We recently returned to a river that has become a spring gathering point for our circle of friends. This river still has an amazing run of alewives that number in the millions. Despite the fact that residents of the Eestern United States have dammed and polluted the rivers, some of the fish are still here for those that follow the yearly calendar of wild food. In a society, addicted to the new, the idea that I’ve been there and done that means that no one ever gains deep ecological knowledge of place. Looking forward to the return of a species that has fed your circle is simply not enough gratification. Now, we need to travel around the world instead of exploring the landscapes around us. I am grateful that my daughters have been coming to this river for years. Fera is pictured here, and with just a little help was able to net fish the fish in this image. But, it is the first year that she has netted alewives without any assistance. Now, we turn to the task of processing the fish and savoring the roe that these reproductive fish bring. it was an amazing day with friends, and it was spent in the presence many predatory birds, like bald eagles, ospreys, and great blue herons, these migratory fish bring the nutrients from the ocean back to the inland regions of the state. I’m already looking forward to next year. (fb)

A true local and seasonal meal: brook trout from a nearby river and stinging nettle shoots (from a large river floodplain that we live near. Much of what is described as local these days isn’t really local because it incorporates foods that have been grown or raised locally but were brought here by colonists (or their descendants) from other continents. That is similar to claiming that locally brewed coffee is now native. This isn’t meant to be judgmental or sound snobbish, it is just the reality of the world that we live in now that words like local and native have been warped and twisted to allow agriculture and animal husbandry to fit with what we all realize is better for us and the landscapes that we live upon. Local includes the concept of seasonality. This means that some foods are simply unavailable for some or most of the year. It is difficult to be a purist with all of the time constraints that shackle people in today’s world, but we really enjoy these truly local and wild meals when we can gather them. (fb)