Well, what an incredibly successful first day of Singing Nettle Forest Stewards! I love that today is a Harvest Super Full Moon and partial lunar eclipse! We have harvested nothing but abundance and cherished friendship for our stewards.

Today began with introductions and a general theme for the day – Who Am I? Where Am I? What Am I?

Each steward answered a little more about themselves, and we went into a “food lab” to dive deeper into the “where am I” questions, such as trying pawpaw and autumn olives – these are foraged fruits that do not exist here in the Twin Cities! These 2 fruits (and fruit trees) grow about 4-6 hours down south in Iowa and/or southwestern parts of Wisconsin. We described the tastes of pawpaw as a cross between a mango, papaya, and pineapple. One of our stewards brought up a very valid point, that because of our limited senses, we can only describe something new based on things that we have already tried before or from our own relative experiences. This can be from our visual (color) references or taste references (i.e., eating mango or pineapple or papaya before).

Above photo: closeup of Autumn Olive (for reference).

Above: photo of various varieties of pawpaw, courtesy of Clay and Red Fern Farms in Iowa.

Pictured are SNFS stewards holding samples of pawpaw and holding a djembe, which is a type of African drum made from cowhide!

SNFS stewards were introduced to several instruments readily available in the classroom, including: Reverie harp, guitar, two keyboards, cajon, kalimba (the stewards favorite instrument to play!), harmonica, recorder, survival whistle (lol!), school bell, and many more!

We were discovering different features on the keyboard, including fun songs! We decided to throw a dance party for the first start of the program session!

Next, we tried Minnesota-hardy peaches that were grown about a mile away in Oakdale, further scratching our heads about selective genes for Minnesota hardiness and surviving our cold winters! Lastly, we tried a pear and also realized that pears grow in Minnesota, and are quite tasty too! We learned a little bit about sumac that grows in Minnesota, and that you can make something called sumac lemonade that is quite tasty! In traditional Middle Eastern cuisines, there is a traditional spice blend called za’atar that features sumac berries, even though sumac is native here in Minnesota!

We all agreed that it would be a fun idea to try to grow our own peach, pear, and pawpaw trees indoors from seed! Some of our homework will include researching best methods to growing fruit trees from seeds, and in particular, keeping in mind our Minnesota winter temps!

Photo above is the seeds of pawpaw, pear, and not pictured is the peach pit that accidentally froze in the fridge! I pointed out to the class that one of the pawpaw seeds floated to the top, indicating a nonviable seed 😦 .

After our “food lab”, we hit the trails of the Gateway Trail system, which is located right across the street from the Oakdale classroom and covers 18 miles of walking trails, bike trails, and horse trails from Saint Paul (Cayuga Street) to almost Scandia! Very scenic trails and lots of discoveries along the way! We noticed some large objects around the base of a carved out tree, and had to check it out! I informed the stewards that the mushrooms on this tree are called Artist Conk mushrooms (Ganoderma applanatum) – I wonder where their name is derived from! 😉 We put our artistry to the test by writing our names on the underside of the mushroom and included our program name. Some people can get really creative with their designs on the underside of the Artist Conk mushroom (a quick Google search can lead you down a rabbit hole). 🙂

One of our stewards found a very large Artist Conk – we had to use it for SNFS, of course! 🙂

Lasting memories on our first day at SNFS!

We walked along the path a little bit more, and came across rosehips and burdock. The burs from burdock, with their small hooks that can attach themselves to loops of thread, inspired the inventor of Velcro! We saw a great blue heron, a vole that scurried across the bike path, heard a katydid up in the tree, found a toad named Bumpy (Bobbert the toad’s cousin), and saved a painted mud turtle named Shelly!

We had such a delightful and magical first day at SNFS. We can’t wait for more spirited & bright days like this! Fun energy always!

This song has been an earworm for me lately, and I feel like it is a message to the stewards:

Immensely grateful for the assistance of my family and friends, and all who are supporting this beautiful endeavor.

Take care & blessings always,

~Christine Shoemaker

Director, Learning Guide of Singing Nettle Forest Stewards, 501 (c) (3)