PODCAST EP. 370: Pollinators, Quail, and Wild Foods from the Desert

Transcript for On The Wing Podcast Ep. 370: Pollinators, Quail, and Wild Foods from the Desert

Speaker 1 (00:50.1)

Welcome to On the Wing Podcast presented by Pirina ProPlant. It is our annual celebration of Grasslands Week and Pollinator Week. So today's episode, we're going to talk about the plants blooming in the world that's abuzz right now. And hopefully, you've got little pheasants and quail and little.

Prairie grouse broods hiding in the grass and eating little bitty bugs wherever you're listening to us. To help me celebrate pollinators, grasslands, and the intersection with upland birds is my semi-frequent co-host. I I don't even know what that means, Marissa. My semi-freak. Let's punch your card, Marissa Jensen.

Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever's Habitat Education Programs Manager making her her return. I think the last one we did was hands-on habitat week. Yep. Yep. You're kind of the the week long celebration co.

Speaker 2 (02:02.798)

I guess. Maybe we need to change the title to that.

Speaker 1 (02:06.444)

Yeah, can you fit that? Can you fit that on your business card? Yes. and making well not making her on the wing debut, her second appearance, she reminded me she was on a podcast a few years ago doing a hunting state roundup in the West. unfortunately

She is recently departed the organization as a coworker. Lauren Stam. Lauren, thank you very much for joining us. We'll we'll consider this sort of your your swan song as an employee, but you continue as a volunteer.

Speaker 3 (02:47.768)

Thanks, Bob. I know. When you when you reached out, I was like, I have to tell you that I'm stepping away from my position. Not because I don't love the organization and everybody that works here, but just some changes in family dynamics. So unfortunately, my mom passed away last year suddenly. And I have a I have a rambunctious eight year old and a husband who's a fire captain and works really long shifts and

I used to just be able to bustle over and drop my son off to my mom's house. And without that, we were just kinda like, so I I was the Southwest regional rep for the organization and that role covers five states out west. So I would just tell Bob it's a lot of flights, a lot of overnight time, and as a a mom with no more help, it just became

unreachable. But I love love the organization. Also be involved with Southern Nevada quail forever. And I made so many great connections that you will probably see me out in the field with some of the reps and employees still. So I I'm still here. Don't worry.

Speaker 1 (03:53.65)

And you you started as a volunteer and you continue as a volunteer. So that that is so we're so thankful to have you involved. I I was very disappointed to hear your departure. but it's great to have you along. tell you said five states. Which which are the five states that you represented as a re

Speaker 3 (04:15.686)

Arizona, Nevada, California, New Mexico and Utah and technically Hawaii. If there's if there's any I never had a chance to make it over there. So I hope that the next rep is able to start a chapter in Hawaii.

Speaker 1 (04:30.904)

Marissa's already putting her name in for re that representation. It you mentioned this before we hit record, like most of our regional representatives who work with chapters, like we have, you know, multiples in states like Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, and they are road warriors. They're traveling from chapter to chapter and you know, three, five, ten hours on the road.

And you were very unique in that you were jumping on airplanes, which made it incredibly challenging as a is a mom of a youngster.

Speaker 3 (05:07.342)

For sure. It's it's a really unique region where there's less chapters than some of the other reps have, but they're so spread out. Like I really only have a handful of chapters that's within a reasonable driving time. Like I think Las Vegas to some of my New Mexico chapters was like over a day round trip. Like so just yeah, lots lots and lots of land out here and and chapters are pretty spread apart.

Speaker 1 (05:35.454)

And you also have a unique kind of upland bird perspective when you cover those states. You're you're the representative that is working with chapters that have scaled quail and gambles quail and California Valley quail are the predominant species. You're the only rep that has Myrns or Montezuma quail and you gotta know what to call depending on which state you're in. So you have really interesting perspective on some of those birds.

representing chapters that are volunteering to do habitat work on different birds and almost the majority of the rest of the organization, don't you?

Speaker 3 (06:13.102)

Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. There's there's definitely cultural differences of like valley if you call it a valley quail or a California quail and depending on who you're talking to. But and I I had a chapter in one of my favorite chapters in northern Utah. and I was able to hunt with them this last year. And I it was my first like real pheasant hunt. And they were like, What do you mean? You worked for Pheasants Forever and this is your first pheasant hunt. And I'm like, I

I'm the I'm the Western girl. I'm the quail girl. Like for me to get into pheasant country, it's it's a long drive. So I'm definitely unique 'cause I'm pretty sure every other rep has has spent many, many days in the field for pheasant.

Speaker 1 (06:55.882)

I I think you're right, but you probably have a a a much different perspective and a whole bunch of different birds than the rest of our team, which is why we've we've tapped you for this particular episode, because we are gonna talk pollinator week, grasslands week, but you have a unique perspective. You you you you wrote a article or blog for the website about prickly pear.

And a recipe for gambles quail. So over the years we've always celebrated Pollinator Week, but we've talked, you know, we've talked favorite species of blooming flowers and we've talked the intersection with pheasants and boboy quail. So it's a little little bit of a unique take this year. So it's gonna be fun to hear your perspective on pollinators, prickly pear and gambles quail as we sell.

Celebrate pollinator week. So we're gonna dive into that here in a moment. I want to thank once again Purina Pro Plan as the national dog food sponsor of Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever's Wildlife Habitat Mission. And thank Purina as the presenting sponsor, as I mentioned in the open of On the Wing Podcast. My pups have always eaten Purina Pro Plan from

Little trammel and easy and eskey to my current pack of little Gitchigumi and winter. Purina has always been in my dog's food bowls, not just because Purina supports the wildlife habitat conservation mission of our organization, which is incredibly important to me and should be important to you. But what's most important is that Purina Pearl Plant is a team of the world's best scientists and nutritionists.

behind their dog food. Pro Plan was created for the working bird dog like yours and like my little Gitchigumi. You can learn more at ProPlansport.com. Purina Pro Plan Nutrition that performs.

Speaker 2 (09:01.858)

From Pheasants Forever and Quill Forever National Headquarters in St. Paul, Minnesota, this is Casey Sill with the Upland Newsroom, delivering top stories from the Habitat Organization and across the American Uplands. Let's head to Washington, where the House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman, Bruce Westerman of Arkansas and Ranking Member Jared Huffman of California, recently introduced the bipartisan Great American Outdoors Act 250. If signed into law, this bill would invest $1.9 billion annually for five years.

In the Legacy Restoration Fund, a proven conservation investment that helps address infrastructure needs across America's public lands while delivering meaningful benefits for wildlife habitat and hunting access. Andrew Schmidt, Pheasants Forever's Director of Government Affairs, said, quote, Upland hunters and conservationists benefit when federal agencies have the resources needed to improve wildlife habitat, increase public access, and ensure future generations can experience our nation's public lands.

Schmidt went on to thank Chairman Westerman and Ranking Member Huffman on their leadership in introducing the Great American Outdoors Act 250. Let's move on to Missouri, where Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever have recently secured a high priority property in the southwest portion of the state. This new 160 acre tract is immediately adjacent to the 646 acre Stony Point Prairie Conservation Area. It is located in the Golden Grasslands Priority Geography, a Tier 1 priority area for quail habitat restoration.

The new addition has already been improved with fencing and watering facilities, allowing the Missouri Department of Conservation to use rotational grazing in their management strategy as they do on the rest of the adjacent complex. The habitat on this property will be restored to native prairie and will be managed for bobwhale and other upland wildlife. That'll do it this week reporting from PF and QF headquarters in St. Paul, Minnesota. I'm Casey Sill.

Speaker 1 (10:53.88)

Parina, thanks for sponsoring. all right, Grasslands Week and Pollinator Week. Marissa, you've been the quarterback of this for a number of years now. And the quarterback means you're the content curator for what's going on. Give us the overview of Pollinator Week and Grasslands Week and what's on tap.

Speaker 2 (11:14.968)

Yeah, no, we've got a another really exciting week planned. lots of really great content for everyone here. depending on if you've you've been tuning in already. kickoff blog from our one and only Tom Carpenter Carp, who really loves to engage with Pollinator Week every year. really special video on grasslands that talk about the important not only the importance of

the existence of them, but of us protecting them for our upland birds, for habitat, for pollinators. and a lot of other really fun things sprinkled in, including a recipe that we're gonna talk a little bit more about today. but it's, you know, pollinator week is a really great way for us to highlight the importance of pollinators. you know, for us that live and breathe in this space,

We know it, but there's a lot of people that out there who aren't familiar with the connections of our grasslands and our upland birds and pollinators. it's incredibly important for our pollinator, or excuse me, for our pheasant and our quail and our grouse. when they are chicks, they rely on the high protein food sources that soft bodied insects provide them. So quality pheasant, quail, even grouse habitat.

Speaker 3 (12:24.846)

And

Speaker 2 (12:36.058)

is high quality prot pollinator habitat. they really just kinda go together like let's say peanut butter and honey.

Speaker 1 (12:45.964)

Yeah.

Speaker 1 (12:47.95)

I said he's... You said...

Speaker 1 (12:50.515)

Peace and carrots, you said peanut butter and so today it's peanut butter and honey. Okay. Is that what you had for lunch?

Speaker 2 (12:57.928)

No, but you know, when thinking about pollinators and okay, what foods do we need pollinators for? I was trying really hard there to come up with a new angle. they're just it's incredibly important for our birds. But the other thing that I like to tell people is regardless of what you care about, regardless of what your passion is, one out of every single one out of three bites of food that we eat are made possible because of pollinators.

So I don't I don't care what your interests, your hobbies, your, you know, life is about, we all need to eat. So pollinators should be pretty important to all of us.

Speaker 1 (13:36.342)

Yeah. Yeah, it it's something, you know, I think about us been at this organization 23 years and there's a shift about a little maybe more than a decade ago, we'd always talk about brood habitat, B-R-O-O-D. And the shift came and we started to talk of pollinator habitat. And every ingredient of pollinator habitat and brood habitat is identical.

Because they're the exact same thing. Yeah. It's flowering plants, it's grass, it's it's where our favorite little chicks, pheasant chicks, quail chicks, sage grouse chicks, where they're looking for greened up veget vegetation that attracts insects, and it creates a smorgasbord of buttle beetles and slugs and grasshoppers that make up their diet. No matter which bird you're talking about, it makes up their diet. And it

you know, pollinates the foods, as you mentioned, one and three bites of food we eat, which transitions nicely into the desert. Because, you know, we think of, you know, we talk probably all too frequently about the breadbasket of America and, you know, the Great Plains. And you know what? There's a hell of a lot of life in the desert. It's you just gotta get in there and see it. And

Lauren, you wrote a blog that's being highlighted this week during pollinator week about prickly pear syrup. So I'm I'm curious. let's start with where that comes from in your your own origin story. Did you you mentioned you live outside of n Las Vegas? Did you grow up in Nevada? Did you grow up in the desert? Hot like were you picking prickly pear as a

A kid or you a in an adult onset prickly pear picker? I know I've never I don't I betcha that's the first time that phrase has ever been uttered. An adult onset prickly pear picker. how anyways, tell us your backstory and when when prickly pear came into part of you know your lifestyle.

Speaker 3 (15:39.151)

There's a lot of peasants.

Speaker 3 (16:01.378)

Well, I definitely I did grow up in the desert in Las Vegas. I definitely did not grow up picking prickly pears. I did grow up really doing anything outside. I I I started really probably like in my twenties just backpacking and turned into fly fishing, which turned into hunting. And I actually surprisingly for Las Vegas have a pretty large garden.

We have a very different planting season than the rest of the world, but you guys are still covered in snow. I'm getting my tomatoes in the ground. but I I I really love foraging too. So there's not a ton of opportunity for foraging out here, but you know, hiking through the desert and scouting for quail and and just seeing these like beautiful magenta fruits. I'm like, I just I know I can do something with these. So

Did some research and and went back out with my tongs. So

Speaker 2 (17:04.298)

Is there a photo of that?

Speaker 2 (17:05.922)

We need a photo of that.

Speaker 1 (17:07.79)

that's fair. Well, it makes sense though. You need it's not like you're either gonna have to wear heavy duty gloves or or bring tongs because otherwise you're gonna get spiked, right?

Speaker 3 (17:21.238)

Yep, yeah. scouting season is just some big old barbecue tongs and like a Lowe's bucket in my truck.

Speaker 1 (17:29.772)

That's funny.

Speaker 3 (17:31.454)

But I do I have I have a dream to like hunt for morels and some of these other things that we just don't have out here. But if you're really creative, there's actually a lot of stuff to forage. and we even rose hips. My I'm going off on a little side tangent, but my my husband was elk hunting with a bunch of big burly firemen and they were packing out this bull elk off a mountain and he starts he just goes off and he's starting to pick all these little road tips for me. And the guys are like, What are you doing?

And he starts to tell him. And so they all like they they take their packs off and they're all just like going through the bushes, picking all these rose hips to bring me. And he's sending me pictures and I was just dying laughing with all these all these big guys to and I I g I made them all some rose hip simple syrup. I'm a simple syrup girl. If I have if I have something I don't quite know what to do with, I just turn it into simple syrup.

Speaker 1 (18:23.176)

It and that's what we're gonna essentially be talking about today, right? It's a it's a really paris simple sur W you mentioned morels, you mentioned foraging just real quick are there any mushrooms in the desert that you that you forage?

Speaker 3 (18:39.03)

Not necessarily low desert. I know there's some opportunities like in the mountains of like Flagstaff that you I've seen a class before where they'll take you out, but not not necessarily lower in the desert, but higher up in some of the mountainous areas out west for sure.

Speaker 1 (18:56.472)

So so prickly pear, how long ago did you start picking the how long ago did you start going into the desert with barbecue toys?

Speaker 3 (19:07.819)

I wanna say it's been about eight years or so. Okay. So fairly recent. I'm definitely no expert by any means, so

Speaker 1 (19:16.846)

Yes, so for folks that are listening in say they're listening in Wisconsin or Illinois and they're like, I've heard of a prickly pear, but what is a prickly pear? Can you describe it? Because I think if you describe it, they might be able to, yeah, I've seen that visual before.

Speaker 3 (19:36.714)

Yeah, they're these cactus that grow round big round pads and some of them can be like six to eight feet tall. They they can sprawl. They're they're very they get very, very large out here. They technically grow throughout the entire United States, but you'll just see like if you're out, you'll see like a little small one. Sometimes it like e it'll even be like buried under the snow when you're hunting these little tiny cactus. Some of those are prickly pears. I'm not sure if they still fruit.

that far, but they're mostly concentrated down here in Nevada, California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.

Speaker 1 (20:13.23)

Okay. And then the prickly pear you've mentioned a couple of times is the fruit that comes off of the top of those pads, right?

Speaker 3 (20:22.39)

Yeah, so they get they got these really like pretty magenta flowers that get pollinated and then get turned into these. I want to say they're bigger than a strawberry. I would say they're like two strawberries together. Two to three strawberries is the size of the fruit. And they the fruit themselves are still covered with some spines, hence the tongs, and they are full of really like big fat seeds, almost like boba sized seeds.

So they're not if if you just pick one to eat, I guess technically you could if you were able to get the spines off, but they're they they're something that d really needs processed. You can't just be out there munching along on your hike.

Speaker 2 (21:08.674)

Think I think I I've done it wrong and I probably needed you with me. I you know it's interesting because they are you don't think of Nebraska as a place that has, you know, cacti, but we we have our sand hills, and that's where I first got introduced to prickly pear, was out hunting for grouse. And it was actually my predecessor, Anna Swersek, that I was hunting with, and she's a big forager and

This is I am just gonna say like public service announcement do not do what we did. But she would pick and then, you know, you've got your thick upland hunting pants on. And what she would do is she would rub the outside on her pants to basically file down those barbs and then split them open and eat and this we chew on the seeds and we loved them. but you're I mean, it's

Speaker 3 (21:40.526)

Yeah.

Speaker 2 (22:03.18)

very quickly you could get those little, you know, those little brown seeds that were on the fruit kind of stuck and they're like they're like splinters or something that you you just can't they're so tiny. and everywhere they're they're hard to get out. But gosh, it's a lot of fun when you can find that stuff when you're out there and you you just don't think about that in some of the states that these plants live.

Speaker 1 (22:28.424)

So you mentioned in the blog, Lauren, tunas. Are tunas what Marissa's referring to that is it the fruit that you pick? Yeah.

Speaker 3 (22:40.782)

Yes, that is the technical name. So if if you wanna sound fancy, you call them prickly pear tunas. You wanna sound like you know what you're talking about, yeah.

Speaker 2 (22:47.404)

I did not.

Speaker 1 (22:52.935)

So you were see Marissa in the sand hills, you were picking tunas.

Speaker 2 (22:57.976)

Tunas. I needed a little tan so I could have a like my can of tunas.

Speaker 1 (23:05.53)

so after I as Marissa was talking about, you know, eating them and you know, getting the seeds and that juice, I I feel like I've seen photos of quail that are also eating kind of the seeds and have the juice of the prickly pears like staining their feathers around their mouth. Am I thinking of that correctly or am I recalling that correctly, Lauren?

Speaker 3 (23:34.808)

you're very correct. They gorge themselves. Really? Like if they're if there's still tunas out and they're they're hunkered down and prickly pear patches, which is often where I find them, when you process them and you look in their crop, it's just it's just bright purple. Like it's kinda even even like their their droppings are kind of pink. Like that's they just

Speaker 1 (23:58.486)

and it's it does stain like the feathers around their mouth when they've been gorging, doesn't it?

Speaker 3 (24:06.602)

Yeah, I I I don't know this for sure, but I would not be surprised like if people way back when were using it as a type of dye because it's so it it's very staining, it's very vibrant, like there's nothing else in nature I can think of that has that bright pink fuchsia color.

Speaker 1 (24:26.224)

Really? And tell us about the taste.

Speaker 3 (24:30.356)

It's it's a unique taste. Without sugar, it's very, very tart. Like most recipes you'll find that sugar is definitely added, but it's almost like a bubblegum watermelon. Like it's it's hard to describe. It's something that you kind of just have to taste. And for those that don't live anywhere where they may even be able to think about picking, picking prickly pears and making this, they do sell pre-made simple syrups.

Speaker 1 (24:59.518)

Okay. So

Speaker 3 (25:00.692)

All hope is not lost if we cannot fly around here to forage.

Speaker 1 (25:05.144)

So take us through your process. You're you're you're in the desert, you got your Lowe's bucket and your tongs. how many do you need to find and kind of take us from there? What you do?

Speaker 3 (25:19.372)

Yeah, so it it depends on how big of a batch you want to process. Like you could you could make a couple like a lemonade or margaritas or enough to make a quail recipe with probably just like 15 to 20 tunas, you would get enough juice, but that would just get you like one serving. I'll typically get a few gallons because there is like because the fruit themselves, they're pretty big. And when you process it down,

You it's a lot of like of the flesh of the fruit and stuff that ends up I put in my compost, but ends up being discarded. It's mostly the juice that I go after.

Speaker 1 (25:57.678)

So are you picking all the the spines out and then kinda pressing down the fruits or can you do that with the spines and all the juice kind of comes out?

Speaker 3 (26:10.922)

Eventually once you're at home, so you I sometimes I'm brave because I'm just used to the desert. I don't always wear gloves because I got really long tongs and I'll just toss them in the bucket. And I'm first off, just make sure like where you're picking these that it's legal. Most most BLM, if you're just picking for yourself and you're not using it for commercial purposes, like it's fine. But just be mindful of

how much you're taking from each plant. Yeah. I especially if it's like a big sprawling area, I'll just take a cut like five from this big cactus and I'll walk over to the next one. And then sometimes I'll drive down the road to get it, you know, my next bucket, just to make sure that there's enough left for wildlife. Cause a lot of these places where there's no water, cause I've found quail in like expanses of prickly pear that we cannot figure out where their water sources.

Like maybe it's a seep somewhere, but these they're very, very important to the landscape and to the wildlife. So I'm very cautious to not overpick. and just be mindful of that as well.

Speaker 1 (27:18.358)

And what time of the year are the the prickly pear blooming and available? When are you picking them?

Speaker 3 (27:24.754)

so once the fruits are ripe, and you'll know, like you can pick when they're not fully, fully ripe. Sometimes when they're they're extra ripe, they're like they're they're already falling off. You'll see a bunch on the ground. they're almost like too spushy. This is about it depends on the elevation. So like like way south in Arizona might be different than where I'm picking them in Nevada, but we will typically pick them between like August and September. Okay. And the amount of rain

received the year prior because there have been years when I've gone out and there's hardly any fruit and I ended up not picking any. So they are rain dependent on how well they fruit. and the the quail season here opens up typically around like October 14th. Like some somewhere in there depending on so we'll we'll scout like in September, early September. And that's usually when the the tuners are are ripe for picking. Okay.

But yeah, so tongs in a bucket. And then I just, and you have to be careful because there's like these fuzzy, in addition to just the spines that are on the pads, the fruits themselves, they have these, it's like little fine hair like they they are pokey. Yeah. and they're almost impossible to pick out of your skin. So ideally a long sleeve shirt and pants. You'll see me picking them in shorts and a t-shirt because I'm, you know, I just don't

A w a wild creature over here. But I make my son usually wear a long sleeve shirt and pants. He likes to pick the tongs. If you're really sensitive or it's windy, even wearing like a buff over your face just so you don't accidentally breathe in some of the fine hairs is not a bad idea. And just I mean, if you really wanted to excuse me, take it to the next level, even like just like eye protection because on a windy day, because they they do can kind of like burst off, but

I I've gotten a few in my arms, mostly just from like bumping, like as I'm loading things in my car, but nothing, no major problems for me. But take those home. maybe have a lid so they don't dump out in the back of your truck bouncing down a road. The once I get home, I throw them in gallon Ziploc bags and I throw them in the freezer. Okay. Most of the time I'm tired from driving out that day and I don't feel like processing them. And I've found that being in the freezer,

Speaker 3 (29:47.178)

It kind of makes those cells burst when you take them back out and it's easier to juice them. So to juice them, I'll take them out and I'll just have a big pitcher with a really fine mesh colander and I'll just let them sit in there. Sometimes I'll put something heavy on top of them, like a a bowl of water that sits on top of the fruit, and I'll just let them defrost and and basically you just juice them that way. You can you can use like a food mill. There's all these really

complicated recipes online of how to process them. And I'm just like, that's a lot of work. I I can do this. I can't do this easier without making an entire sink full of dishes. So I'll just take batches and I will let them like thaw out. And once they've been sitting for maybe an hour and and they're defrosted, most of the juices come out, I'll still take something and just kind of squash the top of them just to kind of like press them down. Okay. And

And with the the colander I use is fine enough that I've noticed that most of the glow kids don't end up in that juice. That juice is really okay, but you wanna be careful that you don't accidentally drink any of those glow kids because they would be really irritating to your throat.

Speaker 2 (30:58.05)

And those are the the hair like projections you were talking about, right? The glow kits.

Speaker 3 (31:03.384)

Correct. Okay. Yes. Yeah. So I'll Yes. And like if you if you like my dogs get end up covered them after hunting and they're too small to truly even pick out of them. Like I'll I'll wash them and I'll brush them, but they kind of just have to like work themselves out with time or you would be spending like days with like fine tweezers trying to pick out. But

So after I I get that initial juice, I do run them through like a cheesecloth, like something else just to try and and make sure. But when you hold it up, it's it's like you can look through the juice against light and like see that there's really no little fine particles in there.

Speaker 2 (31:43.98)

Hm. Okay.

Speaker 3 (31:47.038)

And then from that juice, you go ahead and just kind of make a simple syrup. Like add sugar. I use I use a recipe from Hank Shaw, and he really likes citric acid versus like a lime or a lemon juice. And I have found that I also prefer the taste of citric acid. And that helps preserve it longer. If you can it, you won't have to add anything else to it. And it gives it just like a little bit of like the tank.

It needs.

Speaker 1 (32:18.318)

So once you have the citric acid added and you had the simple syrup, then you can use it in margarita cooking recipes, like it's ready to go for anything you want.

Speaker 3 (32:32.524)

Yes. And it I mean, once you the longest part is is just waiting for them to defrost and and get the juice. The simple syrup probably takes me like twenty minutes. You just let it cool down. You can put it in canning jars, which then you can like do a traditional water bath canning or throw them in the freezer. And like I still have prickly pear syrup from like two or three years ago that I can crack open and use, but my son loves it in lemonade. Like it's very drinkable. Like once you have it.

It's just it's easy to use. You can throw it, you can even like the syrup you can put on top of ice cream, mix it into drinks. Neighbors love it. And it's in addition to being a unique flavor, it's just beautiful. Like

Speaker 1 (33:19.308)

So is it magenta like the fruit?

Speaker 3 (33:22.37)

Yes. Like it is it is the prettiest simple syrup you could ever make.

Speaker 1 (33:28.334)

So tell us about using it with the Gambles Quail recipe.

Speaker 3 (33:34.296)

So we I thought of this because I had shot a rough grouse and used

What was I talking about earlier? The rose hips. I made rose hip simple syrup and

Speaker 1 (33:48.054)

How do you shoot a rough grouse?

Speaker 3 (33:50.474)

Central Central Nevada and they are not. It was it was like a once-in-a-lifetime finding easy to find. Yeah. It is I know. It was the like the best upland game bird I have ever tasted. It's not and there, it's not something that is accessible to me. It's it's in my brain, this rough grouse is man, I just dream about it. But so I was trying to kind of recreate something similar with.

gamel's quail, which I have a lot of access to. And and I know Hank Shaw kind of does this too, where he he likes to forage things that the the animals that he hunts are eat because they almost always go together. Yep. So we just do a really simple grilled quail, baste it with the prickly pear syrup. And you can if you like hot we added some hot honey to ours, you could add jalapeno, a little bit of lime, some cilantro.

Easy. Easy.

Speaker 1 (34:50.43)

So are you are you grilling them and then you base okay. And it is the whole is it the whole bird or do you break them apart?

Speaker 3 (35:00.3)

We I find that spatchcock quail do really well for this recipe. I like to brine most of my birds from down here. I like to brine them at least for a few hours. Pat dry. Do your thing with the simple syrup and seasoning, salt and pepper, and just throw on the grill.

Speaker 1 (35:18.818)

With the margarita wash it down. Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (35:23.008)

I caught that early on and I was like, hey, let's do it.

Speaker 3 (35:30.146)

Party at my house.

Speaker 1 (35:32.59)

It's so it does. It sounds fabulous. I I and you're right about Hank. I've had the great fortune of hunting with Hank a number of times. And I I think in one one particular hunt, went grouse hunting in northern Wisconsin with him and we sh we shot rough grouse, we shot woodcock. In the whole way through the woods, I didn't know he was doing this. He was picking mushrooms.

And we got back to the truck and he dumped out his vest on the foot of my truck. There was like three dozen different mushrooms. There was some green stuff that I have no idea what it was. There is a couple of, you know, rough grouse, a woodcock. He's like, yep, this is what we're gonna eat tonight. It's like I am here for this. It's just fabulous.

Speaker 2 (36:24.056)

We did

Speaker 3 (36:24.533)

Yes.

Speaker 2 (36:26.7)

We had done Women on the Wing Learned a Hunt event years ago in the sand hills and had no conversations prior to the hunt about foraging. And we all went off in in different directions with our mentors and our mentees. And next thing you know, we come back with prickly pear, rose hips. There was some puffball mushrooms, wild parsnip. I mean, it was

It was insane. We covered this entire you know, camp table with all of this stuff. And then Lauren, to your point, like tried to pair things with the different grouse. And I I think what is so cool about the foraging aspect is it's so easy to get into some of these hunts and your main goal and you're you know, you're you're watching your dogs, which is, you know, part of it, but also you're you're trying to find your bird, you're trying to shoot your bird.

When you add in that element of you know, foraging, you're you're slowing down, you're looking for the fruit, you're you're noticing the pollinators there, you're noticing my favorite thing about prickly pear and rose hips is I find ornate box turtles by them. Or you know, so I'm like half the time I've got my head staring down at the ground because I'm looking for those things versus watching what my dogs are doing, but

I just I think it's such a great way to appreciate the landscape for the full picture. and just makes every hunt such a unique experience.

Speaker 3 (37:59.288)

Hundred percent. In the days where sometimes you're not getting into birds, yeah, like you you you don't come home empty handed. And especially with kids. I mean, especially now with my son, I mean, we're rock we're rock collecting and dogs are on point and now he's like, I don't care about the dogs on point. Did you see this rock? blue And I'm like, Come on, come on So yes, yes, slowing down is

an understatement to my current hunting situation. But I wouldn't I wouldn't have it any other way. 'Cause at the end of the day it's not how many birds are in my bag, it's it's the things we saw outside.

Speaker 2 (38:37.218)

Yeah. And rocks in your vest, right, Bob?

Speaker 1 (38:39.82)

Ha ha ha!

Speaker 3 (38:40.852)

He has his own vest now. He carries his own rocks.

Speaker 2 (38:44.782)

I love it. I love it.

Speaker 1 (38:47.166)

Marissa's make it fun because we hunted the rooster road trip together last year and it was like day three. We're walking a field and Marissa, much like your son, was digging in the grass and came up with I wouldn't call it a rock, I would call it a boulder. And and she comes over to me is like Bob, like yeah. She's like, Can you help me get this in the back of my head?

Speaker 2 (39:18.606)

I had a waited down that one way or another.

Speaker 1 (39:23.566)

I was like, I can if you really want me to

Speaker 3 (39:28.758)

I think I think we need to schedule a hunt together.

Speaker 2 (39:31.022)

Absolutely. Yeah. I'm already like taking notes of where we can go and what we can do. So yes, let's let's make it happen.

Speaker 1 (39:38.284)

Well if if I could share your Instagram, both of your Instagram accounts, I think it's it's apropos. so Marissa, you're at Rose Hips underscore and underscore turtles. Yeah. So you're the Rose Hips underscore and underscore turtles. And Lauren, you're at Lauren you pronounce it Michaels?

Speaker 2 (39:56.366)

It came from the sand hills.

Speaker 1 (40:08.566)

Is it Michelle's? Okay, so L-A-U-R-E-N M-I-C-H-E-L-E-S.

Speaker 3 (40:08.728)

Michelle

Speaker 3 (40:18.604)

Yeah, that's my middle name. My my dad spelled my name wrong when I was born, so I just have one Alan Michelle.

Speaker 2 (40:25.43)

I love that. I love that so much.

Speaker 1 (40:31.682)

You never you just never know. but what but my point of rolling out both of your your Instagram handles is you know it it's it's fun to check out both of your photos, your your collection of photos. You both clearly love bird hunting, you love foraging, you love cooking and and you love doing all of those things with your young sons.

And you you that is on full display on both of your feeds. so I'm curious and maybe we'll start with Marissa, like your perspective on the importance of passing on kind of the lifestyle that is the intersection of conservation and hunting and food and foraging and being outdoors and rose hips and turtles with with with

Cade.

Speaker 2 (41:31.97)

Yeah. Yeah. And and he's, gosh, not so little anymore. sixteen. So it it it flies by and I you know, it's it's tough sometimes thinking about how how little time you have with him. And I just you know, from the very early he's come along on trips, whether it's hiking, fishing, kayaking, and I didn't

start hunting until my 30s. And so he from as soon as I started hunting and was comfortable enough, he was coming along. I actually found the cutest video the other day. we we fairly recently lost my first bird dog and he was on one of the hunting trips with us and his job on that trip he was he was pretty little was he wanted to take video

of what we were doing. And so he's right next to me and he is apparently videotaping my dog Reese running around and she finds a hen pheasant and he's narrating the whole thing, just in this cute little kid voice of and there's a pheasant and there she goes, and cutest thing I've ever seen. So he's just, you know, from a very early age been exposed. I have photos of him.

Taken a Nerf gun and a BB gun in the uplands with him. because that's how he learned proper gun control when he was with me. Just from an early age, just had him hold it like he would if it was a loaded firearm. and then he was able to shoot his his first pheasant on one of my absolute favorite pieces of public land during a youth opener behind that first bird dog. And it just

was such a special moment. But he's also so curious about everything. you know, when we go hunting, we'll see a harrier flying around. we'll see short heared short-eared owls. I'll identify the different wildflower seed pods we find and talk about the importance of them.

Speaker 2 (43:42.84)

There's an area actually southeast Nebraska that has a smaller population of greater prairie chickens. And unfortunately there's some invasive species that's overtaking some of the properties that we we really enjoy hunting. And so it was a unique opportunity to talk about that. And wow, we didn't see any birds here today. And could this overgrown you know, invasive grass be be pushing them out? And

I so I just think it's it's amazing. And sometimes, you know, as kids do, they you think they're never gonna go outside again because you ruined them and you overdid it. And next thing you know, he is interested in going into conservation as a career. So you plant the seed, you never know where it will go. And but I think I think whether it's immediately or 10 or 20 or 30 years from now.

they really do come back to it and appreciate it. And I mean we're we're losing we're losing habitat, we're losing public lands. So the more we can get them excited about it and appreciate it so they can also advocate for it in the future, I is just so important.

Speaker 1 (44:53.814)

Yeah. Lauren, you're shaking your head in affer affirmation pretty much that entire time. It resonates with you as a mom too, doesn't it?

Speaker 3 (45:03.938)

So much. Yeah. No, that was such a beautiful comment to that. And I'm I've been out in the field of Cole. He's eight now, since he was just a few weeks old. And I kind of pushed the limits because I was told, just wait until you have kids. Like your adventures lifestyle is gonna go by the wayside. And I I think I took that to the next level. And sometimes I look back on photos and I'm like, I did that.

Like, was that like but we I mean, I would just take off in the desert is of my my husband is such an evolved, like wonderful dad that spent so much time with him, but he's also gone a lot for work. And I didn't want to just sit home when he's gone. So I would throw him in his backpack and off we would go quail hunting. So and now to see him kind of

Speaker 3 (46:01.346)

take it upon himself. He just shot his first squirrel this last season, which was really fun. he's an incredible shot. And yesterday we were we were camping yesterday and he fished for like 13 hours straight and then made his dad go out at night to catfish. His eyes are like bloodshot from staring at the water all day. I'm like, are you sure? Are you sure he's like yes I am not gonna quit. And like he will hike through the desert for six miles.

I w I worry about burning him out on bird hunting because it does because he's not an active participant yet with the sport. So but he loves to run and get birds. if they're under like a fence and the dogs are tired, they don't want to go gr retrieve a bird. But as he was little, just a little tidbit for the parents listening out there. to keep once they're once they're out of the backpack and walking, but they get tired easily, that's a tricky phase. I would just keep one of my pockets was just

Full of random little toys, whether it be the dollar soul or Walmart, or he's really into dinosaurs. So we we, I don't know about you guys, but we hunt in a magical desert. And when things would got a little a little slow or a little tired, we would just be throwing out little toys. And I'd be like, What is this? The magical desert. It left you a dinosaur because you hiked a little bit further. I think we have to keep going this way. And I would just throw, like sometimes it would be like a lollipop or

But it ca and he was just like his eyes lit up and he was ready to go. Sounds like just a little tidbit, but I am okay if he grows up to not be a hardcore hunter and obsessed as we are. But I know that he will still love the wild world and still be an advocate and know where his food comes from. he's he's the best vegetable eater and I blame that on our garden.

Speaker 2 (47:34.028)

Brilliant.

Speaker 3 (47:57.826)

He will not eat cooked vegetables, but he will eat any raw vegetable you throw at him, Brussels sprouts, peppers. He's out there reading my cucumbers. he's we love to watch the carpenter bees come by and pollinate. Like they're kind of scary because there's those big black bees that just like sound like hover by your head and yeah, he's like, Hi, thanks for thanks for pollinating my garden. And we don't run away screaming. But he

Speaker 2 (48:24.542)

That's amazing.

Speaker 3 (48:27.68)

And it thank you. And I think he just he sees the bigger picture of the world. And especially so my background before before being a rep, was working in the ICU as a nurse. and we deal with a lot of people dying. And I think that the general public who's not exposed to hunting and who's not exposed to just the outside like circle cycle of life.

They see TV shows and they think that everybody's gonna live forever. They, you know, or our food is at the grocery store in nice packages. Like they don't realize that that steak you had, it it's it's a life from somewhere. and being able to raise somebody who realizes that, you know, our food, especially if you eat meat, comes with a price and to respect that and to not waste it and to think about where it came from. But he's he's watched me shoot.

A couple animals with a bow. He's he's watched me take a deer with a rifle and like when we walk up on it and we touch it and we think it and think about all the meals that we're gonna have with it. It's it's just a really cool to see him because we've started him so young, he just understands it and he accepts it. And he's I mean, sometimes we'll be driving around and he's like, I'm hungry, we gotta find these quails so I can have some quail nuggies later. Okay.

But when when my mom him and my mom were very, very close and when she passed, I was I was afraid to tell him because I wasn't he was only he had just barely turned seven at the time. And he spent at least one or two days a week with her. So when I was like, yeah, you know, Jamma, Jamma died. Like I didn't sugarcoat it. I just and he's like, he just accepted it.

And we she wasn't in the best health, so I had kind of just like my nurse brain had kind of been like, you know, that had talked about it before that she's not gonna be around forever. And he handled it so well and was so accepting and was of course sad, but he handled it in a way that I don't think like he almost handled it better than I did, because he's grown up with this idea that like he's he's seen death.

Speaker 3 (50:48.002)

He's he's seen a deer on the ground not blinking and it I think it just helps to make you appreciate life a little bit more and know just know the bigger picture. So that was it was it was an interesting experience to see how he took that.

Speaker 1 (51:05.258)

Wow. Incredibly well said and moving and powerful. You know, it's y you covered so much ground from knowing where our food comes from to appreciating life through watching somebody that you love pass away.

Speaker 3 (51:24.302)

Well, and I think that being out in the field, it it kind of connects us to that bigger picture. We get caught up in the little details and posting on social media and all the little stuff that doesn't really matter. And when you can spend, especially a couple of days out in the field, if like a few hours doesn't let your brain really relax, but those long, like week long trips, that's that's where you can like re renew yourself, find like what really matters and just focus on

the bees and the butterflies and and those little details that they the that actually matter, not the busy day to day hustle and bustle.

Speaker 1 (52:04.162)

know that we can wrap this conversation up any better than you just did. Yeah. I I I feel really remorseful that I haven't had you on the podcast more often now that you have left the organization as a coworker.

Speaker 3 (52:22.444)

I'm still here, Bob, don't worry, I'm not going anywhere.

Speaker 1 (52:25.992)

So incredibly eloquent. Lauren, thank you not only for being a part of this conversation, not only for raising a little one to appreciate the same things that we all do and hopefully vote for the same things that we all care about in the future. but you know, very in particular sharing the prickly pear story with our audience for pollinator week. But you've wrapped it all up so beautifully in your

in your comments Lauren. Really, really sincerely appreciate your time today. And Marissa, thank you very much for for bringing the rose hips and the turtles and the laughter.

Speaker 2 (53:06.606)

Always here for that.

Speaker 1 (53:08.542)

Really appreciate it. Thank you for quarterbacking Pollinator Week. It just are just eloquently put together at the intersection of our organization's mission. Pollinators, parenthood, and a little bit of fun. What did I say early on? Prickly pear. Picker prickly pear picker. Picker. yeah.

Speaker 2 (53:30.793)

Something like that?

Speaker 3 (53:32.794)

And and then throw in Purina pr say Purina Pro Plan three times fast with prickly pear picking.

Speaker 2 (53:40.65)

I like it. There's the next challenge.

Speaker 3 (53:42.414)

Which we got we got a tongue twister.

Speaker 1 (53:44.468)

Yeah. There's been a few. There's been a few. Thank you. Thank you both very much. This has been a lot of fun. Thanks. all right, folks. Thank you for listening. get online, check out our content celebrating Pollinator Week as well as Grassland Slit Week. And if you're not yet a member, I encourage you to get involved. We need ya. the birds need ya.

Speaker 3 (53:52.91)

Thank you.

Speaker 1 (54:12.14)

The bees need you, the butterflies need ya, public access needs ya. Join at pheasantsforever.org slash join or quailforever.org slash join. I'm Bob St.Pierre reminding you to always follow the dog. Something good will rise. Thanks for listening, folks.