Foraging

Last year I found a place in Brookville PA that hosts really cool looking "outdoorsy" type excursions. When I was reading the website, I thought it was a B&B that hosted classes in yoga and relaxation as well as how to make soap, cheese and a variety of other classes. I kept thinking, "THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR!", but let me back up a bit.

When my best friend and I were teenagers, we used to do sleep overs several times per week. I can't tell you how many nights I spent at her mom's house watching movies and then getting up the next morning to drag our butts to school. "The Breakfast Club" was always on the list, but so was a movie called, "Casual Sex". It isn't exactly what the title implys. It is about two single girl friends who are tired of working non stop, so they book a trip to a spa resort. Andrew Dice Clay is in it and there breeds the title, "Casual Sex". Anyway, she and I have always made a pact that someday, we would do what these gals did.... go to a spa and relax!

Here we are almost 17 years later and we still have yet to do the spa thing. So when I saw this place that is close to home, should something arise with our kids, yet far enough away that we feel like we are AWAY, I thought it a win-win. Last summer came and went without us even calling to get details. I decided I wouldn't wait so long this year and I called. It seems this isn't an inclusive thing, unless you get 5 or more people together. Also, you aren't staying on the actual farm.... it would be about a half mile down the road at another farm. I think it is still looks like a wonderful place, but it just isn't what I was hoping for when thinking of our "girls trip".

What I did find on their list of schedules is a foraging class. This is something they offer regardless if there is a group staying. My husband and I are very interested in the idea of picking our own food in our own backyard/woods. I called to get some details and the EXTREMELY nice woman explained they do not put up just one family, rather we would need to stay somewhere else close by. This opened up the door for a camping excursion.

My son has been asking us to take him camping for at least 6 months. I like camping, but seem to smell like a last supper to mosquitos.... so I end up being miserable. My husband doesn't care for camping unless he has a working toilet and some water. He's more of a cabin type of guy. Cook Forest is not far from this place so I am hoping to get a cabin there for the weekend.

In preparation for the "class" on foraging, I went into my own backyard to pick mulberries from my GIGANTIC mulberry tree, only to realize that the ladder I needed to pick the currently ripe berries is buried in the back of my garage. It is nicely tucked between all the crap from the basement and my gardening stuff. Determined NOT to let it get me down, I walked back over to the tree and realized the wind had knocked a lot of ripe berries off the tree onto the ground. I began to forage. I picked a nice bunch of berries and washed them. I am putting them into a baggie and into the freezer until I've picked enough to make some jelly. Hopefully, there will be enough left over to freeze to use as a filling for pie come winter.

As I was squatting to pick up the berries, my mind went to the animals that eat these berries and then to the Native Americans who used to forage in this same manor. I also began to think about areas in the world where this is still the method for finding your food. One phrase rang out over and over again in my mind, "Do you know where your food comes from?" I answered my own thoughts with, "YES! YES I DO!". Pride beamed from my inner self.

I also thought of some of my friends and acquaintances who like the idea of local produce but would not be able to get over the fact that these berries were found on the ground. They would be thinking how "unsterile" it is to eat a berry off the ground. I had a nice chuckle and then got gloomy. It is truly sad how disconnected we've become. My mind raced to the movie "WALL-E" and also the movie "Food Inc". How have we let ourselves become so far removed from the idea of REAL FOOD?

I enjoyed my short adventure in my own backyard, however so did the mosquitos. In the 15-20 minutes I was out there, I've already found at least 3 bites. I'm sure there are more that will expose themselves, as always. I guess those little buggers were just foraging too.