While riding my bike home this week, I stopped by the side of the roads (Leete's Island and Moose Hill) and I picked and dined on a couple of invasive species. The first one (which I often wait expectedly for) are the wineberries that can be found throughout the shoreline.
I grew up in Central Massachusetts where we had our share of red and black raspberries and blackberries. We even had enough high bush blueberries that we could pick enough (while eating our share) so that my Mom could make a blueberry pie! But I never saw a wineberry until I moved to Guilford.
With a little research I found that they are an invasive species and have taken over roadsides and edges of fields and yards throughout Guilford. I have not picked up enough to make a pie, but I have been able to collect enough for cereal while still having enough to share with family. Sachem's Head roads, lower Moose Hill, and the Pink Trail about a quarter mile south of the Moose Hill entrance (lower) to West Woods have good patches.
The other invasive species I have found is the Wild Garlic. This is something I first recognized this year because I planted garlic in my garden for the first time and I realized that my yard and the roadside had garlic like plants growing.
Of course I was disappointed that the internet was filled with stories of the horror of having wild garlic growing on the pristine lawns of America. They are so bad that regular herbicide will not kill the plant! Well they taste good and the bulbs are about ready to harvest at this time of year.
I have posted pictures of the wineberries and the wild garlic along with this post. Please enjoy picking them while the season lasts (the next couple of weeks.) Bring your kids too! It is great to show them that God's bounty does not always come in plastic wrap. There might even be a metaphor about invasive species and humans. I will let you all work that one out yourself.
