Learning To Read Plants: Redefining “Eating Locally”
There’s several mulberry trees growing nearby my tent, where I am camping for three months in an effort to approach 100% environmental sustainability for myself. I was wonderfully relieved to discover that the trees near me are in fact Red Mulberry trees, a native species! This is in contrast to Paper Mulberry trees, which are an invasive species in many places, including Western Pennsylvania. I can hardly wait for them to ripen.
Since embarking on this three-month challenge, I have been thrilled to realize that I now know so much more about the plants in my locality. At a glance, I am becoming able to identify which plants are Virginia Creeper, Garlic Mustard and Poison Ivy, whereas I once would have glanced at the forest floor and called it “green.”
