serves them as hors d'oeuvres. The meat should be picked 

 out with a bent safety pin or nutpick and dipped into 

 melted butter or cocktail sauce, she says. 



From the marsh edge, Claar chooses the tender, jointed 

 stems of the glasswort for pickles or as a condiment for a 

 salad. Glasswort was a very popular herb among the early 

 colonists, especially Martha Washington. 



The wax myrtle, or bayberry shrub, was another coastal 

 plant popular during colonial times. The berries from this 

 shrub were boiled in water to remove their waxy covering 

 for aromatic candles. And the bayberry leaves, as well as 

 leaves from another shrub called the red bay, seasoned 

 stews, soups and chowders, Claar says. And coastal resi- 

 dents today swear by the red bay and bayberry's abilities to 

 ward off insects and fleas. 



When it comes to quenching a thirst, drink a glass of iced 

 yaupon tea and sumac lemonade. Yaupon tree roots were 

 steeped to make a black tea that the Algonkian Indians 

 used as a ceremonial purgative. But the colonists found the 

 leaves made a milder brew void of such nauseating effects. 

 Yaupon tea has enjoyed extensive use by coastal residents 

 since colonial days, and many folks drink it today. 



The red berries of the summac (not to be confused with 

 ivory-white berries of poison summac) can be crushed and 

 soaked in cold water to make a pink lemonade. But Joyner 

 says the berries should be picked before winter, when heavy 

 rains wash away the tannic acid that flavors them. 



Along swampy freshwater areas of coastal North Carolina, 

 Joyner says you can find the most versatile plant in North 



America — the cattail. In the winter, the cattail's starchy 

 tubers can be used like potatoes. In the spring the young 

 shoots can be peeled and eaten raw or cooked. The im- 

 mature flower spikes can be boiled and eaten like corn on 

 the cob. Or you can wait until the spikes have matured and 

 produced a bright yellow pollen that can be harvested and 

 used for flour. When the spike explodes in the late summer, 

 the white fluff can be gathered for use like goose down. 

 Joyner says many of the life jackets used in World War II 

 were filled with cattail fluff. 



Before eating any wild plant, berry, nut or fruit, Claar 

 and Joyner stress that it should be positively identified. 

 Many plants are edible, but others are poisonous. Use a 

 good field guide, such as A Field Guide to Edible Wild 

 Plants of North and Central America by Lee Peterson, 

 Claar says. 



And don't collect your edibles from roadsides, Joyner 

 warns. Roadsides are frequently sprayed with weed killers. 

 And the pollutants from automobiles can contaminate 

 nearby vegetation, he says. 



Claar asks that foragers "do not overstrip any area of its 

 vegetation. Pick only what you need." 



To learn more about foraging coastal areas, contact the 

 N.C. Marine Resources Centers at Ft. Fisher (919/458- 

 8257), Bogue Banks (919/247-4003), Roanoke Island 

 (919/473-3493), or the N.C. Maritime Museum in Beaufort 

 (919/728-7317). The education specialists at the centers and 

 museum plan foraging expeditions during the spring, sum- 

 mer and fall. — Kathy Hart 



Mullet runs: a signal in the wind 



A hard northeaster' blows across the 

 waters of Pamlico Sound. The air cools, 

 the water temperature drops, and the 

 mullet start to run. 



Natives call the winds a mullet 

 blow. In the old days, the fall 

 northeasters were a signal to 

 fishermen — they loaded nets into 

 boats and flocked to the beaches to 

 harvest one of the state's most impor- 

 tant cash crops. 



But those times are gone. Each year, 

 fewer fishermen watch for that change 

 in the wind, the drop of the ther- 

 mometer and the black ripple of a 

 school of mullet cutting through the 

 water. On restaurant menus, the mul- 

 let has gone out of style. In its place, 

 the flounder, the shrimp and the 

 scallop command a higher price and 

 greater demand. 



The state's mullet-fishing tradition 

 isn't lost. Some still watch for the signs 

 of a mullet run, and many more claim 

 mullet is the best fish you'll ever taste. 

 Norwood Frost, a 41-year-old fisher- 

 man, has been catching mullet since he 

 was old enough to walk. He's from 



Salter Path, a beach town that some 

 claim originally was settled by mullet 

 fishermen. That wouldn't surprise 

 Frost. He says Salter Path is the 

 "paradise of the world." The mullet 

 fishing is pretty good, too, he adds. 



Frost looks for the mullet to run 

 around the first of September. But his 

 crew is alone on the beachfront. 

 "We're the only crew left now," he 

 says. "Back yonder, there used to be 

 seven or eight crews. The older guys 

 have died out and the younger ones 

 won't mess with mullet." 



Billy Smith, a 55-year-old fisherman 



from Atlantic, has been catching mul- 

 let for over 35 years. He says commer- 

 cial fishermen have lost interest in 

 mullet because there's no financial in- 

 centive. "Back then, mullet was worth 

 as much as flounder. Now, you get $1 a 

 pound for flounder and 10 cents a 

 pound for mullet ... if you're lucky." 



Smith isn't likely to sell his nets, 

 though. "It's something I was brought 

 up doing," he says. 



Frost and Smith are among the 

 faithful who cling to the tradition of 

 mullet fishing — a tradition that began 

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