Clam Sashimi by Kayak

“When the tide is out, the table is set”- Ray Mears quoting a Pacific Northwest Coast Native American saying.

My brother and I got out to a favorite Northern California spot the other day. Justin has been kicking butt in kayak races lately, and so he was pushing to get me out on the boats…it doesn't take much to convince me to go out on the water. We stopped off for a little bread at a local Mom and Pap bakery and then launched the boats destined for distant shores.

Steve and Kingsley Zissou.

The paddle across was good fun and generally effortless.

Justin showed me how a pro paddles.

We landed at a discrete cove that looked as though pirates should walk around the corner at any moment.

Land Ho!

The tide was out a bit and we were greeted by fountains of clams spouting here and there. We both had our licenses, so we quickly carved some driftwood gauges and started digging.

The clams were deep, but we dug fast and managed a snack.

Fresh caught clams.

This time of year, only the meat is edible (the gut will be full of toxic domoic acid from filter feeding on warm water plankton), so Justin’s favorite was on the lunch menu... clam sashimi. Just wish we’d brought some soy sauce and ginger. Oh well, next time.

Our Grandpa's old fishing knife still in use.

My girl would be extra proud of our foraging activities for the next sea delicacy…sea chocolate! “I got a golden ticket!” I hollered as I dragged the chocolate bar out of the sea. There was no telling how long it had been there, but hey, salt is a great preservative, the ocean is a refrigerator, and it looked good enough, so what's the harm, right? We both had a few bites of the unexpected intertidal salt-chocolate for dessert.

Countryman going crazy from salt chocolate overload.

We pulled in the crab ring on the way back, but only red rock crab and a sun star were present. That was just fine with us though, it had already been a successful spur of the moment adventure.

There’s an adventure around every bend if you are open to them…keep the old ways alive!
- Words- Kevin Smith, Photos- Justin and Kevin.

Abalone’s Birthday

“DOOOO you wanna go on an adventure?”-me talking to my dog.

Abalone turned six the day after Jessica’s Forager Feast and Birthday Bash, so we had to take our little four legged companion on a little adventure. Abalone loves being spoiled, playing Frisbee, hunting, going to the beach, her grandparents and uncles, but likely most of all she loves swimming! So we geared up and after a birthday ritual bowl full of bacon and eggs, we were off to a secret desert gem.

The hike in was nice through black sage, yucca and cholla cactus, but when we found the shade under the alders and willows creekside, we were in heaven. Abalone swam like an animal (ha) and did her best to bite every bubble that past by her in the rapids. Chelsea practiced her yoga on the granite boulders and true to my nature…I went and looked for a stick!

 I’ll admit it, I have a problem when it comes to rocks and sticks…but I have come to terms with it.

At age four, I was bored one summer day and when I heard my Dad say he was headed to work I got really bummed out. He saw I was sad so he told me to follow him for a minute. Into the old drawer, under the phonebook he pulled out two thick blue rubber bands that came standard around the newspaper each week. He grabbed a scrap of leather from the bottom of the rag bin and motioned for me to go with him outside. “we’ve gotta find the right stick” he explained holding me up into an apple tree. “Does that one fit in your hand?” he asked. I nodded and he put me down on the ground again pulling out his trusty Swiss Army knife and opening the saw blade. I watched with intent curiosity as he worked. He cut the leather into a rectangular strip and punched two holes in it with the awl on the back of his knife, he cut the rubber bands so they were long straps, and began to assemble the pieces. That’s when I realized the method to his madness…it was BRILLIANT! The Y shaped stick and scraps had just come together into a refined slingshot before my eyes.

Hunter chuckled and handed it over to me after walloping an apple off the tree with a high velocity pebble. I was stoked! And so began my fascination with upcycling. Dad went over the ground rules before he took off for work explaining that with great power comes great responsibility. He emphasized the use of backdrops, understanding trajectory, making sure I was always shooting in a safe direction, and most of all that this deadly implement was NOT a toy! I was no longer bored!

So the other day when I bought a three pack of boxer shorts and found a thick blue rubber band wrapped around it, I smiled deviously, set aside a scrap of leather, and today I was in search of a Y stick. The materials came together effortlessly, and in a few minutes back at the house we were ready. I snapped the band once to test the elasticity in the bands and Abalone jumped up, licking her chops in anticipation, whining and staring at the new source of unparalleled enjoyment (she really loves shooting as well).

We set outside and the whole family enjoyed walloping cans until the sun went down.

Happy birthday Abalone!

Waste not, want not. Enjoy the little things each day brings, and always strive to keep the old ways alive!

-Kevin Smith  

Forager Feast and Birthday Bash

It was our good friend Jessica’s birthday and a group of us were getting together a littlee party for her. I was asked to help with the food…and we all know what that means…I was goin’ foragin’. None of my buddy’s could make it, so I headed out all by my lonesome. Armed with the custom speargun my Brother Justin had made me, and my trusty Banksboard dive float loaded with scallop bar, flashlight, license and everything else I couldn’t keep on my person, I kicked out into the Pacific once more in search of a fresh seafood treat. My friend Queeny mentioned that she was thinking of giving up on vegetarianism and was interested in trying “all the sea foods that coastal Native Americans ate in southern California!” I had replied with a grin that I would see what I could do. So today, as I swam over the vibrant emerald green sea grass meadows that swayed in the gentle surf, I began planning for a smorgasbord.

The sea was generous and I was grateful. It was nice to see so many huge lobsters as well...now that the season is closed, they seemed to give me a clever grin and say "move along, nothing to see here!" I managed a pair of giant keyhole limpets, a small pacific rock scallop, a Norris top snail, some sea water for another batch of sea salt, and a few fish. As always, the pure pleasure of flying through the giant kelp forests had me smiling big and breathing deeply all the way home.
 

I pulled the last two lobster tails from last season and the last of the abalone from the freezer and set to work. I even grabbed a couple more cactus pads from the yard to throw on the grill.
 

I made a batch of teriyaki abalone skewers (which my buddy Bill seared perfectly on the grill), a big batch of lobster Mexican seafood cocktails, sautéed limpet, sautéed fish tacos, and nopales (also expertly grilled by Bill), which we added to a whole slew of tasty carne asada. We feasted, flintknapped, and had a lot of laughs…but totally forgot to get photos of the food, with one exception (thanks to Katie), the sautéed limpet.
 

My buddy Mitch gleaned quite a few grapefruit as well, so we’ll be making some grayhounds and palomas soon! All in all it was a great party and a good feast. Oh, and Queeny ate a bit of every wild foraged sea delicacy. Happy birthday Jessica. Keep the old ways alive!

Agave Roast at Morongo: Desert Delacacies

We had the honor of attending this year's traditional pit roast of wild harvested agave at the Malki Museum on the reservation of the Morongo band of the Cahuilla tribe. The desert landscape was so beautiful and spring was evident in the fruiting of many desert species. Nicholas Santos and I set up early and helped excavate the pit to get at the sweet gems below. Once uncovered, David the archaeologist who leads the gathering and pit roasting of agave and yucca hear each year, began removing the traditional food from the earth oven one by one.

The feast was truly delicious, with traditional foods such as cactus, rabbit stew, acorn and salt bush also being served. Nicholas and I were delighted to try the acorn, which contrary to what we've been told was absolutely fantastic! 

We led flintknapping demonstrations and offered hands-on opportunities with stone tool production throughout the day while listening to traditional singing.

All in all the event had a great turnout. It was a true honor for us to be there and share in this feast and gathering. We thank our very generous Morongo hosts and the Malki Museum for their support and their dedication in keeping the old ways alive! _words by Kevin Smith, images by Richard G., Bill K. and Kevin S.

Upcycling Part I: From Trash to Tools

"I can't sleep. My mind is going a mile a minute!" "Well stop thinking about it! I'm not your father!" "Dude, it's not that. I'm thinking about something completely different!" "It's the trash isn't it?" "It's the sweet, sweet trash!" Frank and Charlie, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

I remember in first grade when Ronald McDonald came to school preaching "recycle, reduce, reuse." Maybe it was just the way I had been raised, or perhaps the influence of my awesome and insightful beatnik teacher Mr. Van Gorden, but I distinctly remember wondering how a clown wearing a plastic jumpsuit, plastic nose, plastic wig and shoes, representing some of the least healthy food in America (served in Styrofoam) was going to educate us on the environment? I know, big thoughts for a youngin', but I guess I've always marched to the beat of my own drum. All said and done though, the creepy clown had a point, but today's post is aimed at looking beyond "recycle, reduce and reuse", though these topics are certainly linked. 

The old saying goes "One man's garbage is another man's gold." A statement with which any hoarder would certainly agree. I do not advocate bringing home every "gem" found in back alley's and junk piles and stockpiling them like pack rats for later use...not if you ever want to bring a date home at least. But I strongly support upcycling whenever possible.

Upcycling is the process of taking an old discarded item that was intended for one use, augmenting its shape and using it for a new function. In archaeology, we use the term use-life to describe how artifacts have functioned over time and are eventually deposited into the archaeological record. For instance, a stone bowl that has been broken through use, is then used as an anvil stone for shellfish processing, broken again through time, a fragment of this is later grooved and lashed to the end of a plant fiber line and used as a fishing weight. Upcycling has been a human tradition throughout the world for generations.

For at least 2.6 million years our ancestors made stone tools. After European contact, indigenous peoples around the world who still relied on this technology, found a new resource...glass. And so, from the dumps, landfills, and shipwrecks that Native flintknappers encountered, a wide array of upcycled glass found its way into their traditional hunting and processing assemblages. 
Inspired by the works of historic knappers from Australia and North America, I spent the last few days gathering glass, transforming and refining its shape into effective tools, the old way. From a plate glass table, bottle bases, and a sky scraper window smashed on the concrete, a wide spectrum of colors and projectile points emerged. My flintknapping kit consists solely of an antler tine cut from a black tailed deer shed antler I found while working as a shepherd on the north coast, a hammerstone which was a river cobble that came to me in the planes below the Grand Tetons, and a fragment of leather left over from my buddy Nicholas' fine leatherwork.

Weather it is a scrap of aluminum upcycled into a clam gauge (as my buddy Kirby recently did with his friend Garo, the Wild Blue Chef), or a scrap of steel blacksmithed into a one-of-a-kind knife (post soon to come), or the hobo stove you cook your grunion on that was once no more than a coffee can and a disposable aluminum pie plate, upcycling is fun and creative! This tradition says "forager" to the core! 

So get out there, want the waste, grab the garbage, take the trash, reuse the refuse, remember to bathe afterwards...and always strive to keep the old ways alive! -By Kevin Smith

After Work Delights

I landed some work recently as an archaeological monitor which was really nice as I have been waiting on student loans (again) for way too long! As the area we were observing was clearly "sterile soil" (no cultural layers or resources such as artifacts and ecofacts being present) I found some time to observe the local botany as I surveyed the surface in search of archaeological sites. In the fields that were slotted to be graded for development I came across a bounty of wild mustard, lambsquarter and wildflowers. The long and short of it was this...the next day this area would be a flat barren foundation for houses and roads and these plants would be gone. So as far as I was concerned I had little options.
After work I gathered wild mustard and some lambsquarter.

Call me old fashioned or country (and I'll take it as a complement) but I doubt there is a more beautiful site in the world than my wife's smile when presented with a bouquet of wildflowers! Silver lupine, mustard, pineapple weed, to name a few were in bright bloom and brought a nice feel of spring into our home that evening.

This was my first time enjoying lambsquarter, a plant that grows throughout the state, and I certainly hope it is not the last! This little plant is as delicious as it is prolific. I sauteed it up and layered the leaves with goat cheese in a tasty omelet the next morning. A little chili powder and a dash of homemade sea salt and I was content. A gourmet meal from the weeds in a field.

Keep in mind that several plants bear a resemblance to lambsquarter to the untrained eye, including nightshade which is deadly poisonous! Remember, aste not want not, don't cry over spilt milk, a bird in the hand is better than two in the bush, and always strive to keep the old ways alive! -By Kevin Smith

Brunch and Easter Dinner

The last few nights of the grunion season (for the next few months) were a blast. And, as usual , low on funds, I had to whip up some delicious foraged foods over the next few days to save money. It was Easter, and time for a celebration...countryman style!
For brunch it was our go to staple, ramen, but this time with sauteed grunion and grunion roe. The latter of which was surprisingly delicious!

I pulled one of last season's lobsters from the freezer, and used the shell from the legs and tail to cook some nice sea flavor into a tomato cream sauce. Gluten free lobster pasta for only a few dollars a plate was a nice way to enjoy the coming of spring.

Gotta go work on my thesis...more foraging adventures soon to come! In the meantime, for all those foragers who've been waiting for spring to arrive, get your plant identification books out of the archive,  get out where the wild edibles thrive, forage up some food and keep the old ways alive! -By Kevin Smith