Foraging Mayapple Video

Foraging walk and talk with Blanche Derby

Lilac Recipe - Lilac Jelly

Crepes filled with lilac jelly

Lilacs are a delightful spring flowering shrub. There are about 25 different varieties, the main differences being flower color. Light purple is most common, and there is also white, dark purple, pink, variegated, and a double blossom. The flowers grow in a panicle cluster, and many varieties are fragrant. The leaves are opposite in arrangement and are heart shaped. Common lilac (Syringa vulgaris) is often planted in parking lots and as an ornamental shrub in yards. Make sure the bush has not been sprayed before you gather some flowers.



Candied lilacs

 We candied the flowers by brushing them with beaten egg white and sprinkling them with superfine sugar. This was a time consuming process, and should be done on a dry day. The results are pretty, and should make a lovely addition to a cake or cupcakes.

The jelly was made with lots of flowers removed from their cluster. We packed them in a glass cup and added boiling water, and let them steep overnight. The color of the infusion was a greenish-pink, not pretty at all. As I added the lemon juice, the color changed to an electric pink. After cooking the jelly and sealing it in the jar, the color faded to a light yellow, almost clear. The flavor, however, is very floral and sweet.

Lilac Jelly      makes 8- 4 oz jars

2 c. packed lilac flowers
2 1/2 c. boiling water

1. Pour the boiling water over the lilac flowers, cover and allow to cool. Allow the infusion to sit 8 hours, or overnight.

2. Strain the flowers from the liquid using a coffee filter, you should have about 2 1/4 c. liquid.

2 c. lilac infusion

4 T lemon juice

1 box Sure-Jell powdered pectin

4 c. sugar

3. Place the lilac infusion, lemon juice and pectin in a large pot. Stirring constantly, bring the mixture to a rolling boil.

4. Add all of the sugar at once, and stir to dissolve. Bring the jelly back up to a rolling boil for 1 minute.

5. Remove the jelly from the heat, skim the foam from the top (I got a lot of foam from this recipe) and ladle into hot, sterilized jars. Process in a water bath for 10 minutes.

Foraging with Blanche Derby

This past Saturday we spend a beautiful afternoon on a Wild Weeds Walk with Blanche Derby, an author and producer of foraging videos on YouTube, and a wonderful teacher. We had the opportunity to chat with several wild foods enthusiasts after the event, and had a conversation about professionals and amateurs in a field, and compared the level of love, curiosity, and happiness an amateur brings to their hobby. Blanche may be a learned professional, but she still retains the giddiness and desire to listen and learn and teach of a person who has not become a burnt-out professional. She is willing to have a conversation with her students or participants, and accept ideas or recommendations from them with enthusiasm. Her program ran over the allotted time, but there were absolutely no complaints!

Sheep sorrel

Blanche led the walk on private land (Thank you Judy D!) in central Massachusetts through wet, shady woods, to yard margins, and into some planted gardens and trees. She discussed foraging guidelines, like gathering ethics, over gathering, use of guidebooks, experimentation with small portions of new foods, and creating a seasonal list of where and when you find wild edibles. She also provided a comprehensive list of reference books to help with a forager's education.

Mayapple flowering

Some of the plants we came across were dandelions (Taraxacum officinale), fiddlehead ferns (Pteris pensylvanica), violets, cleavers (Galium aparine), Kousa dogwood trees(Comus Benthamidia kousa), mayapple (Podophyllum pellatum), spruce trees, daylilies (Hemerocallis fulva), nettles (Urtica dioica), tulip trees (Liriodendron tulipifera), wild strawberries( Fragaria virginiana), sheep sorrel (Rumex acetolla), lilacs, elderberries (Sambucus nigra), and sassafras (Sassafras albidum). We discussed identification, when and what parts to gather, and most importantly, what to do with the wild food!



Elderberries

 At the conclusion of the walk, she produced a feast for us to sample some of the wild foods we had just seen. There was a mixed flower salad, greens hummus, knotweed muffins with violet jam, sassafras and spicebush drink, and a mixed nut loaf. We all had a chance to mingle and chat, and had a good time, and seconds of the muffins. Robert and I were very happy to meet another forager, and so many people who are interested in foraging, and hope to attend another of her Wild Weed Walks.



Blanche discussing dandelions

Foraging Mayapple video with Blanche  click here

Fruits are Flowering!

Late spring brings out the blossoms on shrubs, trees and bushes of summer berries. This is a good time to identify a patch of wild edibles, and keep your eye out for the highly prized fruits and berries. In most cases, your only competition will be birds and squirrels, and fresh fruits usually freeze well for later use.

ornamental plum flowers

Plum trees (Prunus species) are often planted in cities and in parks as ornamentals. We find them in several store parking lots and in a local riverside park. The fruit is usually ignored, falling to the ground and rotting, but we don't mind gathering from low-traffic areas. Beach plums (Prunus maritima) may not have flowered yet, but will soon. They prefer the sandy soil of the dunes, and are cold hardy and salt-tolerant. We find them along the shoreline in southeastern Massachusetts in late August. Flowers on plum trees grow on short stems in clusters of 1-5 flowers, each with 5 petals. The colors of the flowers can be pure white or different shades of pink, and are usually fragrant.

autmn olives flowers

Autumn olives (Elaeagnus umbellata) are flowering, and you see them mostly along roadways, along field margins, and in abandoned open spaces. They are invasive, originally from Asia. Autumn olives usually grow as shrubs, but can reach the size of a small tree. There is a very large one located at the Roger Williams Zoo in Providence, RI near the seal tank. The flower is whitish-silver when it first opens, but it yellows as it gets older. The flowers are arranged in clusters in the leaf axils all along the branches, and the appearance is pretty. The red berries are ripe in late summer or early autumn, persisting through the season.

wild blueberry flowers

Wild blueberries and huckleberries (Vaccinium species) are producing their bell-shaped flowers. The flower can range from white to pink or even shades of light green. In this area of southeastern Connecticut, we can find wild low bush blueberries, high bush blueberries and huckleberries all growing next to each other. They seem to prefer poor, acidic or boggy soil, and rocky outcrops. I use two methods to determine whether I have found a blueberry or a huckleberry bush, but have not been able to get into the specific species identification. Blueberries have many small seeds throughout and a dry, papery leaf. Huckleberries have exactly 10 larger, harder seeds arranged in a circle and have a golden resin on the backside of the leaves that you can rub onto your fingers. Both have a 5 petaled crown at their bottom and are various shades of blue, purple or black. Both berries ripen in July and we love to eat all blueberries and huckleberries we find.

wild strawberry flowers

Wild strawberry (Fragaria virginiana) flowers are carpeting areas of yards, fields, and especially under power lines where the vegetation is kept low. It is a perennial herb, spreading through it's roots. The leaves are toothed and tri-foliate, and the flower is white with a yellow center. Pay attention to where you find these clusters of flowers, since the fruit that ripens in June is the most fantastic strawberry you will ever have. The fruit is small, only about the size of your fingernail, so the harvest is sometimes only a handful. The taste is concentrated and intense, nothing at all like a supermarket berry.

wild black cherry flowers

Wild black cherries (Prunus serotina) are blooming in central Massachusetts, but not quite yet here in Connecticut. Black cherries are a native species, very common in our area. They grow along roadsides and along the edges of fields, and often in large groups. The flowers are white and fragrant, growing on a raceme of about 40 blooms. The fruit will ripen to black in late summer, and can be used for jams, drinks, and flavorings. Each tree has it's own taste, so if at first you think the cherries are too sour, try another tree from another location.

Foraging Report 05/11/2011

Garlic mustard and ramps felafels with garlic mustard hummus

Another couple of weeks have passed filled with foraging for early greens, and now we have added edible blossoms to the mix. We have been working on some more recipes, especially jellies, and some ideas on what to do with all those greens.

Nettles

The nettles (Urtica dioica) have really grown high. We clip the top 3 sets of leaves, and are willing to eat that much of the stem, before it gets too tough and stringy. We blanched more of the greens and put them in the freezer for use in the winter. Soups, risottos, Indian aloo saag (potatoes and nettles), quiche, and crepes were cooked, and we made a batch of nettle beer from the cooking liquid used to blanch the nettles. There was no grain or hops involved, but plenty of citrus, sugar, and beer yeast. The result is drinkable, but I wish it retained a bit more carbonation.

Garlic mustard

Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) flower stalks have bolted and the flowers are blooming. Entire roadsides, fields, and yard edges are carpeted with the small, white, 4 petaled flower clusters. We eat the flowers and unopened flower buds, even though they seem to have a more fiery flavor than the rest of the plant.The top leaves along the flower stalk are more triangular then the basal kidney-shaped leaves, and more tender. They get a quick boil, and are chopped up and added to a number of recipes like hummus, felafels, scrambled eggs, and quiche.

Lambs quarters

Chickweed

Lambs quarters (Chenopodium berlandieri), sheep's sorrel (Rumex acetosella), and chickweed (Stellaria media) are growing in our raised garden as weeds, along with dandelions (Taraxicum officinale). All four make nice additions to salads, or can be puréed into creamy dressings for salads like potato or egg.

Japanese knotweed, violet, and dandelion jellies

Some of the edible blossoms we have now are violets (Viola species), dandelions, lilacs (Syringa species), and garlic mustard flowers. We made jelly from the violets, lilacs, and dandelions, and candied some of the violets and lilacs.

Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana) shoots in protected areas are coming up. Robert gathered a few and boiled them for 5 minutes and we ate them with some butter and salt. I think they taste a bit like green beans, with no bitterness at all. In the same small, protected area, he found a few wild asparagus stalks. Cattails (Typha latifolia) are growing, but are still to small for us to gather the hearts.

Garlic Mustard Recipe - Green Falafels and Pita

We try our hardest to eat all of the garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) that we can. It is a highly invasive species that can overrun an environment. There are many recipes to add it to, most any place you add spinach. The garlic mustard may contribute a peppery or slightly bitter taste, but the bitterness can be tempered with a quick 5 minute boil of the raw greens before you chop them. Here we add them to a baked falafel, along with some ramps greens. I bake my own pitas, but store bought ones work just as well. We stuff our pitas with feta, shredded lettuce, salted cucumbers, red cabbage, pickles, olives, falafels, shredded carrots, and tzatziki sauce. These falafels are baked instead of fried. I also start by soaking raw, dried chickpeas overnight, and don't even cook them before blending them in the food processor.

Green Falafels                   makes about 35 falafel patties

1 c. packed, chopped raw garlic mustard greens
10 green ramps leaves, or 1 small onion, chopped
1 T fresh cilantro, chopped
2 cans chickpeas, or about 3 cups raw, soaked chickpeas
1 T lemon juice
2 T olive oil
2 T ground cumin
1 T ground coriander
2 T flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 c. breadcrumbs

1. Heat the oven to 375°. Place the greens and chickpeas in a food processor, and blend until chunky.
2. Add the lemon juice, olive oil, spices, flour, baking powder, salt and pepper, and process until a thick, slightly chunky paste forms. You may need to add more olive oil, you want the mixture to be scoopable.
3. Scoop the mixture into patties, about 2 Tablespoons for each patty. Coat the falafel in the breadcrumbs and place on a baking sheet. Spray the falafels with a light coat of olive oil cooking spray.
4. Bake for 20 minutes, flip over and bake 10 minutes longer. Serve with pitas and fillings.

Stinging Nettles Recipe - Nettle Lentil Soup

Stinging nettles

Because of the extra cool, extra late spring, nettles are at the perfect stage for picking in southern New England right now. Nettles (Urtica dioica) are a perennial herb growing on a hollow, stringy stem. The leaves are coarsely toothed, papery, 1-3 inches long, with a pointed tip and are shaped a bit like an elongated heart. All parts of the plant contain the stings, which are like mini hypodermic needles filled with formic acid, histamine, acetylcholine and other nasty things to irritate your skin. Pick the shoots in early spring before the small, greenish, inconspicuous flowers appear by using gloves. In a large patch, it is easy to fill a large paper bag quickly.

The sting disappears with cooking or drying. You can steam the leaves, but the stems can be too tough and fibrous to eat. We also add the leaves directly to cook in soup, chop them up to use in quiche or spanikopita filling, or eat then lightly stir fried as a green. The stems and leaves can be dried in a dark place to use for an herbal tisane in the winter months when the "green" flavor is a welcome one. Nettles contain wonderful amounts of calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, vitamin C, beta carotene, and provide an excellent source of plant-based protein.

Nettle soup with focaccia

This recipe is available in our book, available Spring 2016.

http://www.skyhorsepublishing.com/book/?GCOI=60239108626260&

Stinging nettles patch