Foraging Report 04/18/2010

Another good week for some spring edibles here in Connecticut. The weather has turned much cooler, and a bit damp, so we have held off on the letterboxing. We need to get down to Hamonasset this week to check our Foraging Rosehips box, there have been 2 reports of it missing. We are also driving around at all times with 5 complete boxes in the car, ready to plant if the opportunity presents itself. Something new from us: bonuses with the boxes!

The dandelions are going strong, and Robert picked 2 buckets of flowers and buds this week. He is trying a pickle with the buds, and we pulled out the yellow petals of the flowers for a small batch of wine.

We returned to our favorite ramps patch to dig some ramps bulbs. The bulbs are small right now, since the plant is using all of it's stored energy to make the leaves and produce a flower later in the season. The bucket of bulbs was washed, trimmed, and made into pickles, and the leaves added to soup, quiche, and frozen.

The one letterbox we went out to find is the Box of the Month at Szegda Farm in Columbia, CT. It has been a recurring box, and it is great to see the seasonal changes taking place in this environment every month. Today we went out, and as I walked into the open field, I was amazed to see that 90% of the field is covered in stinging nettles. What a wonderful forager's find! We gathered a full paper bag, and have already made soup, more recipes and info to follow. I suppose we had better get carving the stamp for the future Foraging Nettles box!

Finally, while out walking at Salmon River State Park, we saw plenty of fishermen on opening day, and lots of edibles and signs of future edibles. Lots of yarrow to be found here, along with wild strawberries. We dug up a few young wild carrots for Gillian to nibble. The autumn olive bushes are making their flowers already, but the sumacs still are not showing any signs of life. We saw lots of second-year garlic mustard, but were looking for first-year growth to dig some roots. Lots to look forward to this season!

Chickweed Recipe - Creamy Chickweed Dressing

Chickweed is a great plant for beginning foragers, or for kids. It pretty much grows anywhere, including your lawn. It is available all year, but best in the early spring before too many other plants grow and shade it out. There are many species, but mostly here in New England you will find Stellaria media. The plant has small, paired oval-to-spade-shaped toothless leaves growing along it's flexible stem. One odd identifier is the thin line of hair running up the stem, not covering the whole stem. Another identifier is a tough string inside of the hollow stem--you can see it if you break the stem gently and pull the stronger string out.

Tiny, white flowers bloom in clusters at the tips of the plant, and drop tiny brown seeds. At first glance, it might look like there are 10 petals on the flowers, but there are actually 5 deeply split petals. Chickweed usually is a ground hugging plant, meaning it needs lots of extra washing to get the dirt off.

The taste of raw chickweed is mild, almost like corn, or at least the corn silk. It is a tender green, wonderful in salads. It can also be lightly cooked or added to a soup like an herb. It provides vitamin C, choline, vitamin B 6+12, vitamin D and beta carotene. It is a super spring green, appearing early enough to fill the desire for "something fresh" in your diet after a long winter.

Our find this weekend was so abundant, we made several recipes. Robert had a salad with feta, chickweed and a lemony dressing. I made myself a green egg salad, with fresh chives. We also tried a creamy chickweed dressing, and added it to pesto with some pungent garlic mustard.

Creamy Chickweed Dressing makes about 1 1/2 c. dressing

1/2 c. olive oil

1 T lemon juice

1 tsp. honey

2 c. fresh, washed chickweed greens and stems

pinch of salt

pinch of pepper

1 clove of garlic

1/2 c. plain yogurt

1. In a blender, place all ingredients except for the yogurt. Blend until smooth and finely chopped.

2. Add yogurt, blending briefly, until mixed.

Chickweed egg salad makes about 1 1/2 c.

4 hard boiled eggs

2/3 c. finely chopped chickweed greens and stems

1 tsp. horseradish

1 T fresh chives

1/2 c. mayonnaise

salt and pepper

1. Chop eggs coarsely. Toss with chopped greens, horseradish and chives.

2. Mix in mayo gently, season with salt and pepper.

Foraging Report 04/11/2010

OK, so spring is moving along nicely here in Connecticut. While out enjoying some lovely weather and hiding a letterbox, we have had many opportunities to spy some new edibles, and gather some favorites for recipes. This morning for breakfast, we had omelette with dandelion flowers and cheese, dandelion green tea, and Japanese knotweed coffee cake. For lunch we had a dandelion, split pea, ramps and potato soup. Just this evening I made a loaf of kalamata olive and dandelion greens bread. Coming up this week: dandelion flowers for wine, our first try.

On a walk around the Baltic-Hanover reservoir, I accidentally found some watercress in a fast moving stream, garlic mustard greens, and huge amounts of the biggest chickweed we have ever seen. Chickweed recipes and photos coming!

Violets are up, Gillian picks few while waiting for the bus and eats them. I tried a jelly recipe last year that never solidified, so we used the brilliantly colored purple juice as syrup. When more pop up, I'll try again with the jelly. We visited our favorite ramps patch for a bag of fresh greens, visited my hiding spot for my Foraging Dandelion letterbox to gather a bag full of greens and flowers, and visited a potential letterbox hiding spot to search for fresh nettles. Driving around, we spied plenty of Japanese knotweed, almost too big to gather already, mullien for tea, and orpine for salad.

Finally, while hiding a new letterbox, Foraging Huckleberry , I noticed the wild blueberries and huckleberry bushes were blooming and the autumn olive bushes are leafing out. Overall, a great week!

Japanese Knotweed Recipe - Knotweed Squares

Japanese knotweed (Polygonum cuspidatum) is a wonderful wild edible, but a horrible invasive species. It came originally from Asia, and has spread to the US from the UK as an ornamental plant for it's pretty white flower sprays in summer and fall. It spreads mainly through rhizomes underground, but the seeds have "wings" to better ride the winds. Japanese knotweed looks like a red-speckled asparagus in it's early stages in the spring, but the leaves quickly unfurl and the smooth, hollow stems grow very tall. There are several very distinct identifiers, including the jointed stem which looks like bamboo, a membranous sheath at each of the stem joints, and leaves that are broad with an oddly straight base and a pointy tip. Japanese knotweed will grow just about anywhere, next to water, on the side of the road and railroad tracks, anywhere there is ample sunlight. It will also grow in just about any type of soil, so it easily excludes native vegetation. The thick layer of decomposing dry stems will outmulch all competitors.


This is our first year of Japanese knotweed. We found a few poking up in late March, and they are really growing at a fast rate now. What we cut down one day is ready again in two more days. The flavor of the raw knotweed is similar to rhubarb, with a slightly green flavor. We have been cutting shoots about 8" tall. We have started a small batch of wine and made a dessert bar recipe with the peeled, chopped shoots.



Japanese knotweed is known by other names like Mexican bamboo, Japanese fleece flower and crimson beauty. It also has several different Latin names--Polygonum cuspidatum, Fallopia japonica, or Reynoutria japonica.

Knotweed Squares makes 1-11"x7" pan

crust:
1 c. flour
1 c. confectioners sugar
6 T cold butter


filling:
2 eggs, beaten
2/3 c. sugar
1/4 c. flour
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. allspice
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
3 c. packed, peeled, and chopped Japanese knotweed stalks



1. Heat the oven to 350°. Grease a 11"x7" pan.
2. Put crust ingredients into a food processor and pulse to coarse crumbs. Press the crumbs into the bottom of the pan and bake for 12 minutes.
3. For the filling, whisk all ingredients together except for the knotweed pieces. Stir in the knotweed, and spread the mixture over the hot crust.
4. Bake for about 35-40 minutes. Cool and cut into bars.

Black Walnuts

Wow, is it spring already? Back to foraging and letterboxing, it has been a long and lazy winter. We are looking forward to adding some more plants to our foraging knowledge. We are looking forward to trying Japanese Knotweed, common Milkweed, more greens in spring, and more roots. Nettles are just starting to appear, and we have a planter of them in the house that we forced last month. It was nice to get some fresh nettles for soup. The tiny patch of ramps we have planted behind our porch is also starting to appear, a good sign that they will be available in the wild soon. We are actively watching several patches of the Japanese Knotweed. This will be our first experiences with this plant. We are planning on eating it steamed, in a pie, and making a jam with it.


We have had some black walnuts (Juglans nigra) drying all winter, and on a nice sunny day we took them outside to crack open. There is a tree next to our house, and we picked up a bucketful last autumn. The tree is identified by greyish-brown, deeply furrowed bark. The leaves are compound, made up of many smaller lance-shaped leaflets, arranged alternately along a stem.




The nuts are inside a thick green husk that must be removed, and is often infested with worms. You should wear gloves to remove the husk, as it will stain everything it touches. Inside is the deeply furrowed nutshell. It is best to wash the nuts and scrub them with a wire brush at this point to remove any leftover husk. The nuts are easier to remove from the shell after they have aged and dried awhile. Robert used the backside of an axe to crack them open and picked out the meat. Gillian ate the nutmeat almost as fast as it was shelled! The flavor is different from commercial walnuts, and black walnuts have a very high oil content. The nutmeats can be added to recipes, eaten raw, made into nut butter, or boiled to obtain the walnut oil. We just ate them raw as a treat.

Ramps Recipe - Caramelized Wild Leek and Garlic Jam

 

Commercial product vs. My version

There is a product made by Stonewall Kitchens that we have adored for years--Roasted Garlic Onion Jam. Just slightly sweet, and wonderfully savory, it tastes superb on some fresh bread with a wedge of brie, or on a roast beef sandwich with dijon. I have made mini roast beef sandwiches as appetizers, and they were a big hit. The only drawback is the price--nearly eight dollars for a 13 oz. jar.

We wondered if we could make some, since we started doing jellies of our own. I tried to search many sites online for a good recipe, but somehow, onions, garlic, vinegar and sugar did not sound like I would make what we wanted. The flavor is complex, spicy, with just a touch of vinegar. We finally found one recipe to try, and the results are very, very good. Next time we may use less basalmic and add some apple cider vinegar, and try to get more caramelization on the ramps and garlic. It is also supposed to be tasty on game meats, making them less "gamey".

We dig the ramps in late September, pulling up the fat bulbs by looking for the dead flower and seed stalks on the forest floor. They are washed well, and sliced like leeks before being cooked with some regular sweet onions.



Caramelized Wild Leek and Garlic Jam

makes about 8 one cup jars



4 whole heads garlic
1 tsp olive oil
4 c. chopped ramps
2 c. chopped sweet onions
2 oz. butter
3/4 c. cider vinegar
1/2 c. lemon juice
2 Tbsp. basalmic vinegar
1 1/2 tsp ground mustard seed
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground cloves
6 c. sugar
1 (3 oz.) package liquid pectin



1. Without separating the cloves, chop off the tops of the garlic heads. Wrap them in foil, drizzle with the olive oil, and roast at 425° for 35 minutes, until browned. Cool.

2. In a large heavy bottomed pot, sautée the ramps and onions in butter until soft and lightly browned.

3. Squeeze the roasted garlic into the pot with the ramps, and add vinegars, lemon juice, mustard, salt, pepper, ginger, and cloves.

4. Bring to a rolling boil, and add the sugar. Return to a rolling boil, and cook 3 minutes stirring constantly.

5. Add the pectin and boil 1 minute longer, stirring constantly.

6. Remove the pot from the heat and let stand for 3 minutes. Skim the foam off the top. Pour into hot, sterilized jars, and seal. Process is water bath for 10 minutes.

Letterboxing in Barbados, December 2009

We took our family holiday to Barbados this year. We were excited to see there were 12 boxes listed as active on the island, some singles and most planted by people from Canada who moved to the island. I tried to map them out beforehand, since we would be in an area we had never been before, and having a hard enough time with the driving on the left side of the road. Unfortunately, we were unable to find any of the boxes! I am not sure what the planters were using for a box, but nothing was left. Some boxes were 5 years old, some a bit more than one year old. We were able to find the locations, and they seemed like obvious hiding spots to a letterboxer. It is too bad we could not find any boxes!

We carved and planted 9 boxes to leave on the island. Robert and I wanted to continue our theme of foraging wild edibles, and the tropical climate provided us with many new plants and foods that we obviously can't find in Connecticut.

Our series of 6 boxes, Welchman Hall Gully Series, is planted at Welchman Hall Gully, in St Thomas Parish, in the interior of the island. I corresponded with the owner, Debra Branker, before we came to Barbados. I explained letterboxing and asked for permission to plant in the Gully. She was incredibly enthusiastic, and even helped us with ideas for the edible plants and fruits we would carve. The 6 boxes were planted along the .75 mile paved path in the tropical forest. We carved the icon for the Gully, mangoes, cacao, hog plum, breadfruit, and avocado. There is one logbook for the series. There is a charge to enter the Gully, but it is worth it even if you are not boxing.


The other three boxes are planted along the east coast of Barbados. Foraging Coconuts is located in Bathsheba in the Soup Bowl. We loved this area for it's unusual rock formations, rugged beach covered in lovely beach glass, and tide pools for dipping into. The surf is much too rough here to swim, but there are several tide pools from ankle deep to chest deep, each filled with fish, crabs, and pretty sea creatures like urchins and anemones. Gillian enjoyed searching the rocky beach for seed pods, rocks and glass.

Foraging Barbados Cherry is located at the East Point Lighthouse. It seems the Bajans have not figured out that lighthouses make great tourist attractions, since the original lighthouse and master's quarters are in ruins and unsafe to enter. There is a modern contraption here to warn ships of the rocky waters. I was unable to identify and acerola trees in the wild since they were neither flowering nor fruiting in December. This seemed like a good landmark, so I found a rock wall to hide the box in instead. There is no beach here, and no access to the water due to the extreme rock formations.


The final box is located at what I think is Ginger Beach. It is labelled on some maps, but not others. There is no public access sign, just an unpaved, rough parking area and concrete steps down to this gem of a beach. On the cliffs above are several private residences, no hotels or resorts. This beach has rough surf, but wonderful sand, a deeply shaded area with trees, a swing hidden among the trees, some private stairwells, a monolithic stone at the water's edge, and a mysterious cave and tunnel to the next beach over. In the shaded area, we found a fig tree and some green monkeys stopped by to check us out as Gillian went swinging. Foraging Bearded Fig is hidden here, although we later came to find that the edibility of this fig is questionable. This beach was completely deserted, and so peaceful, easily my favorite on the island.


We are really hoping someone tries to find the boxes. We tried to hide them well, and used watertight boxes, hoping they last awhile. I did manage to make some LTCs of the stamps before we left, so at least I remember what our carves look like. We did get to eat some breadfruit, drank some Barbados cherry juice, and had enough coconuts and coconut water to last until next December.