Grow Native Bayberries for Homemade Candle Wax
DO YOU EVER WONDER how humans began using plants? Who was the first joker to dare their friend to eat a tomato? What’s the story behind our discovery that rubber can be made from the goldenrod plant?
It doesn’t take a wild stretch of the imagination to picture how early American settlers began using bayberry () fruit to make candles. Perhaps, struggling through her first winter along the harsh New England coast, a young girl is sent out to gather driftwood along the shore. Although it’s cold out, she’s happy for a breath of fresh air. The candles in her home’s close interior are made of tallow; they stink when idle and belch great gouts of black smoke that stain the ceiling when lit. She steps carefully along soil that’s mixed with sand and trails her fingers through the thick hedge that pushes her closer to the sea.
