Today the Cobblers program celebrated wild leeks, also known as ramps or allium tricoccum, during our spring Leek Fest!
We began our day with sharing gratitude, stretching, and warming up our voices by singing “Wood, Stone, Feather, and Bone.” Cobblers have been on the hunt for new signs of spring throughout this semester. This morning they were given the challenge to beat their previous record of 22 observed signs. Students were also given the challenge of figuring out a riddle …
I am the beginning of the end, and the end of time and space. I am essential to creation, and I surround every place. What am I?
You’ll find the answer at the end of this post!
Soon it was time to break off into small groups to harvest some wild edibles. One group went out into the field with River Otter and Great Horned Owl to harvest dandelions and violets. Earlier, at snack, we learned that there are many types of dandelions. Did you know that the name dandelion derives from the French dent-de-lion, meaning “lion’s tooth”?
This group found different species of dandelions, which were likely the red-seeded dandelion and common dandelion. The other group went down to the river with Black Walnut and Hawk Moth to forage leeks. Before harvesting, Black Walnut gave a quick lesson on ethical foraging. Cobblers learned about the rule of thirds, to only pick one leaf from leek pairs, and to leave leeks with three leaves. After a plentiful harvest, Cobblers headed up to camp and started a roaring fire for later feast cooking.
Part of Leek Fest is giving back to the land. At our campsite, there is a sea of invasive barberry bushes covering the land, so we held a barberry rodeo—we lassoed up one bush at a time and everyone took a hold of the rope and pulled. Some plants were easier than others, but the last bush put up a fight. Many tugs were given with little movement. We put all our collective body weight into one final tug, and its roots were freed, but with the sudden slack in the rope many went toppling down. Laughs were had and together we cleared a good-sized patch from the spiky invasives. Giving back to the land continued with leek transplanting. Cobblers added to the patch that had been started a previous year, and hopefully with future Leek Fest transplanting we will create a patch big enough that we can eventually harvest from it.
The festivities continued with cooking dandelion fritters, violet pancakes, sauteed ramps, and hemlock tree tea. All that was left to complete our fest was the butter battle! Two teams competed to see who could create butter first. It of course had leeks in it too! Ready, set, go, the jars containing the cream were in constant motion. Each team circled up, shaking and passing the jar around and around until butter was created.
At first it was easy shaking the liquid, but as it turned into whipped cream it got harder and harder. Then it solidified, but we still had not reached butter yet. Finally, the buttermilk separated from the yellow buttery solids and we had made butter! While shaking, each team kept up morale through cheers, laughter, puns, and chants.
We closed out our day with tasting the butter and finishing off all of the tasty treats. At closing circle, signs of spring were added to our list and the total count was 14 new additional signs. Everyone shared their favorite part of the day, and it was time to clean up and head back to the field.
Until next week,
Hawk Moth, Great Horned Owl, River Otter, and Black Walnut, April 29, 2023
Riddle answer: the letter E