I got an opportunity to use some of the stuff I learned from the Joys of Foraging, I'm excited to try more. Brennan found there are some acorns that grow close to where we live. He actually picked a few, not enough to really do anything with but we got to experiment with them and learn a little bit more about what to look for and how to tell if they are bitter or not and how to process them so that you can grind them into meal to use for breads, pancakes, in soup, you name it you can use it like corn meal. It was fun to actually use what I have been learning. I didn't get to teach it to the Young Women this year, because it was Stake Camp, but next year we'll be able to apply some of the things I have been learning.
I'm learning that I can get the information from a book, but it is better to learn it from someone who can show you the difference between the poisonous plant and the edible plants. I didn't know until I started studying up on plants, that the tomato plant is actually in the family of the nightshade family. The fruit is edible, not the leaves, whereas, other plant like beets, both the beet and the leaves can be eaten. I have been using a lot more of the plants in my garden in various ways other than what I learned as a child. My children don't always like it, but I love it. Beet greens have become one of our favorite vegetables. We eat it just like spinach.
What a wonderful world we live in.
