Hey Jeremy,
When the apocalypse finally comes, I'm going to be fucked. I have absolutely no real world skills. I can't run. I can't fight. I can't hunt. When the marauders make their way through Boston and are finding all of the survivors they will round us all up and have us announce why we shouldn't be killed. Why should I be spared? What can I contribute to this new frontier society? The woman next to me is a doctor, the man next her is a former Marine, there's a farmer, an engineer, then me. Standing in line bow legged, smiling like a jackass. The man in charge who looks like Immortan Joe from Mad Max: Fury Road looks at me and asks, "What do you have to offer to our new world?" I shrug like an idiot and say "I know a lot about The Simpsons..." Then they throw me off a cliff. The point is that I would like to start adding more actual skills into my life so I don't get my skull smashed by some dude with enormous boots in the future. (as an aside, you'd be fine in the apocalypse. I've seen things you've built)
In an attempt to learn something that may one day save me from skull crushing, I went out with my buddy Jitti to do some urban and rural foraging. Jitti is a remarkable guy I met while doing The Skinny Beet podcast. It's worth revisiting his episode of the podcast, it's one of my personal favorites.
Turns out that Jitti has spent the past couple years foraging during his off days. If you're unfamiliar, you shouldn't be. Humans have been foraging for centuries. Although, now that we have Trader Joe's we don't need to do it so much now. Myself, Jitti and Keri spent a couple hours driving around and hitting spots that Jitti had scoped out. But why?
Well, I wanted to go partly to learn about the plants that are growing in my part of the country, and partly to appreciate the work that goes into creating a meal from scratch. While we were out we picked wild mint, chicory root, sorrel, sassafras, pine and a litany of others that I didn't write down. We used the fresh mint to season some watermelon, the sorrel we put in fresh guacamole, the sassafras I just smelled.
While I'm not sure how often I will be using some of the skills that Jitti taught me last week, I now have a deeper appreciation for food. I collected some photos below for you to take a peek at. Also, don't just eat stuff you find. It killed Emile Hirsch. Talk soon,
Dylan
