Wild Edibles
Woops! Most of the month slipped away when I wasn't looking. Things are well here at Chez CB -- I've just started a couple of exciting projects and am finishing up a couple other exciting projects, hopefully in time to find a rhythm before summer vacation hits.
The garden's growing well, and baby cow is still nursing off of Momma. I didn't realize they did that for so long, but who knew?
Anyway, lots of talk lately about saving money on groceries: one of the strategies my family uses is harvesting wild edibles. There's an amazing range of stuff that grows wild that you can eat if you know where to find it. We eat cowslips and milkweed and dock -- all greens, all fairly bulky. Dandelions in the salad. We gather crababbles, wild berries. That's about it -- for example, I know you can eat cattails but my kids just won't. But it is a good budget stretcher, especially if you've got the time to go out and look. (We combine foraging into our walks)
Most libraries have good books on Wild Edibles. We use Stalking the Wild Asparagus and an old field guide. Make sure to check your region.
Also: people say you can forage for mushrooms, but we don't, because a mushroom mistake can be fatal.
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Food For Free
Food for Free by Richard Mabey is the wild food bible in the UK. You can get some nice photo-illustrated editions with all kinds of sections, like ones for the sea shore.
Our main foraging is for elderflowers (about now) to make cordial, use with gooseberries and eat as fritters. Then in the summer we gather blackberries for jam. I keep planning to try elderberries too, but haven't got round to it yet. Maybe this year! If you can find an unsprayed patch of meadow or grassland, wild sorrel is wonderful, especially in an omlette. I thought I might also have a go at rosehip syrup this year, DD is fascinated by them.
I really SHOULD get to grips with wild greens and crabapples. I've enjoyed nettles in the past, but the moment when they're good is so brief I often find I've missed the boat.
I find it hard living in the very centre of a city, as we do at the moment, to get much foraging in. Perhaps after our move I'll have more opportunities. Hope so, it's so tasty!
Zillah
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