Shawn Dawson

Fireweed is a perennial wildflower, best known for its breathtaking pink-purple flowers to be found growing in abundant patches. It gets its name because it is one of the first “weeds” to come back after a forest fire. Thanks to its beautiful magenta blooms fireweed is a very easy plant to identify. The flowers can be harvested to make jelly, but the young shoots of fireweed can also be foraged for food because they make a great substitute for asparagus. You will want to pick them before the...

Although not a native plant, I find hops that have escaped from cultivation quite often here in Newfoundland. Early European settlers to the island often planted hops to replace yeast for baking bread, rather than thinking of them as a staple flavouring for brewing beer. Hops can be found growing around old homesteads, climbing up old apple trees or taking over pin cherry or other stands of trees. I am more interested in harvesting the delicious spring shoots rather than the buds or flowers...

As its name suggests, river mint can be found growing along the edges of rivers, ponds, streams and wetlands. We have a few different species of wild mint here, although all of them have been introduced to Newfoundland. Mint quickly spreads if it finds a river or wet area where it will thrive. These plants can be easily identified by their strong minty smell, square stems, and oval shaped dark to light green paired leaves. They create tight clusters of pink flowers at the top of each stem. I...