Lily of the Valley

I'm the guest blogger today at Melody Steiner's site. Go check out the dangers of Lily of the Valley and how to use it in your novel.

-Sonja

Edible Flowers

Whether you're writing fantasy, historical fiction, or a modern-day story set in the woods, it's good to know what's edible in the forests and meadows you plunk your character into. Green leafy things can be hard to identify, and sometimes your character just doesn't want to take a chance and accidentally ingest something that's not life-affirming. Blooming flowers are easy to identify, making mealtime a little safer.

This beauty is a violet and is known to grow wild pretty much everywhere in the Pacific Northwest. The leaves and flowers can be eaten raw like a salad. Sometimes bakers candy the flowers and use them as cake decorations, but the flowers can also be used to make vinegar, butter, and jelly.  The leaves can be used to thicken stews or brewed as tea. They're tiny, so it'll take longer to harvest enough to satisfy a big hunger, but they're worth the effort.

Historically, the flowers and leaves have been used as home remedies to relieve coughs and lung congestion. I have no medical training, so please don't try this out at home without further research. Feel free to have your protagonist try it out, though. 

This is fireweed, named so because if often takes over areas that have been burnt. It also grows in my backyard, where nothing has burned, and it's a hardy plant. My kids can stomp this baby into the ground and it keeps coming back. It's also edible, but the kids don't know that. The leaves are great raw in a salad, although they're best when they're new and tender. They get bitter and tough as they age. The stems can be peeled and eaten raw or steamed. The roots are pretty bitter, but if they're harvested before the plant flowers, the roots are palatable. The flowers produce nectar which can be made into sweetener, candy, honey, syrup, jellies, and ice cream. The flowers themselves are edible. I can't vouch for the taste, but the internet says it they have a slightly spicy, buttery taste. 

This versatile plant also has other uses than a stomach-filler. Soak the stem fibers in water then twist into twine or rope. The seed fluff is great for weaving, padding, or pillow stuffing. The cooked leaves can be added to meat scraps and served to the dogs (yes, they'll eat it). It also had medicinal value (again, don't try this on yourself without further research): raw stems placed over puss-filled cuts or boils keeps the wound from healing too quickly. Tea made from fireweed was traditionally used to treat coughs, asthma, and stomach ailments. Or so I've heard.

One other edible flower is the dandelion, which I covered in a previous post. They're easy to identify, and the entire plant is good eating, so your protagonist doesn't have to worry about starving in a field of these. Plus, he can make wine from the flowers and have an after-dinner beverage after a hard day of being a hero.

Stay tuned for my next post on edible plants. It's sure to be useful if not interesting.

-Sonja

Edible Water Plants

Maybe you're writing a fantasy and your protagonist is searching for dinner in the woods. Or you're writing a historical and your antagonist has to forage for a meal. Or you're in desperate need of a walk to clear your cluttered head and you spot a tasty looking plant and wonder if you should put it in your mouth. Sometimes you just need to know what's edible if you didn't find it on a Safeway shelf. Today I want to cover a couple of plants you'll find near water.

This is the versatile cattail, or typha latifolia. It grows in marshes, along rivers and ponds, even in ditches--anywhere it can get plenty of water. It is also the best friend of any foraging character you can invent. Every green part of this plant is edible. Young shoots should be harvested in the early spring and taste like cucumbers. They can even be pickled. When steamed they taste like cabbage. The lower part of the stem where it attaches to the ribosome can be boiled like a potato or added to stews. Later in the season, when the stalks get woodier, just remove the outer bark and boil, stir-fry, or steam. When the pollen spikes (what will become the brown top of the plant late in the season) first emerge, they can be eaten raw or boiled and eaten like corn on the cob. Pollen collected from the spikes can be mixed with water and to make dough and you've got biscuits, flat bread, or pancakes.

The cattail is great for other uses, too. Weaving the leaves creates mats, sleeping pallets, insulation for a home, capes, hats, and bags. Cattail seed fluff can be used for stuffing pillows and mattresses, diaper filling, or wound dressings. The woody stems can be stripped and woven for making rope. This plant, alone, can mean the difference between life and death for your character.

This plant is called cow parsnip, of heracleum lanatum. Don't confuse this with water hemlock! Actually, that'd be a great plot point--who could prove if the death-by-poison was intention or unintentional? Cow parsnip is edible, although take care in harvesting this one. Some people, especially those who are photosensitive, will have an adverse reaction to touching this plant (either a dark discoloration of the skin, sensitivity, pain, or a rash. The skin discoloration can take up to a year to fade). The best time to eat cow parsnip is before the plant flowers. Peel off the outer layers or the stalk (wear gloves), then boil or stir-fry. I hear it tastes similar to celery. The upper part of the stalk has the strongest, sweetest flavor, and the closer to the base of the plant, the more bitter it will become. Sometimes boiling the lower parts multiple times (changing the water each time) will leech out the bitterness.

Like the cattail, cow parsnip also has other uses. The dried stems can be used as drinking straws. The roots can be used to make a yellow dye or as  toothache relief (applied directly to gums). Tea made from dried leaves is useful for nausea, acid indigestion, and heartburn. (Note: I am NOT a physician - don't try these as home remedies on yourself without a lot of research and contacting someone who is actually trained. This information is provided solely for use in works of fiction.)

If you found this interesting or even mildly useful, please comment below. I plan on continuing this "edible" theme for a while longer unless I hear that ya'll don't like it. Thanks!

-Sonja

Query Letter Basics Part Two by guest blogger Melody Steiner

Last weeks I discussed three components of crafting relevant share a bit about what to include in your query letter to an editor or agent.

Like a cover letter for a job, a query sells you as well as your book. Keep it concise and you’ll show you’re professional. Use interesting, descriptive words to catch their attention and engage their senses. Give it a touch of personality. Make them laugh. 

A query letter should consist of the following:

1)    One-two paragraph blurb about your novel. Think about the “back-of-the-book” blurb—it’s designed to capture a reader’s interest and emphasize the high stakes.

2)    One sentence market analysis describing similar books and highlighting your novel’s unique aspects. Make sure the books you choose to compare to yours are current works published within the last couple of years.

3)    One to two sentence author bio focusing on previous publishing credits, your professional writing groups, and any writing awards you’ve won. Here’s the place you can add a bit of humor (gently!) to give the editor or agent a sense of who you are.

Finally, end your query letter on a hopeful, but not arrogant or creepy, note. It’s perfectly fine to say, “I look forward to your response.” It’s not okay to say, “I’ll call next week to check in.” In fact, don’t say anything about checking in—giving time frames is a surefire way to get a form rejection. Thank your reader for their consideration, and don’t include any P.S.’s.

Once you’ve sent off your query letter, give yourself a pat on the back, treat yourself to a cupcake, and then start writing a new novel. The difficult part is still ahead.

-Melody 

Melody Steiner works at an academic library as a circulation technician. In 2006, she graduated from a small private college in Ohio with a Bachelors of Arts in English. After she met and married her husband, they relocated to Seattle, WA. In March, 2011, she graduated from the University of Washington with a Master in Library and Information Science, aspiring to becoming a full-time librarian. Her hobbies include reading the latest YA series (recent favorites include Patrick Ness’ The Knife of Never Letting Go and Paoli Bacigalupi’s Shipbreaker), camping, and enjoying long walks with her best friend. Last November, they had their first little peanut—a rambunctious baby girl. In addition to adult science fiction, she writes fantasy and YA novels. She is represented by Nicole Resciniti of The Seymour Agency. You can find her at http://twitter.com/melody_steiner.

The Incredible Edible Fern

Whether you're writing a fantasy, a historical, or a camping story set in modern times, your protagonist needs to know what part of the flora is edible and what to avoid. In my last post, I discussed some of the green things that become available in early spring. Today's post is all about the wonderful fern.

There are a kajillion species of fern, and not all of them are edible. The bracken fern, for instance, is fine for cows but causes stomach cancer in humans. So don't let your protagonist eat that one. But there are other varieties that are not only acceptable for dinner fare, but downright delicious. Like this one:

This is licorice fern. It grows on deciduous trees and branches, so you have to do a bit of climbing to get to them. But they're worth it. The stem, when chewed, tasted like licorice. They can also be eaten dried, steamed, or scorched, but raw is really the best. They can also be used for flavoring in a stew (although I've never known anyone who wanted a licorice-flavored stew) or used to sweeten something that's not so sweet (like sweetgale tea). When I took a home-schooling class into the woods to sample the available goodies, this one was a favorite of the kids. As an added bonus, licorice fern is useful as a remedy for colds and sore throats.

This is deer fern, a plant found in the understory in wet forests, and an important food source for deer and elk during the winter. Your protagonist won't want to make a full meal of this treat, but chewing the leaves acts as a hunger suppressant to tide him over until he finds something more substantial. It's also a great medicine for skin sores. I don't know how this one tastes, as I've never sampled it before, nor could I find the answer on the internet. Maybe it doesn't taste that great. I have one in my backyard, so if I get adventurous, I'll share my results. Don't hold your breath, though.

Those first two ferns won't satisfy the hunger pangs like this last one. 

This is the ostrich fern fiddleheads, the new growth that sprouts every spring from the base plant. Scrape off the brown scales, steam, then  slather in melted butter. Yum. I've been told they taste like a mash-up of asparagus and green beans, although I haven't tried them. But your character could live off these babies in the early spring until they start to unfurl. Then they become too bitter.

That concludes the edible fern lesson for today. I hope it was helpful. Next time we'll discuss some of the tasty tidbits found near water.

-Sonja

Plant Poisons: Buttercup and Tansy

I'm the guest blogger today at Melody Steiner's site, where I talk about poisonous plants every week. This week I discuss buttercup and tansy. Go check it out.

What's Edible and What's Not

Over at Melody Steiner's site, every Thursday I discuss poisonous plants and how to use them to kill off those unwanted characters in your novel. I'm only three posts into that series, but it sparked an idea for a new short series right here. It's all those wonderful, edible plants you find in your backyard (should you happen to live in the Pacific Northwest). Our ancestors lived without Safeway for a long time, and with all the modern conveniences at our disposal (like grocery stores), we've lost some of those skills our ancestors once possessed. Like finding dinner. How does this apply to writing a novel, you ask? It might not. But if you're writing a fantasy or a historical, it might be a good idea to know what your characters can scarf down when they're feeling hungry, and which plants to avoid at all costs.

(photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net)

This is the common dandelion, available almost everywhere. The leaves can be eaten raw or cooked, and the roots can be eaten as a vegetable or dried and ground for use as a coffee substitute. The flowers can be used to make dandelion wine (don't wait for the flower to go to seed, like this photo--use it when it's still yellow), and the entire plant can be brewed to make beer. Talk about a versatile weed. I have never eaten a dandelion, but the internet says they taste similar to endive. I don't think I've ever eaten endive, either. Dandelion leaves should be harvested in the early spring before they become bitter. If you're feeling adventurous, there are a lot of recipes on the internet for dandelion salads, side dishes, and drinks. If you try it, let me know how it comes out.

This is miner's lettuce, or claytonia perfoliata, and it's nearly as prevalent as the dandelion, although you might have to trek into the woods a bit to find it. It's called miner's lettuce because early miners and settlers used to eat it. It grows during the late months of winter and early months of spring, and therefore was one of the first edible plants to pop up after the long cold spell of winter, saving many a person from starvation or rickets--it's rich in vitamins A and C. This one I have sampled while taking a home-school class through the woods to try all the edible good stuff, and I agree that it's juicy and tasty, once you get the spitbug slime off the leaves.

 (photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net)

This last early spring treat is wild strawberry (fragaria chiloensis). I used to eat these by the bucket-load when I was a kid, but finding large patches of these is difficult because all the woodland critters like them, too. Unlike the cultivated strawberries we purchase in the grocery stores, wild berries are tiny little things. They're also high in vitamin C, helping miners and settlers stave off rickets after a long winter with little or no fresh fruit. The berries have a high moisture content, so drying them doesn't work very well, but they make an excellent pie, or can be eaten right off the vine. The leaves were used medicinally by Native Americans: brewing the leaves as tea creates a delightful drink that can be used to treat diarrhea, and chewing the leaves to create a poultice for burns. This little tidbit might come in handy if your protagonist burned herself getting the soup pot off the flames of her cooking fire. 

I'll cover a few more edible plants in my next post. Stay tuned.

-Sonja