I know it's been many years since I wrote anything in this Blog. What can I say, sometimes Life gets in the way of Living. I also have felt I haven't had much new to say, thought I still sometimes teach about and still use Wild Edible and Medicinal Plants, I have not been spending too much time in front of the computer writing like I used to. Things change in life, and I am no different than most everyone else. The responsibilities of work, home and life in general often get in the way of what you want to do. Oh, the tangled web we weave!
Alright, enough about that, lets get down to it. I have had and known about Kousa Dogwood ( also called Korean. Japanese,and other names) for a long time. I have always admired it's beauty when in flower for a long time in my life. I have two Kousa on my property and have always thought the Fruits were very cool looking. With all my interest in Wild foods, I don't know why it never occurred to me that the Fruits might be edible or useful in some way. I don't remember when it happened, but I a couple of years ago I came across an article on the Kousa Dogwood and learned the Fruits were edible. My trees just happen to be in fruit at the time so I went out to test them, and boy were they good!
Of course I was very exited to learn of a new Edible on my property but also wondered why it took so long to learn this in my life. I have always thought of Kousa as an ornamental not a wild plant and generally I stay away from ornamental's. Many ornamental's are toxic and from foreign lands not to mention often come from a nursery and are heavily sprayed and toxic fertilized to keep them looking their best so people will buy them. Real Wild plants have always been my thing. I guess thats not really fair, it's not the plants fault for being an ornamental from a foreign land. A plant is a plant is a plant. Maybe I've learned a lesson, maybe not, but I will be more open to such discoveries in the future.
