Friday, July 22, 2011

chicory ~ 07/22/11 ~ Elkhorn Slough


posted 09/16/11 - I'm very fond of this weed. Not only is the light lilac color my favorite, I have cherished memories of when I first saw it in Ohio. During the college years, we lived in a rather poor neighborhood of Cleveland, and this plant, ever the cheerful survivor, would spring up through the cracks in the sidewalks and in abandoned lots. I ignored the rusty hypodermic needles, brown bag wrapped empty bottles, and McD's wrappers strewn about the streets, and I would focus on the thrill of seeing my favorite color. Sonja told me how the roots have been used like coffee. That was the first time it ever hit me that wild plants could be used as food, and this is coming from a girl who grew up on a family farm. My naiveté seems silly now, but I really didn't know much about the world around me. Maybe I still don't. I think I've seen chicory occasionally here in CA, but until now I wasn't sure since it's not often that I see the same plants that live in OH as in CA, even if they're weeds. For what it's worth, chicory supposedly is native to Europe.

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