Here is a small hill approximately 3 acres in size in the middle of the marsh which is home to some interesting inhabitants. The hill-side is rather dry so I was surprised to see Labrador-tea growing here as I have gathered berries here for decades and these old friends never drew my attention. Notice the brown woolly underside of the leaves. These leaves can be collected year round to make a very unique tea.
I’ve seen somebody on the web selling the dried leaves for tea and also a jelly which could be quite good. Labrador-tea’s taste is hard to describe, though I always look forward to a cup of it.
The buds appearing at the top of the stems will produce around 5 inches of new stem growth with around 8 new woolly white leaves in June with a group of 6 to 12 white flowers which also can be used to make a tea.
Some dried Aronia berries from last year.
A photo of some Aronia berries I’m thawing out for muffins. There has been some buzz in North America in recent years concerning this healthful berry. Some folks in Iowa are showing an interest in this plant which has already been popular in Poland for a number of years, of course 10,000 years ago humans and other creatures were quite fond of them in N.A. as this is Aronia’s natural home.
Here are some Fox berry plants also known as Lingonberry.
Since we did just see Fox berry plants and also by the size of this hole I suspect this is a fox den, there were 4 other holes within 30 ft of this one. I was surprised to see so many exits.
I do not know my lichens and mosses by name though I wanted to show you a few photos of these just the same. click on these pics, I find they are nice thought stoppers. I could look up the names, no lets keep it a mystery.
Nature is always in season long before the berries are ripe. Have a great weekend and relax and enjoy the true nature you are always presently seeing.
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