http://beforeitsnews.com/opinion-conservative/2015/04/poke-sallet-a-great-southern-springtime-tradition-and-yummy-too-3001122.html)

Poke Salad

 4 quarts young tender poke shoots or 2 cans poke salad greens
 1/4 cup bacon drippings
 1 teaspoon salt
 3 eggs

Wash poke shoots well. Place in a large kettle with water to cover and bring to a boil. Drain. Cover again with water, bring to a boil, and cook for another 20 minutes. Drain well.

 Place in a cast-iron frying pan with bacon drippings and salt. Cook at medium heat for 30 minutes.

 Add eggs and stir until eggs are done, Serve with corn bread and green onions.

(THIS PLANT IS POISONOUS IF NOT PREPARED PROPERLY)

Watercress

Watercress grows in creeks, springs and damp areas. It can be used in salad. It is one of the oldest known leaf vegetables consumed by humans. It is rich in vitamin C and was once used to treat scurvy.

Here is a good article about watercress production in Alabama.

And here is a link to some watercress recipes.

Watercress is used most often as a peppery garnish and salad component, but it also has been touted as a health food and a medicine. Long used to stave off scurvy for its high vitamin C content, watercress may also help inhibit tobacco-related cancers and other lung diseases. In addition to vitamin C, the plant is rich in vitamins A, B, and E and also contains both calcium and iron. Considered a traditional Southern treat, watercress is used in sauces, sandwiches, soups, salads, stuffing, breads, vegetables, and main dishes. - See more at: http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1812#sthash.s4pml9gM.dpu

Watercress is used most often as a peppery garnish and salad component, but it also has been touted as a health food and a medicine. Long used to stave off scurvy for its high vitamin C content, watercress may also help inhibit tobacco-related cancers and other lung diseases. In addition to vitamin C, the plant is rich in vitamins A, B, and E and also contains both calcium and iron. Considered a traditional Southern treat, watercress is used in sauces, sandwiches, soups, salads, stuffing, breads, vegetables, and main dishes. - See more at: http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1812#sthash.s4pml9gM.dpuf

Watercress is used most often as a peppery garnish and salad component, but it also has been touted as a health food and a medicine. Long used to stave off scurvy for its high vitamin C content, watercress may also help inhibit tobacco-related cancers and other lung diseases. In addition to vitamin C, the plant is rich in vitamins A, B, and E and also contains both calcium and iron. Considered a traditional Southern treat, watercress is used in sauces, sandwiches, soups, salads, stuffing, breads, vegetables, and main dishes. - See more at: http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1812#sthash.s4pml9gM.dpuf

Watercress is used most often as a peppery garnish and salad component, but it also has been touted as a health food and a medicine. Long used to stave off scurvy for its high vitamin C content, watercress may also help inhibit tobacco-related cancers and other lung diseases. In addition to vitamin C, the plant is rich in vitamins A, B, and E and also contains both calcium and iron. Considered a traditional Southern treat, watercress is used in sauces, sandwiches, soups, salads, stuffing, breads, vegetables, and main dishes. - See more at: http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1812#sthash.s4pml9gM.dpuf

Watercress is used most often as a peppery garnish and salad component, but it also has been touted as a health food and a medicine. Long used to stave off scurvy for its high vitamin C content, watercress may also help inhibit tobacco-related cancers and other lung diseases. In addition to vitamin C, the plant is rich in vitamins A, B, and E and also contains both calcium and iron. Considered a traditional Southern treat, watercress is used in sauces, sandwiches, soups, salads, stuffing, breads, vegetables, and main dishes. - See more at: http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1812#sthash.s4pml9gM.dpuf

Watercress is used most often as a peppery garnish and salad component, but it also has been touted as a health food and a medicine. Long used to stave off scurvy for its high vitamin C content, watercress may also help inhibit tobacco-related cancers and other lung diseases. In addition to vitamin C, the plant is rich in vitamins A, B, and E and also contains both calcium and iron. Considered a traditional Southern treat, watercress is used in sauces, sandwiches, soups, salads, stuffing, breads, vegetables, and main dishes. - See more at: http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1812#sthash.s4pml9gM.dpuf

Watercress is used most often as a peppery garnish and salad component, but it also has been touted as a health food and a medicine. Long used to stave off scurvy for its high vitamin C content, watercress may also help inhibit tobacco-related cancers and other lung diseases. In addition to vitamin C, the plant is rich in vitamins A, B, and E and also contains both calcium and iron. Considered a traditional Southern treat, watercress is used in sauces, sandwiches, soups, salads, stuffing, breads, vegetables, and main dishes. - See more at: http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1812#sthash.s4pml9gM.dpuf

Cattails

 Cattails can be found in marshy places...often in ditches and around ponds. The uses for a cattail are MANY.

The young cob-like tips of the plant are edible as is the white bottom of the stalk, 
spurs off the main roots and spaghetti like rootlets off the main roots.

 They have vitamins A, B,Cattail lower stalks and C, potassium and phosphorus. The pollen can be used like flour.   -eattheweeds.com

Here is a VERY useful article about this local plant.

Wild Blackberries 

These can be found in fields and roadsides and lots of places, I'm sure. ( I wouldn't eat them off the roadside because sometimes chemicals are sprayed in ditches to kill weeds and nobody needs that)

These are smaller than the ones you can buy at the store. I think they taste better because they don't have huge, gritty seeds. 

  

I picked some of these and my mom made a blackberry cobbler with them!

Here is a recipe...doesn't look as good as mamas. 

Maypops

These have the COOLEST purple flower...this is not a very good photo, but it rained on the poor things all day. 

They are often called passion flowers, and their leaves can be used to make a tea that cures insomnia. 

I found out this weekend that they also grow little green melon like fruits that you can eat ( or step on to make them POP). 

I tried to pull one up so I could root it and grow it in the yard, but I'm not sure if it will work.

Here is a good article about Maypops.

Have you ever eaten any of these wild things?
What are some other forageable weeds in Jackson County?

Float the Paint Rock River

Paint Rock Valley is one of the most, if not the most, gorgeous and serene places in Jackson County. The mountains and farm fields alone are enough to give it that title, but its famous river is icing on the cake.

If you have access to a kayak, canoe or even flat bottom boat you must explore the Paint Rock River.

Here are a few tips for your trip ( from my very limited -one day-) experience:

1.Ask around for the best place to put in your kayak. We weren't sure of a good place to leave our vehicle so we had someone drive up pretty far in the valley and drop us off on the side of the road/river. Make a plan for where and when they will pick you back up. We chose a little pull off in the middle of all the curves on 65.

2. If snakes absolutely terrify you in general, kayaking here may not be for you. Very shortly after we put in the water my kayak ran aground into a bed of four snakes. The snakes didn't bother us at all thankfully. I think they were just water snakes and not venomous.

3. If you plan on bringing your cell phone/camera/other things you don't want to get wet get a waterproof box, or double ziplic bag your stuff and put it in a secure place in case you flip your kayak.

4. Wear sunscreen! There are a lot of shady spots...but just as many sunny spots!

5. Going back to number one... cell phone service is sketchy on the river. So be prepared to be without service.

6. It is always wise to bring a snack/lunch and water on such excursions. We didn't and were starving by the time we finished.

I'm sure there are numerous other tips, but I am no expert.

Aside from the snakes, we saw a baby turtle swimming in the water lots of fish, deer, ducks and beautiful clear water.

Even if you don't have a kayak or canoe, the Paint Rock River would make a great day trip for fishing, skipping rocks and wading!

It was the hottest day of August
All of us were down by the banks of the Paint Rock River
I was next in line to be baptized at the innocent age of ten
And Ill never forget, I remember it yet, the taste of that clear, pure water
And that preachers words still fill my head and I hear them now and then...
-Curly Putman

Visit Walls of Jericho in the Spring

The Walls of Jericho, or The Grand Canyon of the South as some call it, truly is one of the most breath taking things you will ever come across in Jackson County. 

Spring is a wonderful time of year to make the 7 mile hike for several reasons, but the most important are that the abundance of rain makes the waterfalls very heavy and the mild temperatures will make the strenuous hike a little easier to cope with. 

I went over spring break and things were just lovely. 

Click Here for a map of the Trailhead.

Here are some interesting tidbits I found on

  Nature.org:

• In Alabama: Alabama’s Forever Wild Program purchased the 12,500-acre Alabama section of the property from The Nature Conservancy. It is now known as the Skyline Wildlife Management Area and is open for public access. The protected area encompasses the headwaters of the globally significant Paint Rock River.

• In Tennessee: In 2006, The Nature Conservancy also transferred the 8,900-acre Tennessee tract to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) to be the Bear Hollow Mountain Wildlife Management Area. The State Natural Areas Program of the Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation co-manages 750 acres of the Walls of Jericho and its surrounding creek basin within the Bear Hollow Wildlife Management Area. The Walls of Jericho site is designated as a Tennessee State Natural Area. The entire 8,900-acre area is open for public access.

• The Walls of Jericho area was originally owned by the Texas oil magnate Harry Lee Carter, who acquired 60,000 acres in Franklin County, Tenn., and Jackson County, Ala., in the 1940s.For years, up until 1977 when the Walls of Jericho were closed to the public, the Tennessee property had been open to the public for recreational use and managed by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. Now this special place is once again open to the public.The Carter Lands region lies in the heart of the Southern Cumberlands and totals 60,000 acres.

Anyone in good health should take advantage of this local treasure, but it definitely is not for the faint of heart. The hike down is hard on your knees and the hike out his hard on everything! 

Here are a few pointers if you decide to take the trip:

1. Give your self PLENTY OF DAY LIGHT. This is a long and strenuous hike, especially if you have never been before. The trail is marked with red paint, but it is easy to get lost if you are a beginning hiker. It is best to start early in the day, to ensure that you have plenty of time to find your way back out. There is NO cell service, so you should not depend on having the ability to call for help. 

2. Bring a backpack:

- You will need PLENTY of water. One regular sized bottle will probably not be enough. 

- Food. It's a long hike. Bring lunch and enjoy it while you rest at the walls. 

- First aid kit. You are very liable to get blisters, so pack some band-aids. 

- Flip flops, or sandals. There is a lot of water to wade in once you get to the walls, and it can be difficult to see the entire thing if you don't get your feet wet. It's bad for your feet to walk in wet socks, so just take off your shoes and enjoy the cool water. 

- extra socks... just in case. 

- a towel, to dry your feet. 

-toilet paper...because sometimes you gotta go ( there is a portapotty in the parking lot... but the rest is just the good ol outdoors. )

-A Camera ( because it's pretty)

- Maybe I have watched too many episodes of Survivorman, but I always like to have a space blanket, a knife and some matches just in case. 

3. Don't mess with the snakes. Yes, you may see a snake or two. Chances are if you don't bother them, they won't bother you. 

4. Don't Litter. 

5. Be careful when you wade through the water...the rocks are VERY slippery.

6. But the main thing is...give yourself plenty of time. The trip will probably take at least four hours (probably more), if you plan on lingering at the waterfalls.

Here are some photos from a few weeks ago... enjoy!