Monday, January 01, 2007
Chapter 5D-Wintergreen
"Look," Rafe said, "there are two ways of doing this. I can go along and point out all the things that are good to eat and all the things that are bad to eat or I can do something else. I'm going to teach you the right way. This is winter and there are not many plants around right now but in a month or two this entire area will be filled with things to eat. There will be times when you might be in a strange area or come upon a strange plant that you've never seen before. You might need something to eat. This one plant might be the difference between you starving or not starving. The first thing that you do with a plant you are not sure about is to pick a leaf and place it against your skin. Preferable soft skin like the skin on your belly which is more sensitive than the skin on other parts of your body."
He dug in the snow and found a plant with some frozen leaves on it. "Hold this leaf against your belly held with a piece of cloth tied around your waist. Keep it there for a few hours and then check for signs of irritation or an allergic reaction. If you get a rash or it hurts, the chances are it is not good to eat. It might be usable for other things, but not to eat. We'll talk about herbs for medicine later. Right now, we're just finding food."
Tobal took the leaf and cut a strip of gray cloth that Rafe handed him, tying the leaf against his belly as directed. Then they continued toward the gathering place. Two hours later they stopped to rest.
"Ok," Rafe said. "Take a look at the leaf now."
Tobal checked and there was no rash or irritation on his skin.
"The next step is to crumble them up so they are bruised and wet with sap. Now place them back against your skin," Rafe directed.
Two hours later Rafe again asked him to check the leaf. Again there was no reaction as Tobal examined the skin on his stomach. All he could see was maybe a small red spot from the friction of rubbing. The skin was not tender and didn't hurt or anything. He told Rafe everything was fine.
"Good, now put it in your mouth and taste it. Just taste it. If it tastes bitter or burns spit it out."
Cautiously Tobal stuck his tongue out and tasted the leaf. Nothing happened, it just tasted like a plant.
"Now this is important. Go ahead and chew it 10 times, then spit it out."
Tobal put the leaf back into his mouth and chewed 10 times. He could feel the flavor getting strong in his mouth. Hastily he spit the leaf out.
"It tastes like wintergreen," he said.
"Yup," Rafe laughed. "It's wintergreen. Not much food value, but it has an oil that is flavorful. There aren't many plants to eat yet so we will use what we can find."
After he had spit out the leaf the taste stayed in his mouth as they continued. He felt his mouth go dry. Other than that there was no adverse reaction. Later Rafe gave him another leaf and told him to chew it 20 times and then hold it in his mouth. While it was strong tasting, the taste did not get any worse and after awhile became more bearable.
"That means you can probably eat the plant for food. Go ahead and swallow it."
Tobal struggled to swallow the leaf and almost felt like throwing up.
"Don't eat too much at a time if you are not used to it. You might get the runs." Rafe grinned wickedly. "Getting the runs in the woods is not a very good idea."
Tobal groaned weakly and managed to hold the leaf down. There was a knot in his stomach and he didn't think he would be getting much nourishment from the leaf.
As they continued northward Rafe told him that wintergreen was not really a good plant to eat. It was mostly used for flavor and medical uses like making the stomach feel better. Rafe continued to dig out various plants and herbs as they went along. There was not much to find since it was early April and snow covered most of the area they were traveling. It was too early for any fresh vegetation.
They used some dried herbs Rafe had in his pack as seasoning in their jerky flavored soup that evening. Rafe pulled out a few tubes of food from sanctuary and combined it with jerky and herbs in the canteen cups. To Tobal's surprise it was tasty and filling. They finished the meal with a steaming cup of wintergreen tea that was refreshing and pleasing.
Rafe pointed at Tobal's pack. "There's a book in your first aid kit about the plants that grow in this area. When you get the chance read it and study it. You need to know those plants and how to find them."
Camp was in a small clearing much like the first one and Tobal went to bed early. He was exhausted. They had made about 20 miles and were looking forward to a fairly easy day tomorrow arriving at the gathering place in plenty of time for the celebration. He drifted off to sleep thinking about the next day and his coming initiation.
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