Feeling Super Lucky
I foraged for and dried these green shamrocks back in October, specifically for this special occasion. I want to wish all my fellow Steemians a
HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!
Now I realize that I'm a few hours ahead of time for North America at the time of this post, but for my friends across the pond, (as we Canadians like to say) I hope you all enjoy yourselves and have a good time.
Also, I wish this for all of you:
As you slide down the banister of life, may the slivers you encounter always face in the right direction...unless of course you're "in" to getting slivers in your bottom. (If that's the case, you're on your own because no amount of feeling lucky is going to help you.) ;D
On a more serious note,
Today, I learned that St. Patrick's Day is "only" a public holiday in Canada in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. (This island is a part of Canada and it's on the east coast. It's often referred to as "Irish on the rocks.")
Being a public holiday means that all the government employees (of that region) aren't required to go to work. Other businesses may or may not observe the holiday. This holiday is celebrated on the closest Monday to March 17th.
This year, that means that all the folks whose employers observe the holiday are getting ready to have a 3 day party to celebrate...I mean remember the day that St. Patrick died back in 461. (I'll do the math for you. That means that we've, (along with several other countries and the holy mother herself, Ireland) have been honouring this day that a saint died, for approximately 1555 years!
That's a lot of green wearing, parade marching, beer swilling, celebrating...I mean "observing and remembering".
Considering that Canada (my country), will be celebrating it's 150th anniversary as an official country this July, you can see that we, Canadians, don't forget where we came from...especially when there's green involved!
Feeling super lucky.
~ Rebecca Ryan
(Yes, really. My real name. My family came to Canada directly from Ireland.)
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Just getting up in Ireland. Happy st Patrick's day.
Happy St. Patrick's Day to you too! Have you got plans to celebrate? Is it an official holiday in Ireland...I know there will be parades, drinking and music but do most people take the day off?
It's a bank holiday here. No work for most :)
There are parades in every town and city. The place goes a bit mad.
We have parades in some of our major cities. Lots of special meals made in restaurants with a "green" theme and of course, taps flowing madly with green coloured beer.
My whole family dressed in green today...
Haha -- that's planning ahead for a holiday! Smart too - with all the snow I think you still have, there's no hunting for shamrocks for you right now. This is a great example of how some wild plants can be so important to us, culturally. Nice foraging - and Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Thanks @haphazard-hstead! Yes, it was early October when I foraged these and pressed them. There was a discussion in my house around why I was bothering to do this. I said, "you'll see". LOL Happy St. Patrick's Day to you and yours too!
haha -- "You'll see". That's the words of a forager, for sure! Folks are always wondering why we are picking this plant and that plant. I'm glad we all got to see your shamrocks! Happy Spring!
Foraging is a very valuable skill. I am learning. I have to admit that I lack confidence but I thank you for taking the time to teach and share your knowledge with all of us @haphazard-hstead. How long have you been foraging?
My dad had me picking paper grocery bags of poke, dock, and lambs quarter when I was seven years old. And gathering wild walnuts and pecans before then, along with fishing and hunting. I have been hooked for life -- and there's more than a lifetime of plants to learn! I've never stopped learning about wild plants -- I eat every day, several times a day, so there's lots of chances to try out new food, lol. I still do a lot of learning! It's so much easier now, with so much on the Internet. When I lived in Michigan, I even taught classes and gave nature programs. There's a lot of great food in the Great Lakes region!
I think the easiest way for someone to get started is to list out the plants that you can identify already, rock solid. Then find out if any of them are edible. Trees are some of the easiest plants to start with, because once you know an individual tree, it doesn't move much, lol. It will be there every year. And some plants have lots of different parts to eat -- so start with one plant and learn all the different ways to use it. You've given me some food for thought about some future posts! Thanks!
I know this is a challenge and I am not trying to make more work for you, but I'd like to suggest that you give some thought to how you structure your "teaching foraging" posts...perhaps the same format for each, as an example. You take incredible photography of the plant material you are showcasing and I think that along with your experienced knowledge, they would make a fantastic feild book. Each plant you showcase could either be its own page or chapter depending on how detailed you want to get on the applied usage. Write about each plant as a separate post and when you have a collection of 100 (or whatever # you want), make an electronic book...or app that people can download and use off-line. (Just some thoughts...)
Thanks for your encouragement and suggestions about how I could structure teaching foraging here on Steemit. Those are some great ideas. The nice thing about doing this on Steemit is that I can get feedback in comments and refine what I do and how I present things. I'd like to do things to engage people, too, and encourage them to actually get out, look around, and report back. Exciting! : )
Well, for it's worth, I really enjoy your posts. They are incredibly detailed and you are teaching me. I just want to take you with me, every time I go for a walk...which is why I thought a field book would work. I am always asking myself, "Is this plant, what I think it is?"
Happy St. Patricks Day enjoy!
Happy St. Patrick's Day to you too @marymg2014!
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Happy St. Patrick's Day to you to @amy-goodrich! Will you be celebrating in SE Asia? (I think that's where you are, please correct me if I'm wrong...)
You are absolutely right. Unfortunately, that's not a day they celebrate over here! You reminded me actually ;-) But there is a Buddhist festival going on in the temple next to our house! Not sure what exactly it is they are celebrating, though!
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