As I sit here writing this down I think to those days of growing up on a farm in southern Ohio and all of the enjoyment I extracted from those days. I feel I will never tire of expressing how thankful I was to be a country boy. If you ever took a walk on a farm or even on an old farm road you understand my strong feelings. Just as sure as there is so much to see in a large city so also is there as much or maybe even more to observe in rural areas. 
I know I have talked about all the good times I had exploring the countryside and most times, I did so with my best friends the Marshall Brothers. Now I cannot rightly say how much land we covered in all of those explorations but it was a lot for sure. The area of the Ohio Valley is an area that was settled in the 1700’s and has been in use ever since. What I mean is that many of the settler’s original cabins and houses have been long gone and newer structures have been built in their place but in a different place than the original place.
Therefore, with that in place as we boys took our walks we would stumble onto old foundations or the remains of log cabins and in such places we had not thought about. Now where these places were or was we would find old fruit trees or grapevines that were still there and still producing. Therefore, after we had been out far from the house an apple, a peach, or maybe a handful of grapes would taste pretty good and to us we were liveing off the land so to say. I know that on a farm, right behind our farm was a paw paw patch and in the fall of the year, you could eat a few paw paws. They taste a little like a banana and it is
wise to not overdo eating them, as they will loosen your digestive system.
One old farm near us had an old cherry tree and a very old pear tree. It seems they will live a very long time and it is obvious they do not thrive on a lot of needed care. On another farm was a couple of sugar pear trees of which I had not seen before and haven’t seen since, They produce miniature pears about two bites worth and the meat of one is the sweetest fruit I have ever tasted. I know that in the fall when we were housing tobacco near those trees my hands would fill their caps up and eat them on the trips to and from the tobacco patches.
Not so wild but there for your picking was on my Uncle Roy’s farm and my cousin Tom’s farm fence rows that had been sown with asparagus and it had been sown almost two miles in distance. Now here was one of the items that did not draw me to it as it is something I do not care for but my friends felt this to be a treat and very tender. However, if I would be patient and maybe walk along those fence lines further I might come upon a bunch of honeysuckle. Here is something I have to feel many of you already know about. Just pick the flower, pull the stem from the boom, see that drop of honey, and enjoy. Here a person can spend a lot of time trying to get your fill of honey but I never was able to harvest that much. It does take a lot when it is one bead at a time. Again, it is living a little off of the land.
In mid-summer I knew where just about the entire local blackberry patches and raspberry patches were and yes a person could eat their fills worth and have the stained fingers to prove it. Tther were two reasons for knowing where the patches were. One if I was out tromping around the area with my friends it was a good place to stop and
indulge. In addition, when in full harvest time it was the place to fill the buckets up and take to our moms to have those preserves and baked pies with. Both of which we would enjoy.
The main point I feel here is that when we explored we knew there would be items to taste along the way. Much of it came from items that were planted and began when the settlers arrived. By finding all of these locations, we also learned some history with our travels. History sounds boring but if you saw it, the way we saw it there was more than just a date to what had passed before us. Here probably was the most fun I ever had at this subject and was a topic I could talk with my parents over the dinner table. Once we would leave the woods and old foundations we would head across the permanent pastures and near to fence lines, we would find dewberries. They look like huge black berries but pretty tart. Near where they might be found would be wild strawberries. They are smaller than domestic ones but they are very sweet. The down side to that is I never would find a patch big enough to allow you to pick your fill.
One more item I want to mention was at my Cousin Tom Houser’s farm. In a field that served as a garden spot and a tobacco patch grew in the fence, line in the corner where the tobacco was raised a large clump of mint herbs. You never had to guess when you were near it, as the fragrance would consume you. Here is an item that I have never seen before or since. My mom would pick a few sprigs to take home and we would add a sprig to our iced tea. My cousin Tom said he raised it for the Kentucky Derby so he could make his Mint Julips. I never did see that but he could have made enough for the entire derby the patch was so large.
Now these days I can say I have tried many items that mother earth grows and most have been interesting and pleasant. I cannot say I had to eat of them to survive but I guess maybe I could have. It can be hard to know what is safe and what is not but I had a solid plan to know. I had the Marshall Brothers with me. They were very smart and were well read on items of this type. So if one of them said these are good we ate. Folks if you are ever going out exploring always take along a solid plan.
Rick Houser grew up on a farm near Moscow in Clermont County and loves to share stories about his youth and other topics. If you are interested in reading more of his stories they can be found in his books ‘There are Places to Remember” and’ Memories ARE from the Heart.” He may be reached at [email protected] or mail to P.O. Box 213 Bethel, Ohio 45106.