My earliest years of life being before age ten were lived in a woody swam farm area. My week-ends and summers were often spent on the sandy farm and fishing piers on the Albermarle sound with grandparents.
Often running barefoot to touch the lush meadows where livestock would graze and family would toil until the setting of the sun. Then the week-ends would come and often to visit the farm where I found sand grabbing my toes and fruit trees gifted me fruit while the sound gifted fish, shade and fun called swimming. Yet, it was floating on an old inter tube.
Living afar from area where being a child always seemed so exotic for many years has changed in people, land and culture. Yet, the thing I loved and adored the most remain dear and near in the heart.
Let everything that breathes sing praises to the LORD! Praise the LORD! (Psalms 150:6)
The native plants still seem to reveal the life and faith and love of their native land. Let’s sit and chat and tell our stories of living on the land.
Eastern North Carolina has a diverse range of plant species that are native to the region. Here are some examples:
- Bald cypress (Taxodium distichum): This is a large, long-lived deciduous tree that is common in wetland areas, particularly in the swamps and bottomlands of the coastal plain.
- Carolina laurelcherry (Prunus caroliniana): This evergreen shrub or small tree is found in a range of habitats, including sandy soils, pinelands, and coastal hammocks.
- American beautyberry (Callicarpa americana): This deciduous shrub is known for its clusters of bright purple berries that appear in the fall. It is often found in woodland edges and along streams.
- Yellow pitcherplant (Sarracenia flava): This carnivorous plant has distinctive yellow pitcher-shaped leaves that trap and digest insects. It grows in wetland habitats like bogs and savannas.
- Red bay (Persea borbonia): This evergreen tree is common in coastal plain forests and is related to the avocado. It has glossy leaves and small, purplish-black fruit.
- Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris): This iconic southern pine is known for its long needles and large cones. It is an important component of the region’s longleaf pine forests.
- Wild azalea (Rhododendron canescens): This deciduous shrub produces showy pink or white flowers in the spring and is found in wooded areas and along streams.
- Swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata): This perennial plant has pink or purple flowers that attract butterflies and is found in wetland habitats like swamps and marshes.
- Eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana): This evergreen tree is a common component of the region’s woodlands and is known for its aromatic, red-hued wood.
- Swamp dogwood (Cornus foemina): This shrub or small tree is found in wetland habitats like swamps and floodplains and produces clusters of white flowers in the spring.
thedailylily.com 
I love reading your stories, Sara; and looking at the photo of those trees in the water; and reading up on all the native plants!
“The native plants still seem to reveal the life and faith and love of their native land. Let’s sit and chat and tell our stories of living on the land.”
As a young child living in northern Virginia (before it built up), one of my first connections to “living on the land” was hunting for wild asparagus in the spring. During ‘asparagus season’ this hunt was our family’s after dinner adventure. We would set off down the side road from our house either on foot, me on my bike or pony, or sometimes in the car driving real slow with windows down…wanting to be the first one to spot a stalk ready for picking. It could not be one that had gone to seed or too thin…you had to find just the right sized ones growing among the roadside weeds, brush and poison ivy. We would bring the evening harvest back home and mom would cook it, standing it upright in her stove top coffee pot, for dinner once we had collected enough for a meal. Sometimes this took more than one hunt. I think it was years later that I even knew asparagus could be grown in a garden patch or found in a grocery store. I considered it a natural part of the land that helped feed us, was fun to find and provided a happy family time together.
Debi, Interesting story of the life of “wild asparagus” growing in No Va. Does it still grow in No Va and adorn dinner tables? Does it grow wild in other places?
Is it the same as the high dollar bundles I might find at my local grocery store? If so, with food inflation we might walk and find a bit, but not drive becausec the price of gas might deter the trip.
I do love the value of family gathering food from the soil to delight the children and adults alike as they bonded for family dinners.
I don’t think I ever had an asparagus find in strolling along in woody patches giving shade for the walk. But, I do relate to your delight as we often spotted wild berries of various sorts.
These stories always cause my soul to rejoice in prayer for the rich land in which we dwell. The bonds of family as we gather around tables where we share meals for healthy bodies and love that endures when changes come and the light dims in our family lives. Love, story and hope remains as we remember to give thanks in all things.
Home, churches and communities share family ties in various ways. Let us linger around the table in the presence of Jehovah and give praise!
Let everything that breathes sing praises to the LORD! Praise the LORD! (Psalms 150:6)
Sara, you asked, “Does it still grow in No Va and adorn dinner tables? Does it grow wild in other places?
Is it the same as the high dollar bundles I might find at my local grocery store? “
I read that it is the same plant as far as genus and species (Asparagus officinalis) as those in the grocery store. But there are many different varieties, including many green types, and white and purple ones. Wild asparagus is usually longer and thinner. Asparagus was not native to the US, According to the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. It is a Eurasian plant, probably introduced to the US by the French in the 1600-1700’s, and is found in most VA counties.
Another article said wild asparagus can be found in every state in the country. The plants are pollinated by insects and the female plants produce seeds, with birds spreading them.
It needs to be in full sun so you would not find it “strolling along in woody patches giving shade for the walk. “ You might find it along ditches, fence lines, or in a briar patch. We usually found ours along an overgrown, unmown edge of the road. I do recall my grandmother taking me to her friend’s apple orchard where we found it in the sunny spots in between the trees; and along the railroad tracks near the friend’s house. I don’t know if it can still be found in No Va; I have not seen it growing wild in many years; perhaps because I have not been out walking and looking in the spring in an area where it could have the chance to survive mowing and herbicides.
“But, I do relate to your delight as we often spotted wild berries of various sorts.” I can relate to that as well, Sara. We moved further to the west in No Va when I was a teen and older. On that property we had an abundance of wild wine berry bushes. We picked and put those on our cereal in season. They are considered invasive, but we welcomed the fruit. We also had wild strawberries in a field behind our house. We never gathered enough for making jam, but it was still nice to pick and eat the few we had seasonally.
I would like to join in praises, “Let everything that breathes sing praises to the LORD! Praise the LORD! (Psalms 150:6)”
“ Let’s sit and chat and tell our stories of living on the land.“ I grew up in Eastern NC also, and one thing that comes to my mind, as a young child, was the scent of honeysuckles. The neighbor next door to my home had honeysuckles growing along the fence. I can remember the awesome aroma, and every now and then I would have to just taste one. I have enjoyed reading the stories above. The stories helped bring back some memories, of my childhood and the beautiful honeysuckles that I enjoyed as a young child.🥰
Yes, Tammy , thanks for sharing your honeysuckle story🙌🏻 You reminded me just how much I loved that sweet nectar when I was a child. Now, I’m always reminded myself hummingbirds and bees are fans of the fragrance and sweet nectar as well.
We can teach our next generation how to stroll through nature and enjoy a sweet treat from the beauty of nature in their find when they smell, see, run and find.
Follow the instructions 😍
Pull off the bottom green part that holds the petals together.
You will see the tail of a “string” and you need to slowly pull it out from the petals.
At the end of that “string” you will find nectar.
Lick and enjoy!
“We can teach our next generation how to stroll through nature and enjoy a sweet treat from the beauty of nature in their find when they smell, see, run and find.” Great idea Sara🥰
I loved reading about honeysuckle, Tammy and Sara! That brought back sweet memories.
These native plants really are wonders… the Lord created such diversity and uses.
“The native plants still seem to reveal the life and faith and love of their native land.”
Reading again Sara’s words above and her list of native trees and plants brought to mind a couple of native tree stories connected to my younger years. “Eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana)”. As a very young child, this was an important tree for my family. We lived in a small town where, to my knowledge, I never saw a place where cut Christmas trees were sold at Christmas or a Christmas tree farm. So, saw in hand of either mother or father, we would venture into the woods across the street from where we lived on our quest for the perfect Christmas tree. The field/woods was full of eastern red cedars and the hunt seemed to go on for hours through the thickets and tall grass until the right tree was spotted. Then, after it was cut, it was dragged home, and put inbucket of water until the day came to place it in the stand and decorate.
The other important native tree story was a bit later in my younger years at the home property mentioned in another story above. There was a black walnut tree near our house (Juglans nigra) and one further up a driveway leading from the house. Lots of walnuts fell to the ground from those trees. After my grandmother moved in with us, those nuts became very useful. She would throw them in the driveway so cars would run over them to help break the outer green husk off. Then in the late fall, she would sit w/ her basket of walnuts on the concrete basement floor and hammer the shells until she cracked them open and could remove the meats. Those precious meats became some of the nuts she used in her wonderful Christmas baking.
Now, as for my mom wondering why her tomato plants never grew near the one walnut tree…we couldn’t figure out why until I learned in college that black walnut trees (especially the roots) produce a chemical called juglone that inhibits growth of many plants.
Debi, interesting about the black walnut trees inhibiting growth of other plants. Did the plants have to be in contact with the root of tree?
Love your story Debi,,thanks for sharing your knowledge.🥰
The roots (as do other parts of the tree) produce this chemical which is leached into the soil, so many nearby plants sensitive to this juglone, that come into contact with it can yellow, wilt, die, etc. Leaves and stems produce it in lesser amounts, but as it rains or the leaves fall and decompose, the soil underneath the tree becomes contaminated.
The roots (as do other parts of the tree) produce this chemical which is leached into the soil, so many nearby plants sensitive to this juglone, that come into contact with it, can yellow, wilt, die, etc. Leaves and stems produce it in lesser amounts, but as it rains or the leaves fall and decompose, the soil underneath the tree becomes contaminated
And because black walnut trees can grow very large, and roots grow way out beyond the canopy, a large area near the tree can be affected. Interestingly, I have heard that this is a survival technique of the tree… a way to reduce competitors.
This is some good info on it.
https://mortonarb.org/plant-and-protect/tree-plant-care/plant-care-resources/black-walnut-toxicity/#:~:text=Black%20walnuts%20produce%20a%20chemical,the%20soil%20after%20they%20fall.