We picked some more of the same spring greens this week, along with some violet flowers for jam, sassafras root for tea and jam, and more ramps. The ramps are just starting to wind down here, and will soon send out their flower stalk to
bloom. We found a teeny bit of watercress to munch on, and tried a few trout lily leaves too. Their yellow flowers have already passed, so they are not in the best season to eat the leaves, but we can now wait for the foliage to pass and
dig some bulbs soon. We spotted tons of orpine around, and it is great as a trail nibble, tasting just like raw green beans. Robert gathered a big bag of young yarrow leaves to dry for tea, and he transplanted a few plants here in the yard. He found a big patch of sheep sorrel, also called sour grass, 
and grabbed another big bag of that. Cattails are putting up shoots already, and the blackberries and wineberries are leafing out. Wild blueberries and huckleberries are flowering, and Gillian likes to make yellow resin prints on her fingers from the huckleberry leaves..
We ordered a new book by Samuel Thayer called "Nature's Garden: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants". It has some great photos, and some super, in-depth information on one of our favorite edibles-autumn olive. It also has a chapter on trout lily which we have in abundance in our area, and which we were previously unfamiliar with as an edible. This book will join his previous book "The Forager's Harvest: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants" on our ever-growing bookshelf of reference material.
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