May 19, 2010
Fireweed, Far and Wide.
Europe and North America have only a few wild plants in common. This means that for the most part our plant lore and traditional foraging experiences are very different. A few familiar species have been introduced into America by European immigrants, some deliberately, such as Watercress (Nasturtium officinalis) and others by accident; for example Greater Plantain (Plantago major), which became known to the indigenous people as ‘White Man’s Footsteps’ or White-man’s Foot’ because of the way it sprang up in his wake. Either way they were quickly assimilated into Native American culture, and their culinary and medicinal potential thoroughly utilised.
Fireweed, also known as Rosebay Willowherb (Chamaenerion [Epilobium] angustifolium) however, is hemisphere -spanning herb that is native to both sides of the Atlantic, with a long history of uses in many cultures. It is a pioneer species with wide powers of dispersal and is particularly adapted to colonising ground that has been burnt. It became a familiar sight on ‘bombsites’ in London in the first couple of decades after the Second World War and it was one of the most abundant early settlers to the area devastated by the eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington state in 1980.
Fireweed flowers as they appear in July
From a forager’s perspective it is often plentiful where it grows and is versatile in its edibility. The spring shoots have been consumed in this country for hundreds of years. The tender top 6-8 inches (15-20cm) are snapped off, stripped of most of their leaves except a small tuft at the tip and the stems peeled. They may be eaten raw, or cooked, by boiling, steaming or frying first in butter then steaming in the same pan like spinach. They are especially delicious when added to an omelette.
Fireweed shoots prepared for cooking ...
...and in an omelette.
Now is the time to harvest, so go seek a patch and watch it through the summer.
an extensive patch of Fireweed shoots
detail of Rosebay Willowherb shoots - learn to recognise the willow-like leaves that give the plant its name
Apart from some medicinal uses, there ends our native knowledge, it seems. To use this wonderful resource to its fullest potential however we must look to tribes far and wide.
Indigenous Canadians also ate the young shoots. Yupik Eskimos preserved the stems in seal oil to prolong their viability. In addition the Blackfeet ate the fresh roots in spring. The gelatinous pith of both younger and older stems is sweet and prized as food by many northern tribes. It was consumed after splitting the stem open with a fingernail. The people of Kamchatka add the sweet inner tissue to ale that they brew and also use it in vinegar. As Fireweed began to bloom in summer Fisherman Lake Slave People ate the raw flowers and present day Alaskans make Fireweed Jelly from them. Now why don’t we?
Russians make a tea known as Kaporie from the dried leaves, though this, if attempted, should be drunk in moderation as various sources report that it causes drunkenness, nausea or stupefaction! Later in the year the down from willowherb seeds can be used as tinder, though in the past they also have been woven into a delicate fabric with other materials. In autumn the dry stems produce a fibre that can be used as cordage. Fireweed truly is ‘a plant for all seasons’.
March 5, 2010
Lights in the Sky
Over recent days there have been a variety of transient atmospheric phenomena, fleeting lights in the daytime sky. They are mostly associated with thin high cloud, Cirrus, Cirrocumulus and Cirrostratus and their various species – yes, clouds have species! As these clouds are mostly composed of minute ice crystals when the sun shines through them, depending on the shape and angle of those crystals, they may act as tiny prisms refracting the light and splitting them into rainbow colours.
To see them, first you have to be aware that conditions are right for them to occur. Sunshine is a precondition, plus any amount of the aforementioned cloud to make it hazy. Then you have to look for them. Unlike ordinary rainbows which occur opposite the sun, most of these other effects occur in the direction of the sun. We rarely look that way, with good reason – it can permanently damage your eyes. So wear good sunglasses, position yourself with something between you to screen the sun, such as a tree, or shield it with a hand or a book.
The commonest phenomenon is the 22° halo. An outstretched hand at arm’s length should cover the sun with the thumb, while the tip of the little finger rests on the circumference of the ring. This won’t be enough to shield your eyes though. For most of this day’s observing I stood in the shadow of our chimney stack. The 22° halo sometimes has additions – extra rings or arcs associated with it, some of which are very rare, and for that reason plus its sheer beauty it is always worth photographing, in my opinion.
22° halo and sundog
Commonly associated with halos are sundogs – there is one faintly visible in the halo photo and a second taken at sunrise on the following day.
Apparently, these are formed by light refracting through crystals that are shaped differently from those that create halos. The two together tells of a mix of crystals in the high atmosphere and also extends the possibilities of what light shows may be seen. Sundogs sometimes have a white outer extension. The right hand sundog from the sunrise display began to stretch some distance and was very intense.
This was the beginning of a parhelic circle (par – through, helic from Greek helios – sun). Occasionally a white line may encircle the whole sky, passing through the sun. I have observed this only twice and it is quite a surprising sight, I can assure you!
Parhelic Circle March 27 2009 (has had unsharp mask applied to emphasise the ring)
Parhelic Circle June 14 2008 - this doesn't encircle the sun but passes through it!
The final crystal induced effect was a circumzenithal arc (circum – around, zenith – sun’s highest point in the sky). It happened when the sun was low and occurs quite a distance from the sun. It resembles an upside down rainbow with the centre of the bow sunwards and red on the lower surface. Although the colours can be intense it is difficult to photograph, in my experience.
Circumzenithal Arc - at the zenith, way above a low sun
The particular conditions that brought about these effects – a collision between cool and warm air masses – also created a different optical phenomenon – irisation or iridescent cloud. Newly condensing cloud, also at fairly high altitude, may be formed of super-cooled water droplets rather than ice crystals. These refract light differently and produce beautiful pastel hues close to the sun – sometimes too close for comfort. I was lucky with the position of the chimney stack and I mostly let my camera do the looking. Wearing sunglasses will allow you to observe this effect more often. The same thing occurred next morning but the light was too intense to photograph though I saw it clearly through my shades.
Iridescent cloud
growing iridescence
intense iridescence
What does all this mean to bushcrafters? Well, it is always good to improve your powers of observation and your awareness of Nature. On the day that most of these phenomena occurred, it was evident to me from watching, that the clouds aloft were moving in the opposite direction from the wind and clouds near ground level. The upper air was moving in from the SW and therefore likely to be warm and moist originally. The lower wind was a chilly ENE, a cold air mass undercutting the warm and forcing it upwards where it cooled, showing an incredible mix of lively Cirrus formations and very long aircraft condensation trails, indicating that it was unstable. Something similar can be created by the approach of a warm front, but in this case the nearest front was halted over Ireland so the weather did not deteriorate further. It was worth keeping an eye on all the same. The atmospheric phenomena I witnessed can portend a change and with the warming of the Northern Hemisphere as Spring approaches there will be further collisions between warm and cold air masses over the British Isles which will bring about further opportunities to observe lights in the sky.
Although halos and sundogs have been known of for thousands of years (Pliny the Elder wrote about them in his Natural History from the 1st Century) a number of explorers and observers of Nature, notably William Edward Parry in 1820, Tobias Lowitz in 1790 and Gerald E Owen in 1935 were the first to see and record the rarer arcs and related phenomena. Some managed to have arcs named after them. While today it is a subject of proper scientific study the amateur observer still has a role to play.
January 27, 2010
Mars Goes a Wandering
The night sky is a good place to test your powers of observation. Are you clear which ‘stars’ are actually planets? Do you, as our ancestors did, notice their wanderings around the constellations? Have you observed how they stay within a relatively narrow band of the stars – the ecliptic or Zodiac?
Well if haven’t, don’t feel too bad. There are wheels in motion within wheels and keeping track can be challenging to non-astronomers. In addition to the daily rotation of the Earth causing everything to slide out of view over a period of hours there is the Earth’s passage around the Sun, the Moon’s orbit of the Earth, the periodic disappearance of those planets behind the Sun, and the tilt of Earth’s axis to contend with, for example. If you were up all night every night under clear skies, you would soon pick up on some of the more local activity – that of two inner and three outer planets. Busy lives, cloudy skies and our own diurnal (opposite to nocturnal) nature make it very difficult.
Now is a good time to look up and catch an observable event. Mars, the red planet, is at opposition. Opposition is when the Earth and an outer planet line up on the same side of the sun. In the same way that the Moon is full when it is at opposition, the face of Mars visible from Earth is completely illuminated. It is also visible pretty well all night, rising around sunset, riding high at midnight and setting around sunrise. It is at its closest to the Earth since 2008, making it appear bigger and brighter than at any time from then until 2012!
Looking East January 26 2010 at 21:00 – 22:00 10 second exposure at f 5.6, ISO 400
It not only looks striking but something else is going on, too. During November 2009 Mars was slowly trekking through the constellation of Cancer. As it continued its journey East, it moved into the Constellation of Leo in December but early in January 2010 it appeared to turn around and head back towards Cancer, travelling Eastwards again. This is known as retrograde motion and is really an illusion caused by the fact that Earth (being nearer the Sun) moves in a faster orbit – Mars takes almost two Earth years to complete a round trip. For a time Earth overtakes Mars causing it to seem as if going backwards (we’ve all seen this effect whilst in cars and trains), but because the motion of both planets is a circle not a straight line, we swing back to our relative positions again, albeit much further apart. If that’s not clear, then watch this lovely little video on You Tube; not one of mine I’m sorry to say. Retrograde Motion and the Opposition of Mars
Mars is back in Cancer again. Cancer is a faint constellation and the bright moonlight bleaches it out at the moment. On January 29th the Moon, which moves much more quickly West to East than Mars, will be full in Cancer, also, probably expunging all the local stars. However Mars, very close by, will continue to shine brightly. As the moon wanes it will start to appear later and later in the night sky and not interfere with seeing Mars, which will remain prominent for a couple of weeks. (Leave that to the clouds). On March 11, 2010 the planet will turn around and start heading back towards Leo again. As it does so it will become progressively fainter, a far cry from the red eye presently burning a hole in the night sky.
One way to follow this is by taking photographs at intervals of a couple of days. You will need a tripod. For the image I took a 10 second exposure at f 5.6, ISO 400. Use the self timer or shutter release to avoid shaking the camera initially.
January 6, 2010
Wassail and Twelfth Night
Today is the twelfth day of Xmas and Twelfth Night.
This time of the year is associated with wassailing.
The word “wassail” probably derives from the Old English: “hale you well” , ie be of good health.
Wassailing comes in two versions:
Wassailing from house to house – a bit like carolling; singing to householders and receiving presents. The wassailing songs include words like:
Here we come a wassailing, among the leaves so green; Here we come a wandering, so fair to be seen; Now is winter time, we’ve travelled far and near; And we wish you, send you, a happy new year.
The other sort of wassail is in apple orchards like our small orchard at the bushcraft site, where locals would visit the trees early in the new year to sing to them and wake them up ready for a new year of growth and harvest. Making loud noises also scares evil spirits away and encourages the trees to bear great quantities of fruit.
These songs have words such as:
Here’s to thee old apple tree; That blooms well, bears well; Hats full, caps full; Three bushel bags full; And all under one tree.
I shall be wassailing my trees very soon as I prune them!
Cheers all
Huw