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Gay Old Time
Over the hill and over the rainbow? Dallas may have a home for you.
Because there are more important things to talk about--like who's hot--it should come as no surprise that at Minc, and in the bars along Cedar Springs Road, the talk on a recent weekend was not about gay marriage or New Jersey Governor James McGreevey's coming-out revelation. It has been a divisive year in America in all things gay. It has also been a distracting one: While Republicans and Democrats manipulate the wedge issue of gay marriage, a group of gay and lesbian Dallasites, adopting the laissez-faire capitalism that Republicans trumpet, have moved ahead on a plan to build a gay and lesbian retirement village here.
It might induce nausea in the young gay bar crowd to consider it now, but should they remain in Dallas, they will likely have the option of retiring to a place touted by its founders as the nation's first gay and lesbian "continuing-care retirement community," known in the geriatric industry as a CCRC. There are a handful of gay and lesbian retirement villages in the nation being built or already completed, but they don't feature all the components the board of directors of Dallas' Silver Hope Project are planning: residences for independent living, an assisted living facility, a unit for memory-impaired residents and an area for round-the-clock nursing care. "The only time you'll have to move is when you go to rest land," says Jim LeCroy, the vice president of the Silver Hope board.
Lory Masters, a real estate agent who has been integrally involved in the effort to establish the village, says that the project is in the developmental phase, though she has raised $175,000 to fund a feasibility study that will reveal where the village could be built and how many people would want to live there. Although no contracts have been signed to begin construction, she hopes that it will be ready in three to five years.
A former elementary school principal named Robert Voelkle is the board president of the Silver Hope Project. His penchant for "punching the buttons and seeing things happen" at his job didn't exactly dissipate when he retired, so although the Silver Hope Project has been in existence for at least six years, "Robert has been tenacious in driving people crazy to do things," Masters says.
One of the tasks Voelkle assigned to Masters was to raise the money to pay for the feasibility study, but she has also been calling on the managers of both traditional and gay and lesbian retirement villages across the nation. She has also been trying to find a "respected" architect and management company to build and eventually run the village.
She found an enthusiastic partner, for example, in Frank Rees Associates, a Dallas architectural firm that specializes in building health-care, broadcasting and retirement facilities. Three years ago, when architect Christopher Villanueva first heard about the Silver Hope Project, he told Rees, the firm's president and chief executive officer, that it was something the firm ought to get involved in, particularly given their previous experience in building niche retirement communities. "It seems that no one has been able to get a successful [gay and lesbian] CCRC out there," Villanueva admits, but he says that the Silver Hope Project will succeed because Rees is "a very determined man" and because of the firm's experience. Rees says that when he was told about the situation that many elderly gay and lesbian people face--couples who want to move in at a traditional retirement village but are rebuffed, for example--he wanted "to create an environment where that doesn't happen."
The Silver Hope board and Masters hosted a meeting this summer to debrief local "movers and shakers," as Voelkle says, about the project. Town hall-type meetings will be held for gay and lesbian Dallasites sometime after the feasibility study has been completed, but for the invitation-only meeting, Masters had commissioned a brochure to be printed. When she received the first draft, it featured a picture of "little old white-haired ladies on white couches," Masters recalls. That was not going to do. "Do not make me send this to the gay community," she told Rees Associates. "Gay men wouldn't be caught dead in that. I want handsome gay men in ascots."
Rees says that the 400 surveys that interested people have filled out at the project's Web site (www.silverhope.com) indicate that there are enough potential residents, who are not required to be gay or lesbian, for the village to have "a high probability of success." Planners estimate that anywhere from 120 to 150 residences for independent living would be built in the first phase of the village's construction, which would be finished an estimated 54 months from the day the Silver Hope board signs a contract with the architect, developer and manager. "What we're trying to do is hold [the cost of a unit] down to $150,000 to $200,000," Voelkle says.


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Libby Malphrus
gyn-cancer , surgery
It was October 2010, and 33-year-old Libby Malphrus was juggling more than most people can handle. She was working full time as a genetic counselor for a perinatal practice, parenting a 4-year-old, balancing the demands of marriage and home life, and – perhaps most overwhelming – helping her mother go through treatment for primary peritoneal cancer. The last thing she needed was the phone call from her gynecologist's office stating that her recent Pap test results were abnormal.
"I had had normal Pap results for 17 years. This was the first time I had ever gotten a call back. The timing was awful," said Malphrus. The family was already reeling from her mother's battle with a difficult gynecologic cancer, and now Malphrus realized that she could be facing the same thing.
She scheduled a colposcopy procedure with her gynecologist, Kimberly Crute, M.D. During the procedure, her doctor examined her cervix with a special magnifying lens. Crute did not see any obvious warning signs, but she sent a tissue sample for further testing. The results indicated highly abnormal and potentially cancerous cells. Crute then performed a loop electrosurgical excision procedure, also known as LEEP. This procedure uses low energy current and a wire loop to remove abnormal cells from the cervix. In many cases, the LEEP can remove all abnormal cells before they spread. Malphrus underwent her LEEP on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. The results stunned her – she had invasive cervical cancer.
"I had no symptoms when I was diagnosed. I was a runner. I exercised four or five times a week. A month earlier, you would have never convinced me that I had cancer," said Malphrus.
She met with James Burke, M.D., a gynecologic oncologist at Memorial Health University Medical Center. Burke explained all of Malphrus' options. She could undergo radiation therapy in an attempt to kill the cancerous cells, or she could remove the cancer surgically through a radical hysterectomy.
"I was already very worried because of my mother's history. I knew that a radical hysterectomy would dramatically lower my risk of future cancer. But at the same time, it's very difficult to have that choice – the choice to have more children – taken away from you," said Malphrus. In the end, she and her husband decided on the radical hysterectomy.
"I had one healthy child and I wanted to be cancer-free. I just didn't want to risk it," said Malphrus.
She then learned that she could be the first person at Memorial Health to have a hysterectomy with the new da Vinci Si robotic surgery system. The da Vinci Si is the very latest robotic surgical tool, and Memorial Health was the first in the region to offer the new technology. Malphrus researched the system extensively, spoke with Burke, and spoke with colleagues in other parts of the country. She determined that minimally invasive surgery with the da Vinci Si was the best choice for her.
"I had a full-time job and a 4-year-old. I needed to get in and out quickly. I trusted Dr. Burke's surgical skills and I knew it was the fastest and safest way to be cancer free," said Malphrus.
On January 4, 2011, Malphrus had surgery to remove the top third of her vagina, several lymph nodes, her ovaries, and her uterus. It was a very involved procedure that lasted nearly five hours. She had five small incisions that were about half an inch long and barely noticeable.
Her first night in the recovery room was difficult, but by the next day, Malphrus was able to eat a regular lunch and walk on her own. She had hoped to go home that same day. However, she had a swollen bruise near one of her incisions that her caregivers wanted to monitor. The bruise improved and on January 6, just two days after major surgery, Malphrus went home to begin recovering.
She was surprised at how quickly her body healed. Within a week, she was able to drive. Within two weeks, the pain and swelling were gone and she felt very good. She did experience a blood clot in her right leg about 11 days after surgery. She returned to the hospital and was prescribed a regimen of blood thinners to break up the clot. That proved to be only a minor hiccup for Malphrus, and within four weeks she returned to work.
"Women used to be out of work for six to eight weeks following a hysterectomy. In fact, giving birth required a longer recovery than this," said Malphrus.
Perhaps the best news of all was that pathology reports showed that the cancer had not spread to any other parts of her body. She is cancer free today. Shortly after Malphrus returned to work, her mother had her last chemotherapy treatment. Both women looked forward to a great year.
Today, Malphrus is using her experience with cervical cancer to help other others. She encourages parents to vaccinate their daughters and sons with the HPV vaccine that can prevent certain cancers. She also encourages women to get a Pap exam every year, even if they've received years of "normal" results. To promote her message and help raise funds for gynecological cancer research, Malphrus started a website and Facebook page called "Save the Hoo Hahs". Her goal is to help find a cure, so that her daughter will never have to face the same frightening diagnosis.
Dexter Scott
Elizabeth Latortue
Kristi Parker
Steve Scholar
Patrice Lewis
Sylvia and Cynthia Whitfield
Gale Brill
Michael Deboe
Andre Cureton
Mattie Gillis
Gary Exley
Hamiel Powell
Bill Wade
Curt Bridgett
David McNaughton
Eugene Goff
Nicole Soergel
Jadelyn Sanchez
Rion Williams
Sommer Wright
Yeshaya Nitekman
Hunter Stanfield
Iliana Schraeder
Jalaya Kendrick
Liam Gordon
Mariela Villa
Tre Jenkins
Joseph Grispo
Matthew Wagner
Suzanne Hokanson
Billy Hunawill
Bruce Dixon
Jonathan Harrison
Rufus Austin
Jan Carter
Brandy Williams
Katelyn Traub
Nichole Deal
Brian Sikes
Kyia Agee
William Miller Jr.
Mark Nathan

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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A Closer Look At Biden's New Bodyguards
SEE MORE: IFC
Earlier this week Vice President Joe Biden replaced his traditional Secret Service detail with a team of sexy female bodyguards. This morning the White House released these bios of the women Biden calls "Joe's Guardian Vixens."
AZURA MOON, Martial Arts Master
The youngest daughter of a royal family in Malaysia, Azura Moon should have been raised as a princess. However, Azura's natural inclination for adventure led her to frequently sneak out of her family's palace at night to wander the streets of Kuala Lumpur's dangerous slums. After falling in with a gang of thieves and pulling off several daring heists, Azura was eventually arrested after being sold out to the authorities by the gang's leader, with whom she was in love. Azura's powerful father used his clout to save her from being imprisoned in a brutal work camp, instead opting to send her to a secluded monastery in the mountains where she could learn discipline. There she trained under Haji Musa bin Osman, a legendary martial arts expert rumored to be nearly 200 years old. After competing in and winning numerous martial arts tournaments – the last of which was a battle to the death against her traitorous former lover – she was summoned to America by Vice President Joe Biden.
HERA RODRIGUEZ, Champion Lightweight Boxer
Boxing has been a part of Hera Rodriguez's life literally since birth: Her mother delivered her ringside in her family's small boxing gym in Buesaco, Colombia. As soon as she could walk Hera began sparring, devoting every moment she was not in school to becoming a champion lightweight boxer. But when she was 15, Hera's life took a sudden left turn: The deadly Tulio drug cartel moved into her neighborhood and began shaking down shopowners for protection money. After Hera's father refused to be bullied, the cartel burned Hera's beloved family boxing gym to the ground. Enraged, Hera used her boxing skills to cut a swath of destruction through the cartel's ranks, eventually liberating her neighborhood from its stranglehold. On the night of the grand opening of her family's newly rebuilt boxing gym, a mysterious government agent from the U.S. arrived at Hera's doorstep, asking her to accept a new challenge: protecting Vice President Joe Biden.
VIVICA CLAY, Sharpshooter, Demolitions Expert
Born in St. Petersburg, Vivica's parents were murdered in front of her by the Russian Mafia when she was only 11 years old. Vowing revenge, she sought out a mysterious ex-KGB operative known only as Valentin who taught her the ways of the assassin. After years in training, Vivica turned her deadly skills on the gangsters who killed her family, taking them down one by one before finally confronting and slaying the Mafia kingpin in a rooftop sword fight. Her parents' deaths finally avenged, Vivica moved to the U.S. to begin working for Vice President Joe Biden.


Laembadgini by Diljit Dosanjh is another one of his popular tracks. Here you will find Laembadgini piano notes with video tutorial, that will make learning for you very easy. Enjoy playing this song in front of all your friends.
Let us know in the comments below how you find this piano tutorial. Enjoy this song on your keyboard or harmonium, whichever instrument you like more.


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Home » Nichols » Journal Article » Literature
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P. Sowig 1995 Habitat selection and offspring survival rate in three paracoprid dung beetles: the influence of soil type and soil moisture
T. Wassmer 1995 Selection of the spatial habitat of Coprophagous beetles in the Kaiserstuhl area near Freiburg (SE-Germany)
T. Wassmer 1995 The use of dung beetles (Scarabaeoidea and Hydrophilidae) as bioindicators for the assessment of nature conservation value of pasture biotopes
T. P. Young, Patridge, N., Macrae, A. 1995 Long-Term Glades in Acacia Bushland and Their Edge Effects in Laikipia, Kenya
K. Chin, Gill B. D. 1996 Dinosaurs, dung beetles, and conifers: Participants in a Cretaceous food web
A. J. Davis, Lantoh S. 1996 Dung beetles collected from Rafflesia pricei Meijer at the Tambunan Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia
A. L. V. Davis 1996 Community organization of dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae): differences in body size and functional group structure between habitats
A. L. V. Davis 1996 Seasonal dung beetle activity and dung dispersal in selected South African habitats: implications for pasture improvement in Australia
A. L. V. Davis 1996 Diel and seasonal community dynamics in an assemblage of coprophagous, Afrotropical, dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae s. str., Aphodiidae, and Staphylinidae: Oxytelinae)
A. L. V. Davis 1996 Habitat associations in a South African, summer rainfall, dung beetle community (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae, Aphodiidae, Staphylinidae, Histeridae, Hydrophilidae)
A. L. V. Davis 1996 Methods for the inventory and ecological monitoring of dung beetles, butterflies and termites in the East Usambaras
G. P. de Oliveira, da Silva, A. Leme, Mendes, J., Tavares, L. N. J. 1996 Insetos asociados a fezes de bovinos na regiao de Sao Carlos, Sao Paulo
R. K. Didham, Ghazoul, J., Stork, N. E., Davis, A. J. 1996 Insects in fragmented forests: A functional approach
G. Halffter, Huerta, C., Lopez-Portillo, J. 1996 Parental care and offspring survival in Copris incertus Say, a sub-social beetle
J. M. Hidalgo, Cardenas A. M. 1996 Trophic selection of some Iberian Onthophagus Latreille, 1802 (Coleoptea: Scarabaeidae)
C. J. Hill 1996 Habitat specificity and food preferences of an assemblage of tropical Australian dung beetles
P. Hirschberger, Degro H. 1996 Oviposition of the dung beetle Aphodius ater in relation to the abundance of yellow dungfly larvae (Scataphaga sterocoraria)
J. M. Lobo 1996 Diversity, biogeographical considerations and spatial structure of a recently invaded dung beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea) community in the Chihuahuan desert
Y. Lopez-Guerrero 1996 Oocyte resorption in Scarabaeinae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae): a review
J. - P. Lumaret, Lobo J. M. 1996 Geographic distribution of endemic dung beetles (Coleoptera, Scarabaeoidea) in the Western Palaeartic region
F. Martin-Piera, Lobo J. M. 1996 A comparative discussion of trophic preferences in dung beetle communities
M. E. Favila, Diaz A. 1996 Canthon cyanellus cyanellus LeConte (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) makes a nest in the field with several brood balls
J. Ghazoul, Didham R. K. 1996 Biodiversity loss and ecosystem function in tropical forests - Reply
P. S. Giller 1996 The diversity of soil communities, the 'poor man's tropical rainforest'
C. A. Medina, Kattan G. H. 1996 Diversidad de coleopteros coprofagos (Scarabaeidae) de la Reserva Forestal de Escalerete
E. Morelli, Gonzalez, V. Patricia, Canziani, C. 1996 Nesting and life-cycle of Sulcophanaeus menelas (Laporte, 1840) (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae)
J. Luis Navar Heredia 1996 Is the apparent rarity of Liatongus monstrosus (Bates) (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) real or an artifact of collecting?
J. Luis Navar Heredia 1996 Euoniticellus intermedius (Reiche) (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)
N. A. Rivers-Moore, Samways M. J. 1996 Game and cattle trampling, and impacts of human dwellings on arthropods at a game park boundary
C. Seignobos, Deguine, J. - P., Aberlenc, H. - P. 1996 Les mofu et leurs insectes
P. Sowig 1996 Brood care in the dung beetle Onthophagus vacca (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae): The effect of soil moisture on time budget, nest structure, and reproductive success
H. E. Steenkamp, Chown S. L. 1996 Influence of dense stands of an exotic tree, Prosopis glandulosa Benson, on a savanna dung beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae) assemblage in southern Africa
L. Strong, Wall, R., Woolford, A., Djeddour, D. 1996 The effect of faecally excreted ivermectin and fenbendazole on the insect colonisation of cattle dung following the oral administration of sustained-release boluses
K. Veenakumari, Veeresh G. K. 1996 Notes on the feeding and breeding behaviour of Gymnopleurus gemmatus Harold and Gymnopleurus miliaris (F.) (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)
K. Veenakumari, Veeresh G. K. 1996 Some aspects of the reproductive biology of Onthophagus gazella (F.) and Onthophagus rectecornutus Lansb. (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)
C. G. Walsh, Gandolfo D. 1996 Nidification of Thirteen Common Argentine Dung Beetles (Scarabeidae: Scarabaeinae)
P. G. Allsopp 1997 Probability of describing an Australian scarab beetle: influence of body size and distribution
G. Amat-Garcia, Toro, A. Lopera, Melo, S. Jimena Ame 1997 Distribution patterns of dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) in relict patches of the high Andean forest, Cordillera Oriental of Colombia
G. Amat-Garcia, Toro, A. Lopera, Amezquita, S. J. A. 1997 Patrones de distribucion de escarabajos coprofagos (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) en relicto del bosque altoandino cordillera oriental de Colombia
A. J. Davis, Sutton S. L. 1997 A dung beetle that feeds on fig: implications for the measurement of species rarity
A. L. V. Davis 1997 Climatic and biogeographical associations of southern African dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae s str)
D. J. Emlen 1997 Alternative reproductive tactics and male-dimorphism in the horne beetle Onthophagus acuminatus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)
D. J. Emlen 1997 Diet alters male horn allometry in the beetle Onthophagus acuminatus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)
T. Gittings, Giller P. S. 1997 Life history traits and resource utilisation in an assemblage of north temperate Aphodius dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)
N. Gokan 1997 The compound eye of the dung beetle, Bolbocerosoma nigroplagiatum (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)


Friday, December 8th, comes with a new anime edition.
This edition, as you already know, is about The Ancient Magus' Bride.
The Hatori Chise is only 16, but she has lost far more than most. With neither family nor hope, it seems all doors are closed to her. But, a chance encounter began to turn the rusted wheels of fate. In her darkest hour, a mysterious magus appears before Chise, offering a chance she couldn't turn down. This magus who seems closer to demon than human, will he bring her the light she desperately seeks, or drown her in ever deeper shadows?
So hurry up, register for the 9th edition and let's have fun on Friday Night!
Ukraine, Kyiv, 10 Khreschatyk Str.


Hope you had a great Labor Day weekend. I've been writing lately about the Google Link Schemes update – what it is, how I am teaching in response to it, and what I think about it. As promised, here is my assignment that is impacted by this change.
As I've said before, I'm not too concerned about this change at the macro level. But at the micro level, I think it is important that press releases now contain the "no-follow" tag. To learn how to tag with "no-follow", read my former post. It also contains lots of links to great articles explaining the Link Schemes update!
The emphasis on my Social Media Release assignment (which I may be better off just calling a web release), at its heart is on writing for the web – e..g., keyword research, SEO. And so, whether the press release "dies" or not, I feel my students will be adaptable.
This assignment is taught in Writing Across Platforms (syllabus | related blog posts). The topics this assignment emphasizes are of course covered in class through lecture, discussion, and brief activities.
Cover Page – The cover page is something I am using for all major written assignments in the class. Someone deserves credit for this but I can't remember where I got the idea (if you know, please tell me so proper credit can be attributed). The purpose is for students to have to think through the purpose of their written piece, who their audience is, and what is "in it" for the audience – why they should care.
Social Media Release – Part 2 – This is where they take what they've written and put it into PitchEngine. By breaking it up into two stages, the students can focus on the research and writing first and foremost before they get swept up in the coolness of PitchEngine.
If you have questions about any of these assignments, how I teach the material, or ways i can improve them, please feel free to drop a comment or contact me directly. How do you teach these topics? How can I approve my assignment?
Happy Friday! We are wrapping up our first week of classes here at Shepherd University!
This semester I am teaching 2 classes related to social media and strategic comm: Social Media (syllabus), and Writing Across Platforms (syllabus).
I find myself using textbooks less and less. Perhaps this is because i am not finding what I am looking for, or maybe I am just not looking in the right places. Here are the books I am using in each class.
(I wrote a review of this awesome book a few months ago).
I have only used Likeable Social Media before so am excited to see how they others go!: What books are you using? What would you recommend?
(Note, I put the Amazon links in here but this is not an endorsement of Amazon nor are these affiliate links).
Google recently updated its link schemes and it means an important change to how we teach students to write press releases for the web. This is because the change directly targets articles or press releases distributed on other websites, like an online wire service.
I've written a lot on this blog about teaching students to write for the web. And this is the biggest change I've seen to what we should teach since starting this blog.
"Lots of links, lots of repeated key words, and multiple postings of a press release to different sites, are all red flags to Google under the new rules. Such actions are viewed by Google as blatant attempts to trick its algorithm into ranking a site higher than its allotted position," writes Tom Foremski.
When Barry Schwartz of Search Engine Roundtable asked Google Switzerland's john Mueller "Why were press releases called out?" during the July 29 Webmaster Central Google Hangout, Mueller replied: "It is something that a lot of people are doing to try to promote the website. That's something that we want to make clear, that we essentially see this as an unnatural link…" Later in the hangout, Mueller likened a press release to an advertisement. He is saying this in the sense, again, that the purpose of the press release distributed on the web is to drive traffic to a client's site, the way an online advertisement does. I.e., an "unnatural" link. Of course, the purpose of a press release is to do more than drive traffic to your site, but not in Google's eyes.
nofollow all URLs in press releases and distributed articles on web.
I spent a great deal of time researching this new change and reading through varying opinions and reactions to the new link scheme update. While opinions differed slightly, Mueller's own advice seems to be to no-follow all URLs just to be safe.
So it seems best to me to not risk it.
Did Google just kill PR agencies?


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Augustine of Trent
Augustine of Trent (c. 1300 – after 1340) was an Augustinian friar and astrologer.
Start of the Epistola in Clm 647
Augustine was born in Trent in the late 13th or early 14th century. He entered the Augustinian order and studied astrology and medicine. In 1340, he was the chaplain of Bishop Nicholas of Trent [it] (1336–1347) and a lecturer at the University of Perugia. On 12 July that year, he dedicated his Epistola astrologica to the bishop. No othe work by him is known; neither is his date of death.[1]
Augustine wrote his Epistola in Latin in Perugia on the occasion of a "pestilence of infirmities" in northern Italy. He disagrees with those who attribute it to heavy rains, since heavy rains fell in 1338 and there was no pestilence. He gives an astrological explanation of the epidemic and seeks to provide principles for predicting future ones.[2] He cites Hippocrates, Aristotle, Galen, Dioscorides, Martial and Avicenna.[1] Two manuscripts of Augustine's Epistola are known, Clm 276 and Clm 647 in the Bavarian State Library. The former was purchased in Germany by Hartmann Schedel and the second is the copy he made.[2]
^ a b "Agostino da Trento". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Volume 1: Aaron–Albertucci (in Italian). Rome: Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana. 1960. pp. 488–489. ISBN 978-8-81200032-6.
^ a b Lynn Thorndike (1930), "A Pest Tractate Before the Black Death", Sudhoffs Archiv für Geschichte der Medizin, 23 (4): 346–356, JSTOR 20773599 .
Bonini, Francesca (2021). "Plague and Astrology in the Fourteenth Century: The Plague Tractate by Augustine of Trento". Bulletin de Philosophie Médiévale. 63: 383–472. doi:10.1484/J.BPM.5.126954.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Augustine_of_Trent&oldid=1096858572"
Last edited on 7 July 2022, at 02:57
This page was last edited on 7 July 2022, at 02:57 (UTC).


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Lancaster County's Edible Earth
By Michael C. Upton
After learning a friend had developed a passion for foraging, I decided to look into the practice here in Lancaster County. Introducing any wild food into your diet should be done with caution and moderation. Always consult the advice of an expert or a field guide from a trusted source before eating any foraged foods.
As an artist who uses nature as a medium, sculpturist and potter Kevin Lehman has a special connection to the Earth. For him to find this world bountiful and appetizing seems a simple association. One day, while out in the woods with his friend Casey Spacht (founder of Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative and co-founder of Lancaster Farmacy), the two came upon a wild mushroom.
"He said, 'Hey, you can eat that.' And, I thought, 'Okay, here we go, eatin' mushrooms and …" recalls Kevin. But, the idea stuck, and he has been actively foraging Lancaster County for more than five years.
THE MUSHROOM
The Chicken of the Woods, Laetiporus, mushroom can be found growing on the wounds of oak trees.
The mushroom that Casey pointed out to Kevin was the Laetiporus, which is commonly known as Chicken of the Woods. This genus of edible mushrooms grows as "shelves" consisting of tiny tubular filaments. This particular mushroom is commonly found on wounds of oak trees. The mushrooms' young, fruiting bodies are primarily yellow-orange with bright tips. It is one of the most foraged mushrooms in the world.
"These bright-orange mushrooms grow on the sides of trees, and nothing looks like them," says Kevin. Laetiporus is a great mushroom for beginning foragers, writes Ellen Zachos in her book, Backyard Foraging.
Zachos, an educator at the New York Botanical Garden, lists several other mushrooms new foragers can start with: Black trumpets can be harvested in the summer and fall months and grow near oak and beech trees; hedgehog (or sweet tooth) mushroom caps have no poisonous lookalikes and are easy to identify by their irregular shape and short, spiny "teeth" on the underside; and Hen of the Woods are fast-growing mushrooms usually found in large clumps in the early fall.
Chanterelles, which are a favorite ingredient in French dishes, grow in small clusters on forest floors.
Some of the most popular foraged mushrooms are chanterelles. Made popular by traditional French cuisine, chanterelles can have a fruity aroma and rich flavor. As attractive as these mushrooms are, they are not the easiest to distinguish from potentially hazardous varieties. Chanterelles are often found on forest floors in small clusters.
"There's a saying, 'If you are not 100% sure, don't eat it,'" says Kevin, passing on words to literally live by. "I started with plants that don't have lookalikes."
Spring's favorite find – the highly coveted morel mushroom.
Besides truffles, the most prized foraged-mushrooms are morels. As a foodie, I first heard chatter about foragers finding morels in Lancaster County a couple years ago. The alien-looking fungi is identified by its honeycomb cap upon a white stem. (There are several "false morel" mushrooms, which should be avoided due to toxicity.) What makes this delicacy so prized is the almost impossibility of farming the mushroom on a large scale, so foragers often keep their spots a secret. To satisfy demand from top chefs, morel foraging has become a multi-million-dollar industry.
SUSTAINABILITY & SEASONALITY
According to a number of Southern-cooking websites, pokeweed and bacon are a match made in heaven.
"Edibles are everywhere," says Kevin, but that doesn't mean he is going to simply scarf up everything he identifies as tasty. "To me, it's more of a bigger picture connection – connecting to the natural world in a new way and developing a relationship with these plants."
Casey echoes these sentiments almost verbatim. He started distinguishing edible plants and berries as a kid. He's been foraging ever since. Sustainability – even with things growing in nature – is an issue of concern.
He provides as an example Allium tricoccum, otherwise known as ramps, a wild onion prized for the delicacy of its greens and beautiful garlic flavor. Ramps exploded in popularity several years ago when they began to make their way into new American cuisine.
"They're here in Lancaster County. Sometimes you can go into the woods and find a whole swath of ramps," Casey notes, but he is quick to caution those who may be overzealous with their harvesting. "Ramps take a long time to propagate and get that whole community built up."
His personal choice is to harvest only what he needs, sometimes taking just the greens and leaving the bulbs to extend the life of the plant. He also replants smaller bulbs, which may come up attached with his harvest. Over-foraging will wipe out an entire population; and, once they are gone, they may be gone forever from that area.
Seasonality is important for two reasons. The first is to know when to look for the plant, which is as important as knowing where to look. Fiddleheads (fern sprouts) must be harvested in the spring
Ramps are increasingly being found in this part of the country. Ramp festivals are held throughout the Appalachian region in the spring.
… otherwise they turn into ferns.
The second function of seasonality is safety. Some plants must be harvested at certain points in their growing cycle. Pokeweed is a traditional staple in southern Appalachian areas, but as the plant grows, so does its toxicity. The leaves and stems are boiled repeatedly and taste like spinach and asparagus respectively, but the purple berries of the plant appearing in maturity are highly toxic and can cause death. "That plant is awesome, but if it gets big, it's poisonous," says Kevin.
Pokeweed is not alone in these characteristics and a good example of how foraging is a connection. To be safe and successful, a proper forager must know the Earth he or she is harvesting. There is a thrill in both Kevin and Casey's voices when they start talking about foraging.
"Part of the excitement for me is realizing all the stuff we can use. It's a great connection. It's nice to have availability of things on the grocery store shelf … I mean, I love a good cheeseburger, but spring is coming up, so I know Caltha (Marsh Marigold) is coming up. Then it will be morel season. Then black locust, the flowers are awesome to eat. Then it's berry season. I'm constantly looking forward to the next thing," says Kevin.
Expert advice can be found locally through Casey Spacht and Lancaster Farmacy. For information on foraging classes and workshops, visit lancasterfarmacy.com/happenings.
Lancaster is Becoming a Foraging Hot Spot!
Lancaster County's growing reputation as a foraging hot spot will be highlighted by NPR. The Lancaster County Conservancy recently partnered with Debbie Naha, a Pennsylvania Master Naturalist and Registered Dietitian/Licensed Nutritionist, to use Climbers Run Nature Preserve as a site for her winter foraging walk being filmed by NPR. Debbie walked the beautiful preserve in late February to find bittercress, field garlic greens, young dandelion greens, violet leaves, stinging nettles, chickweed and garlic mustard (an invasive plant), all of which were sautéed to create a delicious pasta dish. She also harvested native spicebush (Lindera benzoin) twigs to create Winter Spicebush Tea.
Debbie visited Lancaster several times last year; she presented a program at Landis Valley Farm Museum and helped to put together a foraging-themed pop-up dinner at Commonwealth on Queen in September. Visit her website, wildediblesnjpa.com, to check out her 2018 schedule.
Great article. I'd love to see more invasive plants foraged and have wondered how to create a buzz around helping our natives by eating their competition. Like the garlic mustard mentioned. I believe it came here from settler kitchen gardens so it's odd that we've stopped eating it.
William Bonanno says
The last thing I read about garlic mustard is that is gives off hydrogen cyanide. Our bodies can handle a certain amount of cyanide, but I wouldn't want to push it. Hydrogen cyanide is the reason I stopped putting clover leaves in my salads. Clover leaves start giving it off about 20 minutes after they're picked.
Annmarie MacGillivray says
Hello! I am interested in gaining knowledge on foraging; I live locally and would not have a problem commuting.
I am in process of composing a workshop which I would like to incorporate and introduce foraging but have no experience…..
Do you offer classes? Or would you be willing to take on an apprentice ??
Please let me know! Excited to learn!!
Correction to my last email…
I am willing to WORK FOR FREE….not apprentiship.
Or looking to take classes….