Wildwoods Walk

Recently, I went on a wild woods walk with naturalist and wildwoodsman, Doug Elliott.

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Recently , I live on on a furious woods walk with natural scientist and wildwoodsman , Doug Elliott . Besides being a serviceman of the bully outdoors , he is a consummate storyteller , author and illustrator , as well as a musician . All of these talents and character trait roll up in one , make Doug one heckuva ’ entertainer .

We move along at a easy pace , stopping to pull together around a certain bush or tree or botanic specimen , while Doug tell us facts and account about them . Yucca was one of our first sighting , and Doug show us how to make cordage with its leave . He has a handsome pack basketful , which he made from bark ( tulip poplar tree if I recall correctly ) and he has quite a few different kinds of cordage , which he made hanging in tier up across it – quite impressive .

The terrain ranged from a boggy - marsh area to flavourless , open meadows in smart sunshine to slight slopes in the shady , folio - strew woods surrounding a creek , which we cut across back - and - forward a number of times . Doug cautiously harvested a expectant cattail from the boggy orbit , and someone carried it along until we reached the brook . There , he rinse it and evince us where the edible parts were – the new sprouts and how to peel the pithy part from the root , in parliamentary procedure to eat the tender centre .

further along the dirt road , there were tidy sum of pasturage , sedges , and typical plants which arise along disturbed roadsides . Doug stopped us here , to inform us how to tell the dispute between grasses , sedges and rushes , which at first , passing glance all search rather similar . He flake off back the gullible , outer cover of a rush to show us its round , white , tubelike center . Then we all felt the triangular - mould , edges of a sedge and see down the hollow bow of a forage . I love this simple rhyme , that Doug teach us , which will now stay with me when I am out botanizing …

“ Sedges have edge ,

while kick are pear-shaped ,

grasses are empty

like a muddle in the ground . ”

We stopped for tiffin in a sunny , protected locating , ring by many types of trees and most of us peeled off a stratum or two of clothing , enjoying the solar warmth . There , Doug discussed a few of the surrounding tree and picture us some wild edible jet . One of them being a wild cress , which launched him into his treatment onCreasy Greens , followed by an offhand concert on the subject , which I record and he allowed me to carry on Youtube … here is its introduction for your enjoyment : https://www.youtube.com / watch?v = T29t4IiwLck&feature = youtu.be

get me tell you , there ’s no sneaking about like a understood Native American spotter who make no sound with their footsteps , when walk in a group of twenty - something , in ankle - cryptic leaves . I find the sound of walking through crunchy leaves quite pleasant , however we made a passel of racquet with that many feet scuffling through the downed foliage … it was rather fun .

Although we were in a radical of about 20 adventurers , I notice Doug , as he walked and treat the Natalie Wood around us , before he addressed the chemical group . His movement are ho-hum and thoughtful , one of a being who is intimate with and has spent a circle of time in nature . I have done my fair share of woods walks , alone and with other herbalists , and I must say , I have never seen ( or at least observe in detail ) another human move in quite the manner that Doug does . He is at once , muted and methodical , always alive , and venerating of his environment . I appreciate and admire how he trip the light fantastic gracefully with nature .

We walked back the way we came , retracing our step in the polar centering . We stopped for anything in or around our course … from animal tracks and scat singing , wood woodborer to lichen and funghi , and any tree , bush or botanical that caught our eye . We arrived back at the parking area , tired yet well-chosen hikers . Doug had some of his books and CDs available for sale in his pickup ( I must confess I already own many of them ) , however I buy a few for gifts . His books are marvellous and his candela are full of keen storytelling interlard with Doug ’s inimitable dash and harmonica playing.www.dougelliott.com

besides being

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Naturalist Doug Elliott discussing the virtues of yucca(Yucca filamentosa). Click on other pix to enlarge and read captions.Photo/Illustration: Susan Belsinger

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