![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_E3930.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_E3931.jpg\")
I\u2019ve never felt this provided for in an ecosystem before. While I\u2019m sure my beautiful southeastern home has ample vegetation to meet my needs, I was never taught anything about that. Most of my background is in agriculture. Working on farms and in fields, you develop a certain relationship with the land. It\u2019s almost a parental role. You give the crops what they need – water, sun, nutrients – and watch as they take the provisions to grow and mature. You love your crops (except for maybe that tricky relationship with the bad seed who got influenced by the wrong crowd (aphids)), and you feel a sense of pride because you shaped them. You take their fruits, but those fruits are partially a product of your labor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
With seed collection though, I\u2019ve developed a whole new relationship with the plants. There is no sense of pride with seed collection. I contribute nothing to the success of the plants. I play no role in their growth. I don\u2019t give, I only take. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_E3929.jpg\")
The roles are reversed – now the plants are taking care of me. I didn\u2019t have to earn it, I just had to appreciate it. The term mother nature takes on a whole new meaning. While I\u2019m well aware that every material thing I own comes from nature, I\u2019m so separated from the raw materials that it\u2019s hard to appreciate. But, when I pick the berries off the branch and pop them in my mouth, I know exactly who to thank. The book I\u2019ve been reading, Braiding Sweetgrass<\/em> by Robin Wall Kimmerer, has been teaching me to express gratitude to every part of nature. The berries that I collect are pure gifts. I\u2019ve been trying to keep in mind the lessons from this book as I collect my seeds. Kimmerer talks of how she always leaves an offering for plants and thanks them when she collects from them. My inner treehugger comes out, but it feels joyous to thank the plants for their gifts. Even when I bake with my personal collection, I feel more inclined to take my time because I know that I\u2019m using gifts, and there\u2019s nothing more hurtful than wasting a well-thought out present. During work hours it feels even better to know that I\u2019m using these gifts to help the plants back. The seeds that we collect will primarily be used for meadow and fire restoration, so everything I take goes right back to earth – a neverending cycle of gratitude and giving. <\/p>\n\n\n\n P.S. My two fellow interns and I have been working on an album to put into song what is so hard to convey with typical prose. Below is an attempt to explain how I feel when I\u2019m picking berries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Summer in the Pacific Northwest means berry season. While some, like the red baneberry, are highly poisonous, a lot of them are edible and quite tasty, making seed collection go by a lot faster. Whenever I get a little hungry, … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.clminternship.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_E3928-1.jpg\")
Berries in the bag\n\nWell I was drivin my load down that gravel road\nYung Gravy blastin through my speakers\nWindows down, sunglasses up, \nSending a thanks to my good lord Caesar\nPassin bracken ferns and heck maybe even cedars (I dont know my trees)\n\nI\u2019m cruisin right along, apartment K on my mind\nWhen I hear a \u2018stop\u2019 yelp out the back\nI get out the truck (there\u2019s nothing here, wait what?)\nAs I grab my pack, I see em\n\nBerries to my left. \nBerries to my right.\nBerries up and down. \nBerries everywhere in sight.\nI grab a ziploc, grab my walky talk\nAnd I start grabbin those \nBerries off the branch.\nBerries in my hand.\nBerries in the sky\nBerries in my eye\nBut first..\nBerries in the bag. (Yee haw)\nBerries in the bag \n\nSittin in these bushes, got dirt for a cushion\nHands stained purple from the fruit of my labor\nBees swarm, birdies dive\nEveryone wants a taste of my berries to savor\nKarma blessin\u2019 for my good behavior\n\nMy stomach gives a rumble, gives a grumble\nShe don\u2019t like seein\u2019 what she can\u2019t have\nI decide to brave it through, clench those ab muscles (shoutout Shaun T)\nBut that\u2019s when I realize I got\n\nBerries to my left. \nBerries to my right.\nBerries up and down. \nBerries everywhere in sight.\nI grab a ziploc, grab my walky talk\nAnd I start grabbin those \nBerries off the branch.\nBerries in my hand.\nBerries in the sky\nBerries in my eye\nBut first..\nBerries in the tummy. (Yee haw)\nBerries in the tummy\n\nHuckleberries. Thimbleberries. Blueberries. Snowberries.\nI\u2019ll take em all, take em anyway\nBlackberries. Black cap raspberries. Elderberries. Red baneberries.\nBake them berries in a pie. Berries in the sky\nBerries on my tongue. Berries when I\u2019m on the run.\nKeep me fed. Keep me full. Got my girl nourished too\nBerries...\nI love youuuuu!\n\nBerries to my left. \nBerries to my right.\nBerries up and down. \nBerries everywhere in sight.\nI grab a ziploc, grab my walky talk\nAnd I start grabbin those \nBerries off the branch.\nBerries in my hand.\nBerries in the sky\nBerries your the love of my life\nBut first...\nBerries in the bag. (Yee haw)\nBerries in the bag \nBerriieess\nBeriieees\nBerries get in my bag!!!\n<\/pre>\n\n\n\n