Go Forth

Bright chickweed springs up in early spring and winter.

As Urban Land Scouts, we build on a foundation of profound and active observation. All scouts must begin with this practice and we are wise if we return to it seasonally. The shift in temperature and daylight sends most plants into winter dormancy and allows for a new group of plants to appear. If you have not already earned your first Urban Land Scout badge, this is your call to do so. If you have, consider this a timely refresher.

Here in East Tennessee, and in the urban heat sink of Knoxville, it's not yet bitter cold winter, but all the leaves have fallen. The absence of canopy shade combined with our the semi-mild temperatures of this area has allowed for a winter flush of low-lying annuals, like chickweed and dead nettle, to spring up. Or to be revealed. At left is a photo of some chickweed, a staple of edible foraging, at Ijams Nature Center in South Knoxville. You can recognize it by it's bright green color and pointed heart-shaped leaves. Chickweed will also produce small white flowers although I anticipate these might not make it that far. The toothed leaf in the top half of the picture also grows in abundance at Ijams, but I don't know it. Anyone familiar with this plant?

Here's another pleasant surprise with the absence of deciduous foliage: the punky pink and purple arch of wild raspberry canes.  They are more strikingly colored than this photo represents. Keep an eye for them at the edges of fields and forests and make plans to return to them in the mid to late summer.

If you haven't already, commit to using this season to earning your Observation badge. Wherever you are-- bundle up, take a pen and paper or notebook and walk somewhere you've never been before. Go slowly and take notes. Draw pictures (or take photos to draw pictures from in the warmth of your home) and reflect on your observations. Send in your notes, drawings, or other observations to passage (at) urbanlandscouts (dot) com and earn your first (of many) Urban Land Scout badges.

Junior Urban Land Scouts!

This text comes from the field book of one of the campers this summer.

It is fall-ish now: cooler, crisper skies, shriveled leaves, and more rain. It is a fine time to be an Urban Land Scout-- there's still so much ripening and dropping these days. This week also marks the start of Junior Urban Land Scouts at the Boys and Girls Club. I am thrilled to get to work with them and eager to see what lessons come out of our time together. More on that project as it progresses.

On the subject of progress: one of my goals for the ULS (and now JULS) is to get the levels and actions refined, well documented, and more modular (i.e. in a pdf) so that other groups may confidently start their own Urban Land Scout tribe, junior or otherwise. Likewise, I hope to host a foraging tour in November akin to the earlier "gleaning tours" and "Tour de Plants." Both the Junior Urban Land Scout curriculum and the tours are simple and easily adapted to locale. Would you like to host one in your city? Send me a message and I'll set you up with all you need...which is not much at all once you have the dee-sire.

Plants in Portland

These are photos of plants in a wooded park in Portland, OR. I had the privilege to walk there with an intrepid land scout, Romana Cohen, who introduced me to many new plants. Romana tells me the second and third photo are of Thimble Berry, which has a rich woody taste. Does anyone recognize the other plants shown here?