My family and I had a great time exploring Green Point Wildlife Management Area today. We did a little fishing in a pond, but didn’t catch anything. We walked to the end of the peninsula and explored the tidal flats. The soft mud that hosts the rice plants felt so smooth.
Further out were flocks of Canada Geese and close to two dozen eagles. I had day dreams of stalking the geese by completely covering myself in the mud and crawling my way towards them. If it was hunting season, I’d be on it.
Trace now enjoys the MUD!
So the Navigation Course was a hit with five students enjoying the day. The next Navigation Course is on September 1, 2012.
Learning how to Navigate
So I donned my dry suit and neoprene booties and took to the water with the ducks Canada geese. I was trying to harvest some Wapato or Arrowhead Root for dinner.
The way you harvest Wapato is stomp in the mud until it you dig a hole about two feet deep. Then you swish your feet in the hole to loosen up the bulbs. They float to the top when they are free from the mud.
I like to peel and cook them like mashed potatoes and then eat them with butter, milk and salt. They taste like a cross between a dry potato and corn.
There was still ice on the Dresden Bog, but with temperatures in the sixties, we just had to get out and paddle around. It was kind of fun in a twisted way to use our canoe as an ice breaker and charge through thinning sections of ice. We saw three eagles and heard one of them which sounded somewhat like a raven. We saw a whole bunch of ducks who had probably just returned from destinations south.
To top of the afternoon, I went for a quick dip in the very cold water. How RRRRRRRRRefreshing!
I’ve been spending this late winter and early spring getting ready for the upcoming season. I’ve been working a new syllabus for Navigating by Map and Compass. It’s pretty cool and I do love Navigation.
Everything is melting and thawing! I think I’m going to go exploring today. I may dig for Wapato or Arrowhead Root, I may explore a new marsh or lake, whatever the case, I’m out to have fun in the sun.
I just made a nice bow from an ash log that I saved from last years firewood. I ended up with several scraps so I put these in the pot of boiling water while I was steaming the ends of the bow for bending.
When they were soft, I bent the tips and now have several nice back scratchers!
I can’t believe it’s time to plant our seedlings in the south facing window. We’re planning a Square Foot Garden which consists of container gardens filled with a mixture of peat moss, vermiculite and compost.
Hurray for fresh veggies and good eats!
Pretty soon the wild edibles will pop out and we’ll have the first fresh greens of the year.
It seems to be the season for making bows. I made a small bow for our 6 year old, Trace and he’s had a blast shooting it into the mulch pile. Last year I broke my bow, so now, I”m making another bow out of an ash log that I saved from last year. I steamed the tips and curved them to make a re-curved bow. Hopefully it has more snap and cast than my last one. I’m learning a lot as I continue to make bows. I’m going to save the tendons from the next deer that I kill and use it to reinforce the back of the bow.
We had a zip line at Trace’s 6th Birthday. Everyone had fun and we’re thinking of doing it again sometime!
Green Point Farms which is a Wildlife Management Area operated by the Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is a bonanza of wild edibles. I’m watching the plants grow and just waiting for the harvesting season.
There are wild grapes, old apple trees, wapato, wild rice, rasberries and more. The rasberries are just about ripe!
From the end of the walking path, is a great view of Swan Island and the upper Merrymeeting Bay.
