HI All....... I didn't know you were from Utah, Allen! We just had a garden volunteer from the local colledge land her first job managing a garden for Americor in Utah ...... In response to the poison Ivy,.... being an eastern woodland native, having spent many hours in the woods as a child, even shared a secret fort with the neighboring farm kids in the woods, there was always poison ivy . We spent every winter clearing ditchbanks, harvesting firewood, and keeping the ditchbanks from expanding into the farm fields. I've also experienced the high mountains wilderness of northern New Mexico , with It's beautiful open forest floors. And the Adirondacks, where my husband is from, also has wonderful room to walk. The forests here have always had poison ivy, and dense briary areas,but there are spots within them that are open.I like to walk in the woods in the winter here when the vegetation is less and the insects are gone. When I was a child 50+ years ago I was the only one out of 5 children that not allergic to poison ivy.I used to pick my grandfather wild grapes that grew along with poison ivy in an old cedar tree ,so he could made homemade wine.I do remember there being abundant wild fruit, that we don't see anymore. I think , because of mowing, chemicals and climate change. :)sharon PS, On another topic that Christy brought up, I too wish it were easier to find food without the hydrogenated oils in it, but then I guess I wouldn't go to all the trouble to stock my kitchen with whole foods. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Allan Balliett" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, September 22, 2002 7:28 PM Subject: Re: Acceptable GM?
> >Thanks for this insightful response, Chris. These are the GOOD questions to > >ask. I recall Starhawk saying something about poison oak on the west coast > >was not always poisonous to humans. Something about wiping so many things > >off the face of the earth (and displacing others that should be growing > >there), that it evolved into something poisonous to humans. > > Relatively new to the east coast, I cannot imagine that poison ivy > has always been the dominant plant of the woodlands edge and, for > that matter, floor. > > What say, you eastern woodland natives? > > Saying this the other way around: I moved here from Utah where I > never thought twice about leaving the path. Poison ivy and poison oak > were seldom found and the forest floor (pine), was, for the most > part, open. > > > > -Allan > >
