Polar Bear Blog - East Wind - July 31, 2006

A strong east wind is terrorizing the tundra today. The plants and trees bend to its will, in colourful subjugation (sorry... I had to use that line, it was the first thing I thought of when I saw the fireweed in my yard...and yes, I am sober...relatively).

It has been a great summer for fireweed, one of Churchill's more prolific plants. As a disturbance vegetation, it grows on old roads, building sites and gravel pits, and since the military was in Churchill for about forty years, testing ordinances, vehicles and personnel, pretty much everything has been disturbed at one time or another.

Fireweed is a brilliant purple, growing tall maybe two or three feet in places. A series of flowers adorns the top third of it, emerging from a thick stalk with sharp, green, almost snapdragon-like leaves.

And they are tasty leaves. Fireweed is one of the more edible plants up here - the young leaves, stems and flowers all can be eaten raw or cooked (with butter). It is a nice addition to a salad, tasting, in my opinion, a little like nasturtium (a little spicy).