WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.200 --> 00:00:02.960 Do you know what real power is? It's knowing you're 2 00:00:03.000 --> 00:00:05.719 on the same rate for energy all day, every day 3 00:00:05.759 --> 00:00:08.640 with a smart all day plan from board Gosh Energy, 4 00:00:08.839 --> 00:00:11.039 save up to eight hundred and eighty euro on dual 5 00:00:11.119 --> 00:00:13.519 fuel plus get a two hundred and thirty five You're 6 00:00:13.560 --> 00:00:17.480 O welcome bonus. Switched today at Boardgosh Energy dot Ie 7 00:00:17.559 --> 00:00:21.359 Board Gosh Energy. Know your Power estimated ANUEL bill at 8 00:00:21.359 --> 00:00:22.600 twenty six hundred and twenty nine. 9 00:00:22.600 --> 00:00:25.239 Your new customers only thirship scentis Kentov Smart All Day 10 00:00:25.239 --> 00:00:27.679 Electricity UNI rates in twenty nine percent of gas units 11 00:00:27.719 --> 00:00:29.839 sepocosh Energy dot E for fulltiesncies. 12 00:00:30.320 --> 00:00:32.520 Oh hey, it's your friends Kat who just had a 13 00:00:32.600 --> 00:00:36.840 six hundred dollars hairball Ali ward back with an outdoorsy 14 00:00:37.119 --> 00:00:40.799 quite frankly a scrumptious episode of ologies. So this ologist, 15 00:00:40.880 --> 00:00:43.200 we're going to get right to it. Studied both science 16 00:00:43.240 --> 00:00:46.799 and performance at Ohio State University, you know, but the 17 00:00:46.920 --> 00:00:50.799 role most know her in is teacher of the can 18 00:00:50.840 --> 00:00:53.920 I eat this it greu in my driveway arts and sciences. 19 00:00:54.079 --> 00:00:58.399 So she has a million, a literal million TikTok watchers 20 00:00:58.399 --> 00:01:01.759 who just eat up her lessons on making violet simple 21 00:01:01.840 --> 00:01:06.680 syrup and Magnolia cookies and garlic mustard pesto and more. 22 00:01:06.959 --> 00:01:09.000 And I have had so many of y'all begging me 23 00:01:09.079 --> 00:01:12.040 to have her on that when I DMed her, honestly, 24 00:01:12.079 --> 00:01:14.799 I was shocked to get a response. This woman is busy. 25 00:01:15.079 --> 00:01:18.359 So we recorded this right as April was turning to May. 26 00:01:18.719 --> 00:01:21.000 And since it's still spring and things are still blooming 27 00:01:21.040 --> 00:01:23.640 and shooting and crawling from the ground, it's time to 28 00:01:23.640 --> 00:01:25.879 grab a basket and see what's for dinner. But we 29 00:01:25.920 --> 00:01:28.480 also talk about year round edibles. We're going to get 30 00:01:28.480 --> 00:01:30.599 into it. But first, thank you to all the patrons 31 00:01:30.640 --> 00:01:32.920 who said to their questions you can become a patron 32 00:01:33.000 --> 00:01:35.439 for a dollar a month a dollar a month at 33 00:01:35.480 --> 00:01:38.280 patreon dot com slash Ologies. Thank you to everyone rating 34 00:01:38.319 --> 00:01:41.400 and subscribing to the podcast. Thanks to everyone who has 35 00:01:41.439 --> 00:01:44.280 already bought a ticket to my first and maybe only 36 00:01:44.760 --> 00:01:48.319 ever live show. It's Tuesday, May eighteenth, five pm Pacific. 37 00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:51.040 Tickets are between nine and twelve dollars. They're available in 38 00:01:51.079 --> 00:01:53.359 the link in the show notes. There's a discount code 39 00:01:53.400 --> 00:01:57.120 for patrons. Thanks to everyone who leaves such nice reviews, 40 00:01:57.560 --> 00:02:00.920 keeping Ologies in the top five Science podcast Globally, which 41 00:02:00.959 --> 00:02:04.000 is bananas. I read all the reviews and each week 42 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:08.599 I pick a fresh one. This week it's from BKCBKC six, 43 00:02:08.719 --> 00:02:11.319 who after listening to the Speech Pathology episode, wrote in 44 00:02:11.360 --> 00:02:13.039 to say I have just ordered two sets of the 45 00:02:13.080 --> 00:02:16.800 Recordable Buttons for my human son. Amazing what I picked 46 00:02:16.879 --> 00:02:19.240 up from this podcast after just discovering it. Going to 47 00:02:19.280 --> 00:02:21.400 share a set with his teachers and work as a 48 00:02:21.439 --> 00:02:22.919 team to augment his language. 49 00:02:22.960 --> 00:02:24.039 Thanks so much so. 50 00:02:24.080 --> 00:02:26.680 Yes, I read all your reviews from Katie's Just Going 51 00:02:26.719 --> 00:02:28.879 back to School. That made me cry. Diane, who loves 52 00:02:28.879 --> 00:02:33.360 a good touristic fact Wigmakers former podcast Loathers, thanks everyone 53 00:02:33.439 --> 00:02:35.240 for leaving them. They really do get me through days 54 00:02:35.280 --> 00:02:37.280 when I think I'm not doing a good enough job, 55 00:02:37.360 --> 00:02:40.199 which is like every day, but that's my own problem anyway. Okay, 56 00:02:40.360 --> 00:02:42.319 speaking of I know you want to do this interview 57 00:02:42.680 --> 00:02:47.639 foraging ecology. Foraging comes from a root for hay or 58 00:02:47.680 --> 00:02:51.800 straw or fodder, and then it evolved to mean hunting 59 00:02:51.879 --> 00:02:54.759 about for edibles, and ecology comes from the same root 60 00:02:54.800 --> 00:02:58.439 as ecology for the place we live and our relationship 61 00:02:58.479 --> 00:03:02.120 to our environment, So foraging for the things around us. 62 00:03:02.400 --> 00:03:04.439 Now for Breakfast side Out. I just want you to 63 00:03:04.479 --> 00:03:05.960 know that I ate some low quots that I stole 64 00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:08.000 from a friend's tree. She didn't even know she could 65 00:03:08.039 --> 00:03:10.879 eat them. She thought they were ornamental. So we're doing 66 00:03:10.879 --> 00:03:12.919 a good job today. Anyway, Pull up a stump and 67 00:03:13.000 --> 00:03:16.479 lean in for a bounty of information on edible versus 68 00:03:16.520 --> 00:03:22.960 poisonous plants, taproots, blossoms, tinctures, brews and stews and cookies 69 00:03:23.000 --> 00:03:27.840 and cocktails, and hikes and eating invasive species, some dog 70 00:03:27.919 --> 00:03:31.879 pee talk, the best guide books, and how gathering what 71 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:35.520 grows around us is a radical act for Internet hero 72 00:03:35.960 --> 00:03:41.080 and teacher, autodidect, wild food Maker and your gathering guide. 73 00:03:41.400 --> 00:03:43.680 You know her on TikTok and YouTube and Instagram as 74 00:03:43.840 --> 00:03:46.719 Black Forager Alexis Nicole Nelson. 75 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:08.199 I'm so excited to be talking to you. Hello, my 76 00:04:08.319 --> 00:04:11.400 name is Alexis Nicole Nelson, and my pronouns are she 77 00:04:11.560 --> 00:04:15.000 hear hers, and my cat just clawed me in the butt. 78 00:04:15.319 --> 00:04:16.639 None o the time we're having. 79 00:04:16.439 --> 00:04:18.639 Already get them on the mic. 80 00:04:19.560 --> 00:04:24.120 Yeah, hey, Auzie, you have words to say, use your words. Yep. 81 00:04:25.000 --> 00:04:25.759 Oh my gosh. 82 00:04:25.839 --> 00:04:28.600 People have been asking me for so many months to 83 00:04:28.639 --> 00:04:30.560 get you on this podcast. When you wrote back, I 84 00:04:30.639 --> 00:04:33.279 was thrilled. I've been wanting to do this topic for 85 00:04:33.319 --> 00:04:38.240 a while, which would be foraging ecology, I believe right, Yes. 86 00:04:38.360 --> 00:04:42.040 Foraging ecology, I think is the ology that we settled 87 00:04:42.079 --> 00:04:42.639 on for this. 88 00:04:42.879 --> 00:04:47.600 Yes, it works, It totally works. Your TikTok's amazing and 89 00:04:47.639 --> 00:04:51.639 informative and you're so prolific and it's so great. At 90 00:04:51.680 --> 00:04:55.360 what point were you like, Okay, it's time the world 91 00:04:55.399 --> 00:04:58.560 needs to know what they can eat in their backyards. 92 00:04:59.680 --> 00:05:03.160 I mean, I've honestly felt that way ever since I 93 00:05:03.240 --> 00:05:05.079 was really little. Like I said, just didn't have the 94 00:05:05.160 --> 00:05:10.160 tools to tell anybody outside of my parents, family members, friends, 95 00:05:10.399 --> 00:05:14.160 anyone who I could get to listen to me in persons, Do. 96 00:05:14.120 --> 00:05:16.079 You remember what the first thing you ate out of 97 00:05:16.120 --> 00:05:19.920 the ground and were you safe? Was it dangerous? 98 00:05:21.160 --> 00:05:24.399 The first thing I remember eating out of the ground. 99 00:05:24.480 --> 00:05:26.839 I must have been about five years old, and I 100 00:05:26.920 --> 00:05:30.480 was helping my mom in the garden in our house, 101 00:05:30.480 --> 00:05:33.399 in our old house in Cincinnati, and she pointed out 102 00:05:33.519 --> 00:05:37.040 some grass but it looked different from other grass, and 103 00:05:37.079 --> 00:05:40.240 she broke it and it smelled delicious, like it smelled 104 00:05:40.279 --> 00:05:42.560 like onions and garlic, And she's like, oh, Yeah, it's 105 00:05:42.600 --> 00:05:45.920 onion grass and it's edible, but it's like not as 106 00:05:45.959 --> 00:05:48.199 good as the onions in the garlic that we get 107 00:05:48.199 --> 00:05:50.759 from the store. And if you tell a five year 108 00:05:50.800 --> 00:05:53.920 old that something is edible, then they're going to put 109 00:05:53.920 --> 00:05:56.000 it in their face and they're going to get really 110 00:05:56.040 --> 00:05:59.120 excited about it. So I did, and it just kind 111 00:05:59.199 --> 00:06:02.959 of ignited a gentle obsession, a lifelong love. 112 00:06:03.519 --> 00:06:06.040 Where did you get a lot of your information? Did 113 00:06:06.040 --> 00:06:08.759 you start getting for your sixth birthday? Did you get 114 00:06:08.759 --> 00:06:13.360 an encyclopedia of edible herbs? How did the information dump start? 115 00:06:14.279 --> 00:06:16.199 Well, my answer to that question is yes, But for 116 00:06:16.279 --> 00:06:17.560 my eighth birthday. 117 00:06:17.720 --> 00:06:20.480 Oh got it, got it little late, late bloomer, late bloomer. 118 00:06:20.600 --> 00:06:22.279 I know, Oh my gosh, I was so late to 119 00:06:22.360 --> 00:06:25.079 the game. I just I inhaled all of my mom's 120 00:06:25.079 --> 00:06:28.079 books on gardening. My mom had like an entire shelf 121 00:06:28.560 --> 00:06:32.120 in our house dedicated to just her gardening books. And yeah, 122 00:06:32.120 --> 00:06:33.879 I'd say by the time I was eight or nine, 123 00:06:33.959 --> 00:06:36.639 I had read each of them front to back. Was 124 00:06:36.680 --> 00:06:39.360 like trying to memorize every single one of the trees 125 00:06:39.439 --> 00:06:43.600 and flowers and herbs present in them. And when I 126 00:06:43.680 --> 00:06:48.560 was done with those I bought more every weekend. My 127 00:06:48.639 --> 00:06:52.240 parents used to let me go to this independent bookstore 128 00:06:52.240 --> 00:06:55.040 in Cincinnati, Joseph Beth. After we'd go out to dinner 129 00:06:55.360 --> 00:06:59.319 and they'd be like, okay, you get one book, and 130 00:06:59.360 --> 00:07:02.879 it'd be really hard for me to choose between oh gosh, 131 00:07:02.920 --> 00:07:05.720 whatever fantasy novel I was obsessed with at the time, 132 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:06.879 or a plant both. 133 00:07:07.279 --> 00:07:11.240 When it came time to figuring out your life's course, 134 00:07:12.040 --> 00:07:14.839 did you want to stick with botany? Did you decide 135 00:07:14.839 --> 00:07:16.519 to go more of a business route. I know that 136 00:07:16.600 --> 00:07:20.120 you have been like a social media manager, which explains 137 00:07:20.199 --> 00:07:23.079 another reason why you're like so good at TikTok. You're 138 00:07:23.120 --> 00:07:26.560 a professional, But what did you decide when it came 139 00:07:26.639 --> 00:07:28.920 to figuring out, you know, careers. 140 00:07:29.279 --> 00:07:33.040 I think I'm still deciding every time I have to 141 00:07:33.040 --> 00:07:35.360 remember that I'm a real adult. I'm just like, oh 142 00:07:35.519 --> 00:07:39.759 oh yeah, twenty eight's real. I can't fudget anymore. Definitely 143 00:07:39.959 --> 00:07:48.040 full full, full blood of adult now. Growing up. I 144 00:07:48.120 --> 00:07:50.480 in the fourth grade when we had to draw what 145 00:07:50.519 --> 00:07:53.480 we wanted to be when we grew up, I said 146 00:07:53.560 --> 00:07:56.040 that I wanted to be a geneticist by day, in 147 00:07:56.079 --> 00:07:57.399 a pop star by night. 148 00:07:58.319 --> 00:07:59.720 I love it. I love it. 149 00:08:00.560 --> 00:08:02.759 I mean, I feel like this is closer than anybody 150 00:08:02.839 --> 00:08:07.160 myself included, thought I was going to get with kind 151 00:08:07.199 --> 00:08:12.120 of melding this aspect of performance which I've always loved, 152 00:08:12.160 --> 00:08:14.759 like right hand in hand with like my love of 153 00:08:14.759 --> 00:08:18.079 plants has been my love of entertaining people. And when 154 00:08:18.120 --> 00:08:19.519 it came time to choose what I was going to 155 00:08:19.519 --> 00:08:24.439 major in in college, I was like, pretty gifted in 156 00:08:24.480 --> 00:08:27.480 math and science. But I was also like pretty gifted 157 00:08:27.519 --> 00:08:30.959 in theater. But nobody tells you to major in theater. 158 00:08:31.199 --> 00:08:33.200 Even when you're really good at theater, no one tells 159 00:08:33.200 --> 00:08:36.759 you to go in major. So everyone was like, oh 160 00:08:36.840 --> 00:08:41.759 my gosh, you're a woman of color, you're good at math, 161 00:08:41.799 --> 00:08:44.159 you're good at science. If you don't become an engineer, 162 00:08:44.279 --> 00:08:49.679 what a waste. And I didn't know if I wanted 163 00:08:49.720 --> 00:08:52.240 to be an engineer, but I did know that I 164 00:08:52.320 --> 00:08:56.600 didn't want to be a waste. So I applied to 165 00:08:56.600 --> 00:08:59.080 all of my schools as an engineer, got accepted to 166 00:08:59.159 --> 00:09:01.679 Ohio status an environmental engineering major. 167 00:09:02.320 --> 00:09:05.639 On the first day of her schooling as an environmental engineer, 168 00:09:05.679 --> 00:09:08.200 the dean addressed the students just to tell them that 169 00:09:08.240 --> 00:09:11.399 most people will quit the program about half, which is 170 00:09:11.440 --> 00:09:14.240 about as opposite of a pep talk as you can 171 00:09:14.320 --> 00:09:17.720 possibly get, like, welcome, this is going to suck, You'll 172 00:09:17.720 --> 00:09:20.559 hate my program. Attrition perhaps should not be something to 173 00:09:20.559 --> 00:09:22.120 brag about. What do I know? 174 00:09:22.679 --> 00:09:27.919 And I've always loved the pursuit of knowledge, but I've 175 00:09:27.960 --> 00:09:32.720 always hated when some sort of like very competitive aspect 176 00:09:32.840 --> 00:09:36.279 has been thrown into it. So needless to say, I 177 00:09:36.320 --> 00:09:40.159 had a rough time my first year in engineering school, 178 00:09:40.440 --> 00:09:43.480 so rough that I took a semester off to kind 179 00:09:43.480 --> 00:09:46.039 of get my head right and decided that I did 180 00:09:46.039 --> 00:09:49.000 love math and science, but that I also loved writing. 181 00:09:49.039 --> 00:09:52.559 I also loved performing, So I came back and focused 182 00:09:52.600 --> 00:09:56.759 on both environmental science because I didn't take all of 183 00:09:56.799 --> 00:10:01.279 that calculus and physics and chemistry for nothing. But then 184 00:10:01.320 --> 00:10:04.120 I also went and got a theater degree and took 185 00:10:04.159 --> 00:10:07.960 like masters classes in playwriting, put on a one woman 186 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:12.159 show before I graduated, wrote a couple of short plays. 187 00:10:12.919 --> 00:10:15.879 So I feel like everything I'm doing right now makes sense, 188 00:10:16.440 --> 00:10:18.840 and in terms of where I see it going in 189 00:10:18.879 --> 00:10:21.879 the future, any opportunity that I get to talk to 190 00:10:22.000 --> 00:10:25.120 large groups of people about the value in the green 191 00:10:25.159 --> 00:10:29.159 spaces around them, that's how I would define the career 192 00:10:29.200 --> 00:10:31.399 that I want to see myself in at any given 193 00:10:31.440 --> 00:10:33.879 time during the rest of my life. And if that's 194 00:10:33.919 --> 00:10:37.639 as a TikToker, that's great. If that's oh my god, 195 00:10:37.759 --> 00:10:43.559 on a TV show, Hey PBS, that's great too. If 196 00:10:43.559 --> 00:10:47.279 it's writing field guides and books, that's great too. I 197 00:10:47.519 --> 00:10:52.000 just this is what fills my cup. And this is 198 00:10:52.399 --> 00:10:55.200 the type of thing that, even when I'm working really hard, 199 00:10:55.320 --> 00:10:57.480 it doesn't feel like work. 200 00:10:58.039 --> 00:10:59.120 It's best thing. 201 00:11:00.200 --> 00:11:03.759 Did you ever think that you'd have a million people 202 00:11:03.840 --> 00:11:05.679 tuning in to watch you make pesto? 203 00:11:06.320 --> 00:11:11.639 No? Never, never in a million years. I made my 204 00:11:11.759 --> 00:11:15.440 foraging account on Instagram originally because I was annoying my 205 00:11:15.639 --> 00:11:17.639 friends with the plants I was eating. 206 00:11:19.720 --> 00:11:21.039 They were like, we don't want to hear about it. 207 00:11:21.440 --> 00:11:23.559 Yeah, They're like, no, thank you. So I was like, okay, cool, 208 00:11:23.600 --> 00:11:26.559 I'll just make like a fensta, but just for the 209 00:11:26.600 --> 00:11:29.000 wild things that I put on my plate. Now I 210 00:11:29.039 --> 00:11:32.039 feel like my Now I feel like my personal account 211 00:11:32.120 --> 00:11:37.440 is my finstauh a switch to Rooney that I never 212 00:11:37.519 --> 00:11:39.240 in a million years would have called. 213 00:11:39.759 --> 00:11:42.120 So side note, a Finsta, for those of us not 214 00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:45.639 born in the nineties, is a fake Instagram or an 215 00:11:45.679 --> 00:11:49.200 alternative handle that's not like one that your boss follows 216 00:11:49.279 --> 00:11:52.799 or something your followers would find off brand. So perhaps 217 00:11:52.799 --> 00:11:55.440 it's the real you which makes me want to sit 218 00:11:55.480 --> 00:11:58.080 on a rock and ponder, am I living my most 219 00:11:58.120 --> 00:12:01.399 Finsta life in the out, in the open? And why not? Anyway, 220 00:12:01.480 --> 00:12:05.039 Alexis had an underground passion for plants, and at the 221 00:12:05.039 --> 00:12:07.639 start of the pandemic, she posted something to her TikTok 222 00:12:07.960 --> 00:12:10.320 about forging if you couldn't get to the store during 223 00:12:10.360 --> 00:12:13.200 the first few weeks of the COVID lockdown, and she 224 00:12:13.320 --> 00:12:16.720 posted it. She woke up to tens of thousands of views, 225 00:12:17.120 --> 00:12:21.840 and suddenly people were smitten not only with her plucky delivery, 226 00:12:21.879 --> 00:12:26.559 but her extensive botanical knowledge. So millions of views later, 227 00:12:26.759 --> 00:12:30.279 she's really opened up people's eyes and noses and mouths 228 00:12:30.320 --> 00:12:33.200 to edibles that we walk right past all the time, 229 00:12:33.360 --> 00:12:35.759 all year round. It's been really cool to see the 230 00:12:35.799 --> 00:12:39.159 seasons change and to see different things that you're harvesting 231 00:12:39.240 --> 00:12:41.679 and per simmons and then going into blossoms and stuff. 232 00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:45.200 When it comes to keeping yourself educated, are you looking 233 00:12:45.279 --> 00:12:48.039 things up before you're forging? Are you already familiar with them? 234 00:12:48.240 --> 00:12:51.039 Does it really depend on the region, Like, how are 235 00:12:51.039 --> 00:12:53.320 you keeping all of this knowledge? How often do you 236 00:12:53.360 --> 00:12:54.720 have to kind of sharpen those tools? 237 00:12:55.720 --> 00:12:59.720 Yeah, I think it's constantly a process of sharpening. And 238 00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:02.279 the more you interact with a certain plant, just like 239 00:13:02.320 --> 00:13:04.960 the more you interact with certain people, you get to 240 00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:07.320 know them better, you know their nuances better, you know 241 00:13:07.480 --> 00:13:11.120 when to expect them. So there's definitely a swath of 242 00:13:11.159 --> 00:13:14.360 plants that I've worked with for a really long time. 243 00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:19.320 I know when to expect like apples and all of 244 00:13:19.360 --> 00:13:22.960 the other like rose family trees to start blooming. I 245 00:13:23.000 --> 00:13:25.480 know when dandelions are coming up. I know when violets 246 00:13:25.519 --> 00:13:28.519 are coming up. But there are definitely plants that I'm 247 00:13:28.639 --> 00:13:31.039 a bit newer to that I have to go and 248 00:13:31.080 --> 00:13:33.879 do a little bit of digging, a little bit of reading, 249 00:13:34.279 --> 00:13:37.000 or my favorite, I see that someone else in one 250 00:13:37.039 --> 00:13:39.519 of the regional foraging Facebook groups that I'm in is 251 00:13:39.559 --> 00:13:41.799 posting about them, and I'll be like, oh, I did 252 00:13:41.799 --> 00:13:45.919 not know that we were already in cow parsnip season. 253 00:13:46.039 --> 00:13:48.120 I did know we were already in cal parsnip season. 254 00:13:48.200 --> 00:13:50.080 That's just the first plant that came to my head. 255 00:13:51.159 --> 00:13:54.919 Of course, should you also more on those densely hairy 256 00:13:55.000 --> 00:13:55.840 perennials later. 257 00:13:56.240 --> 00:13:59.480 And that's been wonderful, is being able to have that 258 00:13:59.759 --> 00:14:03.480 can unity to always come back to. But I'm always 259 00:14:03.600 --> 00:14:07.159 rereading all of my foraging books, all of these poor books. 260 00:14:07.200 --> 00:14:10.200 Their covers are just bent as all get out because 261 00:14:10.720 --> 00:14:13.240 whenever I have some free time, or if it's before bed, 262 00:14:13.600 --> 00:14:16.480 I'll just flip one open do a little bit of reading. 263 00:14:17.039 --> 00:14:19.799 I feel like I noticed something new every single time 264 00:14:19.799 --> 00:14:22.000 I read one of my foraging books, so it makes 265 00:14:22.039 --> 00:14:24.360 sense to go back over them again. And it's just 266 00:14:24.399 --> 00:14:26.200 like when you're in school, like you have to keep 267 00:14:26.240 --> 00:14:31.960 practicing or you lose it. Use it or lose it. 268 00:14:32.039 --> 00:14:33.480 Is the tld R. 269 00:14:33.759 --> 00:14:37.440 It's maybe you don't know what TLDR means, and that's fine. 270 00:14:37.480 --> 00:14:40.240 It stands for too long. Didn't read I see why 271 00:14:40.320 --> 00:14:42.919 am I? In case you missed it? So Alexis is 272 00:14:43.039 --> 00:14:45.720 schooling us on internet culture at large, as well as 273 00:14:45.840 --> 00:14:50.080 precious overlooked botany Okay, question that's on my mind a 274 00:14:50.080 --> 00:14:52.639 lot when I watch your chicktoks. How do you know 275 00:14:52.799 --> 00:14:53.840 something's peed on it? 276 00:14:55.840 --> 00:14:59.480 I do snifkay, because if it smells like fresh pe, 277 00:15:00.120 --> 00:15:03.840 that's just like not appetizing at all. The answer to 278 00:15:03.879 --> 00:15:06.600 this question, and I know Ali that it is not 279 00:15:06.720 --> 00:15:11.440 the answer that anybody wants, is if it's out in 280 00:15:11.519 --> 00:15:14.919 a green space, odds are at some point in time, 281 00:15:14.960 --> 00:15:17.879 and that green spaces passed probably in the last year. 282 00:15:18.399 --> 00:15:19.879 Something has peed there. 283 00:15:20.080 --> 00:15:24.399 That's a very good point. Even tiny little invertebrates, they're 284 00:15:24.440 --> 00:15:26.240 making pee all the time, and they're doing it on 285 00:15:26.320 --> 00:15:29.919 a romaine lettuce that we're buying from the store. Everything's 286 00:15:29.919 --> 00:15:32.679 peeing on everything. There are things in us right now 287 00:15:32.759 --> 00:15:35.679 peeing on each other exactly exactly. 288 00:15:35.799 --> 00:15:41.200 It's the circle of p And that's my thing that 289 00:15:41.240 --> 00:15:44.399 I always love reminding people is that the farms that 290 00:15:44.440 --> 00:15:48.440 we get our groceries from do not exist in a microcosm. Either. 291 00:15:49.159 --> 00:15:52.679 You don't know how many field mice peed on your kale. 292 00:15:52.879 --> 00:15:56.320 You should watch everything you take home, whether you pulled 293 00:15:56.320 --> 00:15:59.000 it out of the ground yourself or if someone else did. 294 00:15:59.240 --> 00:15:59.799 Very good point. 295 00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:02.399 I just try and I try to help people kind 296 00:16:02.399 --> 00:16:04.720 of put that out of their mind. Now. Of course, 297 00:16:05.320 --> 00:16:07.799 there are some areas that I avoid because they could 298 00:16:07.840 --> 00:16:10.159 peed on more often than others, and that is what 299 00:16:10.200 --> 00:16:13.159 I call the dog p zone, which I would say 300 00:16:13.279 --> 00:16:16.240 is like a solid foot foot and a half into 301 00:16:16.360 --> 00:16:21.039 anyone's lawn that is on the sidewalk. Probably best to 302 00:16:21.159 --> 00:16:21.799 just leave that be. 303 00:16:22.159 --> 00:16:24.320 I bet there's someone out there a forging a college 304 00:16:24.360 --> 00:16:27.799 is getting their PhD. And like the concentration of urea 305 00:16:28.480 --> 00:16:31.360 within certain feet of a sidewalk, there's got to be. 306 00:16:31.919 --> 00:16:34.559 There has to be, and if there's not, that's a 307 00:16:34.600 --> 00:16:36.679 good reason to go back to school. Yeah, it is, 308 00:16:36.799 --> 00:16:38.360 I personally need. 309 00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:43.600 I know, my tiny dog she's got like the perimeter 310 00:16:43.679 --> 00:16:46.600 of lawns absolutely covered. That's a huge weight off my mind. 311 00:16:46.840 --> 00:16:50.840 I love foraging. I've always thought it's so fascinating. And 312 00:16:51.440 --> 00:16:54.120 one thing I I'm so curious about, like, what is 313 00:16:54.159 --> 00:16:57.759 something that you tasted that you weren't sure if you 314 00:16:57.759 --> 00:16:59.919 were going to dig it at all and it was 315 00:17:00.360 --> 00:17:01.600 just delightful. 316 00:17:01.840 --> 00:17:05.720 Oh that's a fun one. I would say cal parsnips. 317 00:17:06.359 --> 00:17:09.720 They are in the carrot family, which is famous for 318 00:17:09.759 --> 00:17:13.839 having some of like the best wild edibles, but also 319 00:17:14.039 --> 00:17:18.920 fas for having some very deadly lookalikes to those same 320 00:17:18.960 --> 00:17:22.359 wild edibles. I've been eating Queen Ann's lace for a 321 00:17:22.400 --> 00:17:24.160 really long time. I think I figured out that Queen 322 00:17:24.160 --> 00:17:27.880 Ann's lace was wild carrots Doccas carota when I was 323 00:17:28.079 --> 00:17:30.799 in high school, and it like blew my mind because 324 00:17:30.799 --> 00:17:34.480 where my family stays in Massachusetts, there's Queen An's lace everywhere, 325 00:17:34.480 --> 00:17:35.720 and I'm like, you mean, I could have been just 326 00:17:35.880 --> 00:17:39.799 digging this up this entire time. So cal parsnip is 327 00:17:39.839 --> 00:17:43.400 also in the apaca family. It's also called pushki. 328 00:17:43.240 --> 00:17:47.000 Okay, so quick aside. These plants are not another Internet acronym. 329 00:17:47.119 --> 00:17:50.519 Apaca is a full word. It's just a long Latin 330 00:17:50.599 --> 00:17:53.720 one for a family of flowering plants. What are some 331 00:17:53.799 --> 00:17:59.880 other apaca plants? Celery, carrot, parsley, dill, human annis. So 332 00:18:00.240 --> 00:18:04.200 many apaca plants have already made it into your mouth area, 333 00:18:04.279 --> 00:18:06.480 but some of them are in the not to be 334 00:18:06.559 --> 00:18:10.279 messed with category because they are straight up poison like hemlock, 335 00:18:10.640 --> 00:18:15.039 or are highly phyto phototoxic, which means plant in light 336 00:18:15.279 --> 00:18:19.759 makes bad. So think skin blisters that require medical attention 337 00:18:20.200 --> 00:18:23.559 and a lot of well justified moaning and pouting. But 338 00:18:23.759 --> 00:18:26.920 cow parsnip is safe. However, it doesn't always look like it. 339 00:18:27.359 --> 00:18:30.680 A lot of indigenous peoples ate it, still eat it 340 00:18:30.839 --> 00:18:37.160 for a millennia, but it's dangerous. Look like is giant hogweed, 341 00:18:38.000 --> 00:18:41.079 which has been in the news off and on in 342 00:18:41.319 --> 00:18:45.319 certain areas of the country because it's super invasive and 343 00:18:45.440 --> 00:18:50.319 it's super dangerous. Cervigury burns if you interact with the 344 00:18:50.400 --> 00:18:54.839 sap while the sun is out dangerous. We love a phytotoxin. 345 00:18:56.079 --> 00:18:58.079 I mean, you gotta give it to the plants. They 346 00:18:58.160 --> 00:18:58.839 figured it out. 347 00:18:59.240 --> 00:19:01.160 You do, and one gets really mad at them, and 348 00:19:01.160 --> 00:19:02.799 I'm just like, well, if it makes you feel any better, 349 00:19:02.799 --> 00:19:05.119 don't take it personally, because we're not who they did 350 00:19:05.119 --> 00:19:10.240 that for. The insects are. It's You're not out to 351 00:19:10.279 --> 00:19:13.400 get us. They're out to get the small crunchy boys. 352 00:19:13.640 --> 00:19:16.440 Don't take it personally if you get burned. Cal parsnips 353 00:19:16.720 --> 00:19:20.720 giant hogweed leaf shapes are super similar. The difference is 354 00:19:21.160 --> 00:19:25.200 col parsnips get to be like is six feet maybe 355 00:19:25.240 --> 00:19:28.720 even like seven or eight feet tall max, where as 356 00:19:28.720 --> 00:19:31.480 giant hogweed could end up being like just a sixteen 357 00:19:31.599 --> 00:19:34.400 foot tower of doom. Oh my god. 358 00:19:34.440 --> 00:19:35.720 They don't call it giant for nothing. 359 00:19:35.960 --> 00:19:39.799 I believe the species name is like mega gigantium. It's 360 00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:43.400 I believe a derivative of the Latin word for humongous, 361 00:19:43.599 --> 00:19:46.079 and it makes sense. Cal parsnip was one of those 362 00:19:46.079 --> 00:19:48.160 that I had heard so many good things about it. 363 00:19:48.279 --> 00:19:52.960 But it's really hard, even when you are so confident 364 00:19:52.960 --> 00:19:56.160 in your ability to ib plants to get over like 365 00:19:56.359 --> 00:20:01.359 the hump of the point zero zero one percent chance 366 00:20:01.519 --> 00:20:02.839 of like mortal danger. 367 00:20:03.519 --> 00:20:08.079 Yeah. Is there an identification trick for some of the 368 00:20:08.079 --> 00:20:13.640 more dangerous plants, like between giant hogweed and wild carrots? 369 00:20:13.759 --> 00:20:17.079 Is there something you can look for, like a purplish 370 00:20:17.319 --> 00:20:20.359 a ring at the top, or something discerning like that. 371 00:20:21.039 --> 00:20:23.160 I'm glad you called out purple because I love how 372 00:20:23.200 --> 00:20:25.240 often purple is the color of danger. 373 00:20:25.720 --> 00:20:25.920 Yeah. 374 00:20:26.119 --> 00:20:27.759 Sure, yeah. 375 00:20:27.839 --> 00:20:32.480 When it comes to differentiating Queen Ann's lace and poison hemlock, 376 00:20:32.720 --> 00:20:36.359 purple is actually one of the identifiers of purple splotches 377 00:20:36.400 --> 00:20:38.920 that you will see on poison hemlock, but you will 378 00:20:38.920 --> 00:20:43.079 not see on Queen ANNs lace wild carrots. For cal 379 00:20:43.160 --> 00:20:47.519 parsnips versus giant hogweed, cal parsnips have this like very 380 00:20:47.759 --> 00:20:52.000 fine kind of fuzz all over them, and these really 381 00:20:52.079 --> 00:20:56.359 cute papery sheets over their leaves before the leaves go 382 00:20:56.400 --> 00:21:00.319 ahead and shoot out. Also, their leaves are very even 383 00:21:00.519 --> 00:21:07.279 in their serration, whereas giant hogweeds, leaves similar shape, irregular serration, 384 00:21:07.480 --> 00:21:12.039 which I feel like makes sense. Chaos means bad, organize 385 00:21:12.240 --> 00:21:16.839 means good. And there are a couple other tells to 386 00:21:17.079 --> 00:21:20.000 like the hollowness of the stem on cow parsnips. But 387 00:21:20.079 --> 00:21:22.599 the moral of the story is I baby set a 388 00:21:22.759 --> 00:21:25.839 stand of cow parsnips for a full calendar year to 389 00:21:25.880 --> 00:21:29.000 watch it go through its entire life stickle before I 390 00:21:29.160 --> 00:21:31.079 finally eat some last year. 391 00:21:32.079 --> 00:21:35.400 Oh my gosh, that is an investment of time. 392 00:21:35.440 --> 00:21:39.480 Did pay off, it did, Oh my gosh, absolutely delicious. 393 00:21:39.759 --> 00:21:43.920 The fried flower buds right before the flowers open especially, 394 00:21:44.160 --> 00:21:48.200 are just a taste to behold. Behold this for sight, 395 00:21:48.440 --> 00:21:51.559 still a taste to behold. And the leaves are this 396 00:21:52.079 --> 00:21:55.000 other beautiful and aromatic this time of year, a little 397 00:21:55.000 --> 00:21:59.880 bit reminiscent of celery, which makes sense another abaca family member, 398 00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:04.400 also a little reminiscent of almost like coriander, and a 399 00:22:04.400 --> 00:22:07.960 little bit of burnt oranginess, which becomes much more prominent 400 00:22:08.039 --> 00:22:11.119 in their seeds later on in the season. So absolutely 401 00:22:11.200 --> 00:22:13.400