Here you can find photos from around my home, and maybe a little story or two.
Edible Plants - 2021
After flicking through a weed guide, I decided to sample some of the edible plants around home. You should always be careful about eating wild plants, and as it turns out, I was not careful enough (well, I'm not dead at least). Please be absolutely sure of what you eat, and NEVER, EVER, eat wild mushrooms. Even mushroom experts kill themselves accidentally, from time to time. Also do not use my photos as a guide on their own - confirm with people you know irl or local experts (scientists, not hippies).
22/10/21
This is Chickweed. It tastes like lettuce, and would make a good lettuce substitute. I rate this 9/10 and would actually use it, especially in sandwiches. Sadly, the only patch around here is inside the yard, and gets trampled by my dogs.
05/10/21
This is Wood Sorrell. It tastes sour, but not as much as a lemon. I rate it 8/10, and while I probably won't use it in meals, it does taste good enough to stop and eat a bit.
05/10/21
Here we get into plants I was unsure about and spat out after tasting. I thought this was Fennel, but it turns out that it is definitely not. Thankfully I think it is Dill, another edible weed. Sadly I can't confirm this. I rate it 5/10, because it's very herby but still not bad. (It should be mentioned that some very poisonous plants, like Hemlock, resemble Fennell).
22/10/21
This is Dandelion. I didn't try it. But apparently you can eat everything on it. It's milky and looks too similar to poisonous plants for my liking.
It would be great to eat more wild food, especially in cooking. I think the reality of wild foods is that most of them are mediocre vegetables. After misidentifying one, and possibly more plants, I don't want to take the risk anyway. I'll keep eating what I'm sure of though. To be fair, you can use some guides relatively safely. I used one from the ABC (who don't want to be sued because of accidents) that included pretty safe choices.
Other plants which I had hoped to find but couldn't include Cobbler's Pegs, Blackberries, Pigweed, and some succulent thing I forgot the name of. I decided not to try Mallow, Wild Spinach and Nettles. The first can be poisonous or edible depending on the soil, the second I couldn't be sure I had found, and the last is a bit inconvenient. In my area there is also cactus fruit, which taste nice but are a lot of trouble, and blackberry nightshade, which has berries that are edible when ripe but poisonous when they aren't. In general if it looks like a tomato, it's poisonous (solanums).
05/10/21
This is possibly Wild Brassica. Tastes like...brassica, but it's so small that I don't think it's worth eating. There is quite a lot of it though. 4/10.
Deep Green - 2021
24/12/20
01/02/21
I want more rain. Again. The tank is nearly empty, and it'd be nice for everything to get a "boost" before summer. Here's some lush green pictures.
23/03/21
Wattles - 2021
03/09/21
03/09/21
Wattles are obviously doing well since the changes around here. There are so many! I've counted at least 8 kinds, although there's only two pictured here. It;s also nice to see the peaches along the creeks flowering, I thought most of them had died.
04/09/21
Ironbark - 2021
03/07/21
03/07/21
I finally explored the road on the other side of the mountain nearby (I won't say which, for privacy reasons). I was so tired by the time I got there, and someone has fenced off the road, so I didn't travel far along it. It was beautiful though, especially on a cloudy day. It was nice to see some Ironbarks that are still alive, but they still don't look too healthy.
03/07/21
03/07/21
Skies - 2021
I've been told I should share some of the photos I've taken of the sky. Actually, I save these for use in paintings, but I don't often get around to using any of them. It is incredible how impressive the sky can look sometimes.
Signs - 2021
15/04/21
It seems like no matter where you go, there will always be signs of humans having been nearby. Nature is not unexplored, or particularly natural, in this day and age. We can still appreciate what we've got: even something as unappealing as a roadside is important to conserve. I've been trying to find somewhere in my neighbourhood that feels untouched as far as the eye can see, but so far I've not come across anywhere like that. I should point out that the mine shaft pictured is on property, filled in, and not past that big warning sign.
10/04/21
The drain here feels almost surreal. Well made infrastructure out in the middle of nowhere, still clean and untouched by graffiti. It brings with it a certain vibe, and seems to say "This is a human place now".
Creek Flow - 2021
I've been hoping for flooding and it's finally happened. The first and last photos show the creek near to my house, and the second photo is of some ponds created in a forest. Hopefully the creek will have water for a long time. Maybe I should compress the photos a little less next time.
Photos From The Field - 2021
It was amazing how the plants and animals came back after the rain in 2020. The creekbanks are overgrown now, although the water has almost gone again. Cloudy days like these seem to promise rain, but autumn has many overcast days without substantial rain.