WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.360 --> 00:00:02.759 Get value you can't argue with at Tesco with their 2 00:00:02.799 --> 00:00:05.639 amazing club card prices. Have the perfect night in with 3 00:00:05.679 --> 00:00:08.759 their finest frozen pizza meal deal. Get the finest frozen pizza, 4 00:00:08.919 --> 00:00:11.679 chips and ice cream all for six euro like our 5 00:00:11.679 --> 00:00:14.839 delicious spicy salami hot honey, and do you or Margarito 6 00:00:14.880 --> 00:00:18.160 wood fired pizzas served up with their crispy chunkie chips 7 00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:21.280 and ice cream like sea salta caramel or pistachio for dessert. 8 00:00:21.679 --> 00:00:25.120 Can't argue with that shop in store or online. Tesco 9 00:00:25.600 --> 00:00:28.960 Every Little helps available in most stores. Prices vary in express. 10 00:00:30.359 --> 00:00:33.200 Mum, why did they call it Scottish cheese? 11 00:00:33.280 --> 00:00:36.039 It's cottage cheese, honey. And I'm not sure. 12 00:00:35.840 --> 00:00:39.200 Did dogs in other countries speak different languages? 13 00:00:39.399 --> 00:00:39.719 Yeah? 14 00:00:39.960 --> 00:00:42.399 I think so. Well when we get there, well, we've 15 00:00:42.399 --> 00:00:44.560 got to fix the car first, but there's someone coming 16 00:00:44.600 --> 00:00:45.159 to help us. 17 00:00:45.359 --> 00:00:47.119 Is it the man from Geneva? 18 00:00:47.200 --> 00:00:51.159 Not Geneva, he's from a Viva. Oh there's a van now. 19 00:00:51.479 --> 00:00:54.479 For car insurance with breakdown rescue, it takes a Viva 20 00:00:54.759 --> 00:00:55.359 visit Aviva. 21 00:00:55.399 --> 00:00:56.200 Do I eat to say? 22 00:00:56.240 --> 00:00:59.960 Fifteen percent acceptance criteria terms and conditions apply. Minimum premium 23 00:01:00.079 --> 00:01:02.039 of three hundred and ten year old fifteen percent discant 24 00:01:02.039 --> 00:01:04.599 applies to new policies bott online. See Aviva dotta E 25 00:01:04.719 --> 00:01:07.599 for details. Car insurance is underwritten by Aviva Insurance Arland 26 00:01:07.640 --> 00:01:10.319 duc Aviva Direct Arland Limited is regulated by the Central 27 00:01:10.359 --> 00:01:11.040 Bank of Ireland. 28 00:01:11.840 --> 00:01:14.760 Oh hi, okay, it's twenty twenty four. Alley here jumping 29 00:01:14.760 --> 00:01:18.000 in to say this is an absolute fan favorite episode 30 00:01:18.159 --> 00:01:20.719 of Ologies. It's also a me favorite one. It was 31 00:01:20.760 --> 00:01:22.599 a while in the making and it's a perfect time 32 00:01:22.640 --> 00:01:24.439 a year to serve it up on a doorly for you. 33 00:01:24.840 --> 00:01:28.560 And since we've recorded this three years ago, this guest, 34 00:01:28.760 --> 00:01:32.280 Alexis Nelson aka Black Forager, and I have gotten to 35 00:01:32.400 --> 00:01:35.760 meet in real life. We've become pals and when she's 36 00:01:35.760 --> 00:01:38.959 in LA we hang out and she's just as much 37 00:01:38.959 --> 00:01:42.040 of a gem as you think in person. She's also 38 00:01:42.319 --> 00:01:45.400 an ologite and she texted me last week after our 39 00:01:45.439 --> 00:01:48.959 Columbiology episode about pigeons to say that it's nudged her 40 00:01:49.000 --> 00:01:53.359 toward considering becoming a pigeon parent herself. Also, since this 41 00:01:53.480 --> 00:01:57.480 episode aired, Alexis has launched a TV show called Crash 42 00:01:57.519 --> 00:02:00.879 Course Botany, which you can find on peb Yes also 43 00:02:01.000 --> 00:02:02.599 at the end of this episode, I added a new 44 00:02:02.640 --> 00:02:07.000 secret which contains the reason why this isn't encore this week, 45 00:02:07.280 --> 00:02:10.039 and a special perk for patrons coming up in a 46 00:02:10.039 --> 00:02:12.879 few days. Okay, wow, I just love this episode and 47 00:02:12.960 --> 00:02:15.879 this guest all right, Oh hey, it's your friend's Kat 48 00:02:15.919 --> 00:02:19.159 who just had a six hundred dollars hairball. Alli Ward 49 00:02:19.479 --> 00:02:23.800 back with an outdoorsy quite frankly a scrumptious episode of ologies. 50 00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:26.560 So this ologist, we're gonna get right to it. Studied 51 00:02:26.599 --> 00:02:30.520 both science and performance at Ohio State University, you know, 52 00:02:30.639 --> 00:02:34.080 but the role most know her in is teacher of 53 00:02:34.240 --> 00:02:36.719 the can I eat this? It grew in my driveway 54 00:02:36.879 --> 00:02:40.840 arts and Sciences. So she has a million, a literal 55 00:02:40.919 --> 00:02:44.159 million TikTok watchers who just eat up her lessons on 56 00:02:44.280 --> 00:02:49.560 making violet simple syrup and magnolia cookies and garlic mustard 57 00:02:49.680 --> 00:02:52.319 pesto and more. And I have had so many of 58 00:02:52.400 --> 00:02:54.280 y'all begging me to have her on that when I 59 00:02:54.360 --> 00:02:57.639 DMed her, honestly, I was shocked to get a response. 60 00:02:57.879 --> 00:03:00.919 This woman is busy. So we recorded this right as 61 00:03:00.960 --> 00:03:03.960 April was turning to May, and since it's still spring 62 00:03:04.039 --> 00:03:06.560 and things are still blooming and shooting and crawling from 63 00:03:06.599 --> 00:03:08.879 the ground. It's time to grab a basket and see 64 00:03:08.879 --> 00:03:11.879 what's for dinner. But we also talk about year round edibles. 65 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:14.039 We're going to get into it. But first, thank you 66 00:03:14.080 --> 00:03:15.960 to all the patrons who said to their questions you 67 00:03:16.039 --> 00:03:18.400 can become a patron for a dollar a month a 68 00:03:18.479 --> 00:03:21.400 dollar a month at patreon dot com slash Ologies. Thank 69 00:03:21.439 --> 00:03:24.840 you to everyone rating and subscribing to the podcast. Thanks 70 00:03:24.879 --> 00:03:28.520 to everyone who leaves such nice reviews, keeping Ologies in 71 00:03:28.560 --> 00:03:32.039 the top five science podcast globally, which is bananas. I 72 00:03:32.120 --> 00:03:34.560 read all the reviews and each week I pick a 73 00:03:34.560 --> 00:03:37.319 fresh one, and this week it's from for the Earth, 74 00:03:37.400 --> 00:03:39.240 who wrote I hope I hear you read it. 75 00:03:39.280 --> 00:03:39.560 Ali. 76 00:03:39.719 --> 00:03:41.840 Thank you Ali and team for truly some of the 77 00:03:41.840 --> 00:03:45.560 best content available. Thank you for the Earth. Also, we 78 00:03:45.599 --> 00:03:48.639 got a rare two star review this week from p Jester, 79 00:03:48.840 --> 00:03:51.639 who said that they do not like my voice and 80 00:03:51.919 --> 00:03:55.080 I am a woman that's a problem for some people. 81 00:03:55.240 --> 00:03:57.759 But thank you so much for the feedback. And there's 82 00:03:57.800 --> 00:04:00.199 actually a secret about my voice at the end of 83 00:04:00.240 --> 00:04:03.120 the episode, which you might already know. But anyway, thank 84 00:04:03.120 --> 00:04:06.319 you everyone else for all the loving and very lovely reviews, 85 00:04:06.520 --> 00:04:10.319 Except for b Jester who's probably not listening, and that's 86 00:04:10.520 --> 00:04:15.280 a okay, thanks everyone for leaving them anyway, Okay, foraging ecology. 87 00:04:15.599 --> 00:04:20.120 Foraging comes from a root for hay or straw or fodder, 88 00:04:20.480 --> 00:04:24.279 and then it evolved to mean hunting about for edibles, 89 00:04:24.319 --> 00:04:27.120 and ecology comes from the same root as ecology for 90 00:04:27.199 --> 00:04:30.399 the place we live and our relationship to our environment, 91 00:04:30.639 --> 00:04:34.759 So foraging for the things around us. Now for breakfast 92 00:04:34.800 --> 00:04:36.000 side note, I just want you to know that I 93 00:04:36.120 --> 00:04:38.279 ate some low quots that I stole from a friend's tree. 94 00:04:38.360 --> 00:04:40.040 She didn't even know she could eat them. She thought 95 00:04:40.040 --> 00:04:43.319 they were ornamental. So we're doing a good job today. Anyway, 96 00:04:43.319 --> 00:04:45.720 Pull up a stump and lean in for a bounty 97 00:04:45.720 --> 00:04:52.279 of information on edible versus poisonous plants, taproots, blossoms, tinctures, 98 00:04:52.439 --> 00:04:56.199 brews and stews and cookies and cocktails and hikes and 99 00:04:56.360 --> 00:05:01.360 eating invasive species, some dog pee talk, the best guide books, 100 00:05:01.720 --> 00:05:05.600 and how gathering what grows around us is a radical act. 101 00:05:05.759 --> 00:05:11.000 For Internet hero and teacher Autodideck wild food Maker and 102 00:05:11.240 --> 00:05:14.160 your gathering guide. You know her on TikTok and YouTube 103 00:05:14.160 --> 00:05:18.000 and Instagram as a black forager. Alexis Nicole Nelson. 104 00:05:37.279 --> 00:05:39.480 I'm so excited to be talking to you. Hello. My 105 00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:42.639 name is Alexis Nicole Nelson, and my pronouns are she 106 00:05:42.839 --> 00:05:46.639 her hers, And my cat just clawed me in the butt. No, 107 00:05:46.839 --> 00:05:47.959 the time we're having. 108 00:05:47.720 --> 00:05:49.920 Already get him on the mic. 109 00:05:50.839 --> 00:05:54.920 Yeah, hey Aussie, you have words to say, use your words. 110 00:05:56.240 --> 00:05:58.519 Oh my gosh, people have been asking me for so 111 00:05:59.120 --> 00:06:01.199 many months to get you on this podcast. When you 112 00:06:01.240 --> 00:06:03.560 wrote back, I was thrilled. I've been wanting to do 113 00:06:03.839 --> 00:06:07.360 this topic for a while, which would be foraging ecology, 114 00:06:07.519 --> 00:06:09.519 I believe right, Yes. 115 00:06:09.639 --> 00:06:13.319 Foraging ecology, I think is the ology that we settled 116 00:06:13.319 --> 00:06:13.920 on for this. 117 00:06:14.160 --> 00:06:18.879 Yes, it works, It totally works. Your TikTok's amazing and 118 00:06:18.920 --> 00:06:22.920 informative and you're so prolific and it's so great. At 119 00:06:22.959 --> 00:06:26.600 what point were you like, Okay, it's time the world 120 00:06:26.680 --> 00:06:29.879 needs to know what they can eat in their backyards. 121 00:06:31.000 --> 00:06:34.399 I mean, I've honestly felt that way ever since I 122 00:06:34.519 --> 00:06:36.360 was really little. I guess I just didn't have the 123 00:06:36.439 --> 00:06:41.399 tools to tell anybody outside of my parents, family members, friends, 124 00:06:41.639 --> 00:06:45.439 anyone who I could get to listen to me in persons, Do. 125 00:06:45.399 --> 00:06:47.360 You remember what the first thing you ate out of 126 00:06:47.360 --> 00:06:51.160 the ground and were you safe was it dangerous? 127 00:06:52.439 --> 00:06:55.680 The first thing I remember eating out of the ground, 128 00:06:55.759 --> 00:06:58.120 I must have been about five years old, and I 129 00:06:58.160 --> 00:07:01.759 was helping my mom in the garden in our house, 130 00:07:01.759 --> 00:07:04.600 in our old house in Cincinnati, and she pointed out 131 00:07:04.800 --> 00:07:08.319 some grass but it looked different from other grass, and 132 00:07:08.360 --> 00:07:11.519 she broke it and it smelled delicious, like it smelled 133 00:07:11.560 --> 00:07:13.839 like onions and garlic. And she's like, oh, yeah, it's 134 00:07:13.879 --> 00:07:17.199 onion grass and it's edible, but it's like not as 135 00:07:17.240 --> 00:07:19.480 good as the onions in the garlic that we get 136 00:07:19.480 --> 00:07:22.040 from the store. And if you tell a five year 137 00:07:22.040 --> 00:07:25.199 old that something is edible, then they're going to put 138 00:07:25.199 --> 00:07:27.240 it in their face and they're going to get really 139 00:07:27.319 --> 00:07:30.399 excited about it. So I did, and it just kind 140 00:07:30.480 --> 00:07:34.199 of ignited a gentle obsession, a lifelong love. 141 00:07:34.800 --> 00:07:37.279 Where did you get a lot of your information? Did 142 00:07:37.319 --> 00:07:40.000 you start getting for your sixth birthday? Did you get 143 00:07:40.040 --> 00:07:44.600 an encyclopedia of edible herbs? How did the information dump start? 144 00:07:45.560 --> 00:07:47.480 Well, my answer to that question is yes, But for 145 00:07:47.560 --> 00:07:48.839 my eighth birthday. 146 00:07:49.000 --> 00:07:51.759 Oh got it got it little late late bloomer, late bloomer. 147 00:07:51.839 --> 00:07:53.560 I know, Oh my gosh, I was so late to 148 00:07:53.639 --> 00:07:56.360 the game. I just I inhaled all of my mom's 149 00:07:56.360 --> 00:07:59.360 books on gardening. My mom had like an entire shelf 150 00:08:00.040 --> 00:08:03.360 our house dedicated to just for gardening books. And yeah, 151 00:08:03.399 --> 00:08:05.199 I'd say by the time I was eight or nine, 152 00:08:05.240 --> 00:08:07.920 I had read each of them front to back. Was 153 00:08:07.959 --> 00:08:10.639 like trying to memorize every single one of the trees 154 00:08:10.720 --> 00:08:14.879 and flowers and herbs present in them. And when I 155 00:08:14.920 --> 00:08:19.800 was done with those, I bought more. Every weekend, my 156 00:08:19.920 --> 00:08:23.519 parents used to let me go to this independent bookstore 157 00:08:23.519 --> 00:08:26.319 in Cincinnati, Joseph Beth after we'd go out to dinner, 158 00:08:26.639 --> 00:08:30.600 and they'd be like, Okay, you get one book, and 159 00:08:30.639 --> 00:08:34.159 it'd be really hard for me to choose between oh gosh, 160 00:08:34.200 --> 00:08:37.000 whatever fantasy novel I was obsessed with at the time, 161 00:08:37.279 --> 00:08:38.200 or a plant book. 162 00:08:38.559 --> 00:08:42.519 When it came time to figuring out your life's course, 163 00:08:43.320 --> 00:08:46.120 did you want to stick with botany? Did you decide 164 00:08:46.120 --> 00:08:47.799 to go more of a business route. I know that 165 00:08:47.840 --> 00:08:51.399 you have been like a social media manager, which explains 166 00:08:51.440 --> 00:08:54.360 another reason why you're like so good at TikTok. You're 167 00:08:54.399 --> 00:08:57.840 a professional, But what did you decide when it came 168 00:08:57.879 --> 00:09:00.120 to figuring out, you know, career. 169 00:09:00.559 --> 00:09:04.279 I think I'm still deciding every time, I have to 170 00:09:04.320 --> 00:09:06.639 remember that I'm a real adult. I'm just like, oh 171 00:09:06.799 --> 00:09:10.399 oh yeah, twenty eight is real. I can't fudget anymore. 172 00:09:10.519 --> 00:09:16.879 Definitely a full, full, full blooded adult now. Growing up 173 00:09:19.399 --> 00:09:21.759 in the fourth grade, when we had to draw what 174 00:09:21.799 --> 00:09:24.720 we wanted to be when we grew up, I said 175 00:09:24.840 --> 00:09:27.320 that I wanted to be a geneticist by day in 176 00:09:27.360 --> 00:09:28.679 a pop star by night. 177 00:09:29.559 --> 00:09:31.039 I love it. I love it. 178 00:09:31.799 --> 00:09:34.039 I mean, I feel like this is closer than anybody 179 00:09:34.120 --> 00:09:38.440 myself included, thought I was going to get with kind 180 00:09:38.440 --> 00:09:43.399 of melding this aspect of performance, which I've always loved, 181 00:09:43.440 --> 00:09:46.000 like right hand in hand with like my love of 182 00:09:46.039 --> 00:09:49.399 plants has been my love of entertaining people. And when 183 00:09:49.399 --> 00:09:50.759 it came time to choose what I was going to 184 00:09:50.799 --> 00:09:55.679 major in in college, I was like, pretty gifted in 185 00:09:55.759 --> 00:09:58.759 math and science. But I was also like, pretty gifted 186 00:09:58.799 --> 00:10:02.240 in theater. But nobody tells you to major in theater. 187 00:10:02.480 --> 00:10:04.480 Even when you're really good at theater, no one tells 188 00:10:04.480 --> 00:10:08.039 you to go in major. So everyone was like, oh 189 00:10:08.120 --> 00:10:13.000 my gosh, you're a woman of color, you're good at math, 190 00:10:13.039 --> 00:10:15.399 you're good at science. If you don't become an engineer, 191 00:10:15.559 --> 00:10:20.960 what a waste? And I didn't know if I wanted 192 00:10:21.000 --> 00:10:23.519 to be an engineer, but I did know that I 193 00:10:23.600 --> 00:10:27.840 didn't want to be a waste. So I applied to 194 00:10:27.879 --> 00:10:30.360 all of my schools as an engineer, got accepted to 195 00:10:30.440 --> 00:10:32.960 Ohio State as an environmental engineering major. 196 00:10:33.559 --> 00:10:36.919 On the first day of her schooling as an environmental engineer, 197 00:10:36.960 --> 00:10:39.440 the dean addressed the students just to tell them that 198 00:10:39.519 --> 00:10:42.679 most people will quit the program about half, which is 199 00:10:42.720 --> 00:10:45.519 about as opposite of a pep talk as you can 200 00:10:45.559 --> 00:10:49.000 possibly get, like, welcome, this is going to suck, You'll 201 00:10:49.000 --> 00:10:51.799 hate my program. Attrition perhaps should not be something to 202 00:10:51.840 --> 00:10:53.399 brag about, but what do I know. 203 00:10:53.960 --> 00:10:59.159 And I've always loved the pursuit of knowledge, but I've 204 00:10:59.200 --> 00:11:04.320 always when some sort of like very competitive aspect has 205 00:11:04.440 --> 00:11:07.759 been thrown into it. So needless to say, I had 206 00:11:07.799 --> 00:11:11.799 a rough time my first year in engineering school, so 207 00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:14.840 rough that I took a semester off to kind of 208 00:11:14.840 --> 00:11:17.519 get my head right and decided that I did love 209 00:11:17.519 --> 00:11:20.399 math and science, but that I also loved writing. I 210 00:11:20.440 --> 00:11:24.000 also loved performing, So I came back and focused on 211 00:11:24.039 --> 00:11:28.159 both environmental science because I didn't take all of that 212 00:11:28.279 --> 00:11:32.679 calculus and physics and chemistry for nothing. But then I 213 00:11:32.720 --> 00:11:35.519 also went and got a theater degree and took like 214 00:11:35.600 --> 00:11:39.519 master's classes in playwriting, put on a one woman show. 215 00:11:39.559 --> 00:11:44.320 Before I graduated, wrote a couple of short plays. So 216 00:11:44.360 --> 00:11:47.159 I feel like everything I'm doing right now makes sense 217 00:11:47.720 --> 00:11:50.120 and in terms of where I see it going in 218 00:11:50.159 --> 00:11:53.159 the future, any opportunity that I get to talk to 219 00:11:53.279 --> 00:11:56.399 large groups of people about the value in the green 220 00:11:56.440 --> 00:12:00.440 spaces around them, that's how I would define the career 221 00:12:00.480 --> 00:12:02.679 that I want to see myself in at any given 222 00:12:02.720 --> 00:12:05.159 time during the rest of my life. And if that's 223 00:12:05.200 --> 00:12:08.919 as a TikToker, that's great. If that's oh my God, 224 00:12:09.039 --> 00:12:14.840 on a TV show, Hey PBEs, that's great too. If 225 00:12:14.840 --> 00:12:18.559 it's writing field guides and books, that's great too. I 226 00:12:18.799 --> 00:12:23.279 just this is what fills my cup, and this is 227 00:12:23.679 --> 00:12:26.480 the type of thing that even when I'm working really hard, 228 00:12:26.600 --> 00:12:30.440 it doesn't feel like work. 229 00:12:31.480 --> 00:12:35.039 Did you ever think that you'd have a million people 230 00:12:35.120 --> 00:12:36.960 tuning in to watch you make pesto? 231 00:12:37.600 --> 00:12:37.840 No? 232 00:12:39.399 --> 00:12:43.480 Never, never, in a million years. I made my foraging 233 00:12:43.480 --> 00:12:47.360 account on Instagram originally because I was annoying my friends 234 00:12:47.639 --> 00:12:48.919 with the plants I was eating. 235 00:12:51.000 --> 00:12:52.279 They were like, we don't want to hear about it. 236 00:12:52.720 --> 00:12:54.840 Yeah, They're like, no, thank you. So I was like, okay, cool, 237 00:12:54.879 --> 00:12:57.840 I'll just make like a fence, but just for the 238 00:12:57.879 --> 00:13:00.320 wild things that I put on my plate. Now I 239 00:13:00.360 --> 00:13:03.320 feel like my Now, I feel like my personal account 240 00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:08.720 is my finstuh a switch to Rooney that I never 241 00:13:08.799 --> 00:13:10.240 in a million years what have. 242 00:13:10.240 --> 00:13:13.200 Called so side note, a Finsta for those of us 243 00:13:13.279 --> 00:13:16.759 not born in the nineties, is a fake Instagram or 244 00:13:16.799 --> 00:13:20.000 an alternative handle that's not like one that your boss 245 00:13:20.039 --> 00:13:23.399 follows or something your followers would find off brand. So 246 00:13:23.600 --> 00:13:26.440 perhaps it's the real you which makes me want to 247 00:13:26.480 --> 00:13:29.039 sit on a rock and ponder, am I living my 248 00:13:29.120 --> 00:13:31.120 most Finsta life in the out, in the open? 249 00:13:31.399 --> 00:13:31.960 And why not? 250 00:13:32.320 --> 00:13:36.240 Anyway, Alexis had an underground passion for plants, and at 251 00:13:36.240 --> 00:13:38.399 the start of the pandemic, she posted something to her 252 00:13:38.440 --> 00:13:41.360 TikTok about foraging if you couldn't get to the store 253 00:13:41.440 --> 00:13:44.120 during the first few weeks of the COVID lockdown, and 254 00:13:44.399 --> 00:13:47.440 she posted it. She woke up to tens of thousands 255 00:13:47.440 --> 00:13:51.720 of views, and suddenly people were smitten not only with 256 00:13:51.840 --> 00:13:57.120 her plucky delivery but her extensive botanical knowledge. So millions 257 00:13:57.159 --> 00:13:59.919 of views later, she's really opened up people's eyes and 258 00:14:00.120 --> 00:14:03.679 noses and mouths to edibles that we walk right past 259 00:14:03.879 --> 00:14:06.360 all the time, all year round. It's been really cool 260 00:14:06.399 --> 00:14:08.960 to see the seasons change and to see different things 261 00:14:09.000 --> 00:14:11.960 that you're harvesting and per simmons and then going into 262 00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:15.519 blossoms and stuff. When it comes to keeping yourself educated, 263 00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:18.120 are you looking things up before you're foraging? Are you 264 00:14:18.120 --> 00:14:21.200 already familiar with them? Does it really depend on the region, 265 00:14:21.759 --> 00:14:24.120 Like how are you keeping all of this knowledge? How 266 00:14:24.120 --> 00:14:26.000 often do you have to kind of sharpen those tools? 267 00:14:27.000 --> 00:14:31.080 Yeah, I think it's constantly a process of sharpening. And 268 00:14:31.240 --> 00:14:33.559 the more you interact with a certain plant, just like 269 00:14:33.600 --> 00:14:36.240 the more you interact with certain people, you get to 270 00:14:36.279 --> 00:14:38.600 know them better, you know their nuances better, you know 271 00:14:38.759 --> 00:14:42.399 when to expect them. So there's definitely a swath of 272 00:14:42.440 --> 00:14:45.639 plants that I've worked with for a really long time. 273 00:14:46.279 --> 00:14:50.600 I know when to expect like apples and all of 274 00:14:50.639 --> 00:14:54.240 the other like rose family trees to start blooming. I 275 00:14:54.279 --> 00:14:56.759 know when dandelions are coming up. I know when violets 276 00:14:56.759 --> 00:14:59.720 are coming up. But there are definitely plants that I'm 277 00:14:59.799 --> 00:15:02.320 a bit newer to that I have to go and 278 00:15:02.360 --> 00:15:04.720 do a little bit of digging, a little bit of 279 00:15:04.759 --> 00:15:08.120 reading or my favorite. I see that someone else in 280 00:15:08.120 --> 00:15:10.679 one of the regional foraging Facebook groups that I'm in 281 00:15:10.759 --> 00:15:12.879 is posting about them, and I'll be like, oh, I 282 00:15:12.879 --> 00:15:17.200 did not know that we were already in col parsnip season. 283 00:15:17.320 --> 00:15:19.639 I did know we were already in cal parsnipseason. That's 284 00:15:19.679 --> 00:15:21.840 just the first plant that came to my head. 285 00:15:22.440 --> 00:15:26.200 Of course, should you also more on those densely hairy 286 00:15:26.240 --> 00:15:27.120 perennials later. 287 00:15:27.519 --> 00:15:30.919 And that's been wonderful, is being able to have that 288 00:15:31.080 --> 00:15:35.440 community to always come back to. But I'm always rereading 289 00:15:35.480 --> 00:15:38.440 all of my foraging books, all of these poor books. 290 00:15:38.480 --> 00:15:41.480 Their covers are just bent as all get out, because 291 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:44.519 whenever I have some free time, or if it's before bed, 292 00:15:44.879 --> 00:15:47.759 I'll just flip one open do a little bit of reading. 293 00:15:48.320 --> 00:15:51.039 I feel like I noticed something new every single time 294 00:15:51.080 --> 00:15:53.279 I read one of my foraging books, so it makes 295 00:15:53.320 --> 00:15:55.639 sense to go back over them again. And it's just 296 00:15:55.639 --> 00:15:57.480 like when you're in school, like you have to keep 297 00:15:57.519 --> 00:16:01.639 practicing or you use it, use. 298 00:16:01.440 --> 00:16:06.720 It or lose it. Is the tldr's Maybe you don't 299 00:16:06.720 --> 00:16:09.279 know what TLDR means, and that's fine. It stands for 300 00:16:09.360 --> 00:16:12.200 too long, didn't read I see why am I in 301 00:16:12.240 --> 00:16:15.000 case you missed it. So Alexis is schooling us on 302 00:16:15.080 --> 00:16:19.679 Internet culture at large as well as precious overlooked botany. Okay, 303 00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:22.279 question that's on my mind a lot when I watch 304 00:16:22.279 --> 00:16:25.120 your chicktox. How do you know if something's peed on it? 305 00:16:27.080 --> 00:16:30.720 I do snatch because if it smells like fresh p 306 00:16:31.320 --> 00:16:35.120 that's just like not appetizing at all. The answer to 307 00:16:35.159 --> 00:16:37.879 this question, and I know Ali that it is not 308 00:16:38.000 --> 00:16:42.720 the answer that anybody wants, is if it's out in 309 00:16:42.799 --> 00:16:46.200 a green space, odds are at some point in time, 310 00:16:46.240 --> 00:16:49.159 and that green spaces passed probably in the last year. 311 00:16:49.679 --> 00:16:51.120 Something has peed there. 312 00:16:51.360 --> 00:16:55.679 That's a very good point. Even tiny little invertebrates they're 313 00:16:55.679 --> 00:16:57.519 making pea all the time, and they're doing it on 314 00:16:57.600 --> 00:17:01.159 a romaine lettuce that we're buying from the store. Everything's 315 00:17:01.200 --> 00:17:03.960 being on everything. There are things in us right now 316 00:17:04.039 --> 00:17:06.920 peeing on each other exactly exactly. 317 00:17:07.079 --> 00:17:12.480 It's the circle of p And that's my thing that 318 00:17:12.519 --> 00:17:15.680 I always love reminding people is that the farms that 319 00:17:15.720 --> 00:17:18.440 we get our groceries from do not exist in a 320 00:17:18.519 --> 00:17:23.000 microcosm either. You don't know how many field mice peeed 321 00:17:23.039 --> 00:17:26.200 on your kale. You should wash everything you take home, 322 00:17:26.240 --> 00:17:29.079 whether you pulled it out of the ground yourself or 323 00:17:29.119 --> 00:17:30.240 if someone else did. 324 00:17:30.480 --> 00:17:31.079 Very good point. 325 00:17:31.240 --> 00:17:33.640 I just try and I try to help people kind 326 00:17:33.640 --> 00:17:36.000 of put that out of their mind. Now. Of course, 327 00:17:36.599 --> 00:17:39.079 there are some areas that I avoid because they get 328 00:17:39.079 --> 00:17:41.400 peed on more often than others. And that is what 329 00:17:41.480 --> 00:17:44.440 I call the dog p zone, which I would say 330 00:17:44.559 --> 00:17:47.480 is like a solid foot foot and a half into 331 00:17:47.640 --> 00:17:52.319 anyone's lawn that is on the sidewalk. Probably best to 332 00:17:52.440 --> 00:17:53.079 just leave that be. 333 00:17:53.400 --> 00:17:55.680 I bet there's someone out there forging a college is 334 00:17:55.720 --> 00:17:59.759 getting their PhD. And like the concentration of urea with 335 00:18:00.279 --> 00:18:02.640 certain feet of a sidewalk, there's got to be. 336 00:18:03.160 --> 00:18:05.839 There has to be, and if there's not, that's a 337 00:18:05.880 --> 00:18:09.160 good reason to go back to school. Yeah, I personally need. 338 00:18:10.640 --> 00:18:14.880 I know, my tiny dog she's got like the perimeter 339 00:18:14.960 --> 00:18:17.880 of lawns absolutely covered. That's a huge weight off my mind. 340 00:18:18.119 --> 00:18:22.119 I love foraging. I've always thought it's so fascinating. And 341 00:18:22.720 --> 00:18:25.400 one thing I I'm so curious about, like, what is 342 00:18:25.400 --> 00:18:29.039 something that you tasted that you weren't sure if you 343 00:18:29.039 --> 00:18:31.319 were going to dig it at all and it was 344 00:18:31.599 --> 00:18:32.880 just delightful. 345 00:18:33.119 --> 00:18:37.000 Oh that's a fun one. I would say cal parsnips. 346 00:18:37.640 --> 00:18:40.960 They are in the carrot family, which is famous for 347 00:18:41.039 --> 00:18:45.119 having some of like the best wild edibles, but also 348 00:18:45.319 --> 00:18:50.200 fas for having some very deadly lookalikes to those same 349 00:18:50.240 --> 00:18:53.680 wild edibles. I've been eating Queen Anne's lace for a 350 00:18:53.680 --> 00:18:55.440 really long time. I think I figured out that Queen 351 00:18:55.440 --> 00:18:59.160 Ann's lace was wild carrots Doccas carota when I was 352 00:18:59.359 --> 00:19:02.039 in high school. And it like blew my mind because 353 00:19:02.039 --> 00:19:05.759 where my family stays in Massachusetts, there's queen ants lace everywhere, 354 00:19:05.759 --> 00:19:07.000 and I'm like, you mean, I could have been just 355 00:19:07.160 --> 00:19:11.079 digging this up this entire time. So cow parsnip is 356 00:19:11.119 --> 00:19:14.680 also in the apaca family. It's also called pushki. 357 00:19:14.519 --> 00:19:18.279 Okay, so quick aside. These plants are not another Internet acronym. 358 00:19:18.400 --> 00:19:21.799 Apaca is a full word. It's just a long Latin 359 00:19:21.880 --> 00:19:25.000 one for a family of flowering plants. What are some 360 00:19:25.079 --> 00:19:31.319 other apaca plants? Celery, carrot, parsley, dill, human annis. So 361 00:19:31.480 --> 00:19:35.480 many apaca plants have already made it into your mouth area, 362 00:19:35.519 --> 00:19:37.759 but some of them are in the not to be 363 00:19:37.839 --> 00:19:41.559 messed with category because they are straight up poison like hemlock, 364 00:19:41.920 --> 00:19:46.279 or are highly phyto phototoxic, which means plant in light 365 00:19:46.559 --> 00:19:51.039 makes bad, so think skin blisters that require medical attention 366 00:19:51.480 --> 00:19:54.839 and a lot of well justified moaning and pouting. But 367 00:19:55.039 --> 00:19:58.160 cow parsnip is safe. However, it doesn't always look like it. 368 00:19:58.640 --> 00:20:01.920 A lot of indigenous people's ate it, still eat it 369 00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:08.440 for a millennia, but it's dangerous. Look like is giant hogweed, 370 00:20:09.279 --> 00:20:12.359 which has been in the news off and on in 371 00:20:12.599 --> 00:20:16.599 certain areas of the country because it's super invasive and 372 00:20:16.680 --> 00:20:21.400 it's super dangerous cervi degree burns if you interact with 373 00:20:21.519 --> 00:20:25.119 the sap while the sun is out dangerous. We love 374 00:20:25.160 --> 00:20:26.119 a fido chunksin. 375 00:20:27.359 --> 00:20:29.400 I mean, you gotta give it to the plants. They 376 00:20:29.440 --> 00:20:30.119 figured it out. 377 00:20:30.519 --> 00:20:32.400 You do, and everyone gets really mad at them, and 378 00:20:32.440 --> 00:20:34.079 I'm just like, well, if it makes you feel any better, 379 00:20:34.079 --> 00:20:36.359 don't take it personally, because we're not who they did 380 00:20:36.400 --> 00:20:41.000 that for. The insects are. It's not for you. You're 381 00:20:41.000 --> 00:20:43.319 not out to get us. They're out to get the 382 00:20:43.599 --> 00:20:46.680 small crunchy boys. Don't take it personally if you get burned. 383 00:20:46.880 --> 00:20:51.359 Cow parsnips giant hogweed leaf shapes are super similar. The 384 00:20:51.400 --> 00:20:55.039 difference is cow parsnips get to be like is six 385 00:20:55.119 --> 00:20:59.440 feet maybe even like seven or eight feet tall max 386 00:21:00.079 --> 00:21:02.759 giant hogweed could end up being like just a sixteen 387 00:21:02.839 --> 00:21:04.160 foot tower of doom. 388 00:21:04.799 --> 00:21:07.000 Oh my god, they don't call it giant for nothing. 389 00:21:07.240 --> 00:21:11.200 I believe the species name is like mega gigantium. It's 390 00:21:11.279 --> 00:21:14.680 I believe, a derivative of the Latin word for humongous, 391 00:21:14.880 --> 00:21:17.359 and it makes sense. Hal parsnip was one of those 392 00:21:17.359 --> 00:21:19.440 that I had heard so many good things about it. 393 00:21:19.559 --> 00:21:24.200 But it's really hard, even when you are so confident 394 00:21:24.240 --> 00:21:27.440 in your ability to ib plants to get over like 395 00:21:27.599 --> 00:21:32.640 the hump of the point zero zero one percent chance 396 00:21:32.799 --> 00:21:34.079 that's like mortal danger. 397 00:21:34.799 --> 00:21:35.240 Yeah. 398 00:21:35.680 --> 00:21:39.599 Is there an identification trick for some of the more 399 00:21:40.319 --> 00:21:45.119 dangerous plants, like between giant hogweed and wild carrots? Is 400 00:21:45.119 --> 00:21:48.599 there something you can look for, like a purplish a 401 00:21:49.119 --> 00:21:51.680