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Wordless Wednesday

Blackberries and Raspberries

The blackberries are late! They are just starting to get ripe. Generally they are bursting with berries the week of the Fourth. Well, they are bursting with berries, unripe ones that is. I was looking forward to making jam this week. It isn't going to happen. I guess predicting when the berries are ripe is about as sure as the slot machines on Las Vegas vacations. Don't count on it!

Growing wild here we have red raspberries, black raspberries and blackberries. All the berries have a slightly different texture and taste, but can be used interchangeably or mixed in recipes. Do you know which are which?

The first to get ripe are the black raspberries. In fact they are almost finished for the season. We do not have a lot of these, but there is one nice patch close to the house. We made two pies and had a few to eat from that patch. They are my favorite, sweet and delicious. The black raspberry would be the one on the right. You know it is a raspberry because the center is hollow after you pick it.

Red raspberries, the one on the left, are the jewels of the berries. They are pretty and shiny, almost sparkling in the sun. The berries emerge from what resembles a burr. The plants are covered with small prickers. They are almost fuzzy. I do not think these have as much flavor as the other berries, but they still are delicious. We do not have many of these. Just enough for eating a few here and there.

That leaves the berry in the center, the blackberry. You know it is a blackberry because when you pick it the center remains. Blackberries generally are larger than raspberries. We have an abundance of these. They are flavorful, but out of the three berries these have the most seeds. That doesn't matter much to me. I still love them, but I have several recipes that strain the seeds out for my husband who is bothered by all the seeds. This is one of our favorites.

Blackberry Shrub

4 quarts blackberries
1 quart vinegar
sugar

Mash the berries and cover with vinegar. Allow to sit overnight. Strain. Put in a large pot, and add 2 ¼ cups sugar for each pint of juice. Bring to a boil and boil for 20 minutes. This makes a concentrate that can be added to water. Use about two tablespoons per glass, or ¾ a cup of shrub concentrate in two quarts of water. I also like it mixed into iced tea. Mixed with ginger ale, or lemon lime soda, it makes a great party punch.

But the blackberries are late. I won't be making shrub for another week or so. I can only console myself with the small amount of raspberries available and wait patiently for the blackberries.

For more on berries:

Wild Berry Picking 101
Blackberry Freezer Jam
He'll Take His Blackberries without the Seeds

Common Milkweed Flowers

The milkweed is in bloom. Despite their pretty subtle purple color, they aren't the prettiest flowers to look at. They are comprised of many little flowers that droop downward in a ball. The stems are small, and they don't exactly work well as a cut flower.

As if to make up for their lack of visual appeal, milkweed flowers have the most incredible aroma. Next time you see some along the road or in an old field, stop and take a whiff. It will be worth your time.

So they aren't very pretty, but they do smell wonderful so what exactly can you do with them? The flowers can be dried and used in wreaths or for making potpourri.

Leave the flowers where they are and enjoy watching the butterflies. Milkweed is very popular among the bees and the butterflies, especially the monarch butterfly. In fact much of the monarch life cycle involves milkweed. Observing them both can be very educational. I tried to move some plants closer to the house last year in the hopes of starting a butterfly garden. My transplants did not make it. I would like to try again.

Milkweed flowers (and the plant when prepared correctly) can also be eaten. Making milkweed flower fritters is a treat around here. Making them is easy. Make a fritter batter, or you can use a thin pancake batter. I recommend making a fairly thin batter for milkweed blossoms. Then fry them in oil.

Though I have yet to try other edible uses for the flowers, instructions for making milkweed tea and syrup can be found in Bootstraps and Biscuits. Last year I was not able to gather enough to try either of these. This year I have found a huge patch nearby. I hope to try some new things with milkweed this summer.

Milkweed flowers can be enjoyed for their smell, for the butterfly attraction or for their taste. However you enjoy them, they are a weed with a lot to offer. Just be sure if you do pick them to leave some for the wildlife to enjoy too!


Find more information on mesothelioma.

Every Seventeen Years

Seventeen years ago I did not even know my husband. I was living a very different life in a very different place. The place that I live now was entirely covered in trees. In those trees female cicadas were splitting twigs and laying eggs. Those eggs hatched, the larvae fell from the trees, and they buried themselves deep in the forest floor.

This weekend those cicadas once again dug through the soil and emerged above ground. They came through holes like the ones you can see here at my pinky and my wrist.






After coming above the ground they continue to climb the trees or other nearby plants. They shed their outer shell to reveal their adult forms. The shells stay behind.








They will live above ground for four to six weeks. You can hear them in the heat of the day; a low humming in the distance. Some say it sound like they are calling, "Pharaoh." They will mate, the adults will die and larvae will bury themselves for the next sixteen and a half years.

There are many "broods" of cicada (also called 17 year locust.) This is the year for the brood where I live, but different broods emerge at different times. The cicadas do pose a threat to trees, especially young trees. (Glad I didn't plant fruit trees this year!) Young trees should be protected with netting, or other cloth.

Reportedly, Cicadas taste very good. They have been compared to shrimp and crayfish. In my head eating them makes sense. Have you ever seen a whole shrimp? The really are not the most appealing thing, but my stomach can not get past the idea of eating something that looks like an overgrown horsefly. I've eaten a lot of things people may see as strange, but I draw the line at cicadas.

It is hard telling how life will be different the next time these insects make there appearance. In seventeen years I am sure to be a grandma. I hope to still be living here, but hopefully not in this house. Perhaps I will be adventurous enough to fix of dish of cicadas, but probably not. If there still is such a thing as a blog, and I'm still at it, I will be sure to tell you about it!

Cicada Resources
Cicada Mania
Cicada-Licious (recipes and information)

Immature Pokeweed

For Crystal!

This is when Poke is safe to eat. Wash and par boil and drain the water. We use Poke until the berries start to come. Older leaves may need two changes of water to get the bitterness out.

You'll find poke just about anywhere the soil has been disturbed. It grows along our road and places where we've cleared and graded the land. It grows in vacant lots, and the other day I saw it beside the fiberglass columns at a local store.

Wordless Wednesday

Poke, Bacon and Eggs

Yesterday we gathered the first poke weed of the season. We gathered about a mixing bowl full. I decided to try something new to fix it.

Poke, Bacon and Eggs
First wash the poke weed. Trim off the leaves and peel the stalks, if using. Put in a pot. Cover with water. Bring to a boil, and boil for a few minutes. Drain, rinse and chop.

Chop up four pieces of bacon and fry in a pan. When the bacon is almost done, drain the excess fat, and add 2 TB chopped onion and 2 cloves chopped garlic. Cook until onion is soft.

Beat six eggs and add to the bacon and onions. Cook until eggs are dry, stirring frequently.

We had this for dinner last night with cornbread and beans. It made for a delicious, nutritious and economical meal, but I must say I have a love hate relationship with cornbread. You can see the love...


And the hate...




How do the kids get so many crumbs on the floor?

Medicinal Uses of Wild Plants

Natural medicine has always been a passing interest to me. Natural medicine just makes sense to me. Creation is perfect, so doesn't it seem logical that there would be things created that could ease our aches and pains and keep us healthy? My dog knows what plant to go eat when his stomach is upset. Why don't I?

The interest has been passing, mostly because I haven't had the need to find out more about it. We are healthy for the most part. The kids really don't even get more than a runny nose very often, but I've been thinking about health care this week.

I'm glad to have modern medicine. It has its place, but I think that some of the old ways that have been forgotten maybe are the better options. Many of you know that one of my hobbies is foraging for wild foods. The "Wildman" book that I use lists medicinal uses of wild plants. I thought I'd share some of the medicinal uses of plants that I've talked about before.

Spicebush Berries - The oil is used externally for osteoarthritis relief. Infusions are used for coughs, cold and croup.

Queen Anne's Lace - Seed tea is used for kidney stones, bladder diseases, coughs, and jaundice.

Blackberry - Different parts of the plant are used for a traditional remedy for adult diarrhea. Blackberry tea is used for sore throats, and fevers.

Grapes - Use the leaves with plantain for poultices for sores. They are an astringent. The fruit is supposed to detoxify the body, help with urinary tract irritations, and cardiovascular disease.

Common Milkweed - Root decoctions are used to calm nerves and stomaches. It is also used for coughs, colds, asthma, and bronchitis.

I've never paid much attention to the medicinal uses of the plants I forage. I think I will start though. It is valuable information.

Note: This information is provided for educational use only. Please consult a medical professional before using wild plants medicinally.

Grape Ketchup

Over the weekend I found a recipe in Bootstraps and Biscuits that would use the Spicebush Berries and the Wild Grapes I've gathered lately. Though this recipe calls for wild foods, you could use cultivated grapes and substitute allspice for the spicebush berries.

Wild Grape Ketchup
Wash grapes and remove from stems. Put in a pot and just cover with water. Gently boil for about ten minutes. Pass through a food mill (or strainer) to get the pulp.

For every cup of puree add 1/2 C brown sugar, and 1/4 wine vinegar. Cook until thickened and add 1/2 tsp black pepper and 1 tsp ground spicebush berries. Serve with meats.

The sauce has an excellent flavor. The recipe recommends using the sauce with poultry and the author states that she prefers the grape ketchup to cranberry sauce. I think the sauce would be excellent for meatballs, but have not tried it yet. I may need to go pick some more grapes and make a big batch of this up!

A Wild Fall Harvest

Wild Grapes and Staghorn Sumac

As you can see in the picture, wild grapes are quite a bit smaller than their cultivated counterparts. The taste is a bit more bitter also, and of course they have seeds. They can be used like you would use any other grape.

I use staghorn sumac to make a juice concentrate. It has a citrus like taste. You can see some ways I've used it at The Original Pink Lemonade.


A not quite Wordless Wednesday from my SD card to your computer.

Common Spicebush Berries

Wordless Wednesday

Queen Anne's Lace

One of my favorite wild plants is Queen Anne's Lace. Though it is considered a weed, it is really very beautiful. It is useful too. My favorite things are always pretty and practical.

You will find Queen Anne's Lace almost everywhere. It is especially prevalent along roads. Did you know that it is wild carrot? The leaves look like the domestic carrot. They are lacy and hairy. The flowers are delicate and often have a purple dot in the center. The plant smells like carrot.

Caution: Poison Hemlock does look similar to Queen Anne's Lace, but is hairless and smells bad.

The root tastes like carrot, but is white, has a stronger flavor and a chewier texture. It is best harvested from fall to early spring. It can be used like commercial carrots. Dried and roasted, it is said to be a good substitute for coffee, though I have not tried it.

The leaves are edible too. They add a nice carrot flavor to salads and cooking. They do have a strong flavor, so use in moderation. I only use them in the spring, after that they become too bitter.

The flowers are beautiful. They are one of my daughter's (5) favorite to pick when she goes on her almost daily wild flower picking walks. They can also be a good tool for an almost free science lesson. Teach your child how the water and nutrients travel through the stem to the rest of the plant. Add some food coloring to water in a vase. Red seems to work best, though all colors will produce color change. Freshly cut the stems and put them in the water. Wait a few days, and you will see the flowers start turn the color of the water. When I did this with Lydia we had a little art lesson too by mixing food coloring to get new colors. Her favorite? Red and blue make purple! No surprise there.

The flowers are also edible, with a mild carrot flavor. I've used them for fritters, but think they are best in salads. I like to separate the flower into the individual clusters for salads. It is pretty and it tastes delicious.

After the flowers are done, a seed head will remain. Collect these seeds in late summer and early fall. They can be used fresh or dried to store. The flavor is like that of caraway. Great for your homemade rye bread!

Queen Anne's Lace is my kind of plant. It is free, pretty, and useful from root to seed. How could you ask anything more from a plant you didn't plant, didn't tend to, and only showed up to harvest?

Frugal Fridays

Second Plantings

My kitchen is overflowing with beans, summer squash, and cucumbers. The tomatoes are coming along, from a distance the wild apples look like they are starting to get ripe, and that means the wild pears are probably ready. As previously posted, I am having a hard time keeping up, and today I started thinking about planting more.

Yes, you read that right. Late July, early August in my neck of the woods is the time to plant cooler weather crops. Today I pulled out the seeds I have. It is time to plant lettuce, spinach, peas and beets again. I'd like to plant turnips. The neighbor informs us that August sixth is the day for turnip planting. I'm also thinking about another row of beans. (gasp did I really say that?!)

Why plant more when I can barely keep up with what I have? Believe me, I've been asking myself that question. One reason is many of the vegetables listed above did not do well for us in the spring. I'd like to have some of them to put away. Another reason, many of those vegetables are not very labor intensive. By the time the more labor intensive ones are ready, I should be done with the things that are currently keeping me so busy.

Finally, the biggest reason; the more I do now, the less I have to buy in the winter. We are quite a way from self sufficiency. We may never be entirely there, but I like to do as much as I can. As long is there is good weather and ground to plant in, why not take full advantage? Have I convinced you? I think I've convinced myself!

Do you plant for fall? What vegetables are you thinking about planting now?

The Simple Life Isn't Always so Simple

I think I have a romanticized vision of the simple life. When I think of the simple life, I imagine myself strolling through my gardens, leisurely tending the weeds and harvest. I think of a slow pace feeding animals, playing with and teaching my children. There is a lots of time for reflection and relaxation. Is this the picture you have?

Well, let me tell you it isn't reality or I don't have a simple life. I recently wrote to a friend that I feel like I've just traded one crazy life for another. Life is just busy regardless of whether I live in 100 Acres of Woods or in the city. It is just a different kind of busy.

The blackberries are done. They stopped producing at least two weeks earlier than last year. When they were producing, they did not produce nearly as much this year either. I had big plans for jams, shrub, and other things. I didn't even scratch the surface of the plans, and deep down I'm relieved.

All summer I've felt like I'm treading water, just keeping my head above the piling demands of kids, animals, and gardens. The beans are producing like crazy. Last count; 44 quarts canned or frozen, and that is just at my house. I'm not sure how many Mamaw has done, and I'm not counting the full paper bag of them in my refrigerator that were picked last night. I'm grateful for the bounty, I really am, but they take time. I guess cleaning beans is my time for relaxation and reflection! *grin*

I see the tomatoes just starting to come on, the wild apples and pears beginning to ripen, and wonder how I will add them to the mix of things I need to do. It will get done, I know, somehow.

This life is great. I love it, really I do. I'm just tired, and feel like I'm just holding my own. Then a week like this week comes, and I feel buried. We are going out of town this weekend for a family wedding, to see a new baby in the family and to visit with family and friends. I'm looking forward to it, but adding packing and making sure the gardens, house and animals are in order for the weekend has worn me out. Maybe I need some muscle milk to help keep me going.

And yes, here I sit whining. I should be cleaning my house, packing, cleaning beans or another of the many things that I need to do before we leave tonight. And I am going to, but before I go, I wanted to let you know if I haven't been participating much at your blog be patient with me, I'll be more active in the fall, and I will be gone this weekend so posting will probably be light. Hope you all have a great weekend!

Blackberry Freezer Jam

Yesterday morning I went out picking again. I love to go first thing in the morning. I get up early and go before Tim has to go to work. I'll go out just me, the dog and the wildlife. Time alone and peace and quiet are hard to come by around here. It is worth getting up for.

I decided to try Blackberry Freezer Jam with the day's harvest. I've made strawberry freezer jam before, but never blackberry. Freezer jam is faster to prepare, and I think keeps more of the fresh taste than cooked jam. It does set softer, and of course requires space in the freezer. The recipe was in the Sure-Jell box.

3 pints blackberries (6 cups)
5 1/4 C sugar
1 box Sure-Jell

Mash berries with a potato masher one cup at a time. Add sugar to crushed fruit. Stir and allow to sit for ten minutes. Put pectin and 3/4 C water into a sauce pan. Bring to a boil stirring constantly. Boil for one minute. Add mixture to berries and stir for about three minutes until sugar is dissolved. Pour into containers. Allow to sit at room temperature for 24 hours. Keeps in the refrigerator for about three weeks or up to a year in the freezer.

I don't have freezer boxes. I freeze most things in bags. I've used freezer bags for freezer jam before. What a mess! This time I used recycled cottage cheese containers. Now does that surprise you?




recipes, wild foods

Wild Berry Picking 101

The berry season is now in full swing here. I have the purple hands and scratched legs to prove it. Picking wild berries is one of my favorite activities. You get fresh air, a little exercise and free delicious healthy food for your family.

I've also noticed that I've been getting a lot of hits to my blogs from blackberry related google searches. One thing I really haven't talked about is picking them. Here is a quick tutorial for picking wild berries.

At about the same time, you will find blackberries, red raspberries and black raspberries. The plants are similar. The leaves are compound; in three parts. They are oval and toothed. The plants have lots of thorns. The easiest way to tell them apart is when you pick a berry. A picked raspberry will be hollow, resembling a cup. The blackberry will not be hollow. There are no poisonous look a likes of the fruit. The fruits do have slightly different tastes, but I use them mixed and interchangeably in recipes. Now that you know what you are looking for, get out there and pick.

Dress appropriately. You will want to wear sturdy shoes, long sleeves and pants. This will help protect you from the thorns. It also help protect you from bug bites. You may also want gloves.

How to get the good ones. You know berries are ripe when they practically fall of the stem as you are picking. Blackberries especially, will look ripe before they are really ready. If you have to tug at them, they are not ready. Bigger is better for berries. The larger ones will be sweeter and juicier. The smaller ones will still work though. Look carefully. Often the best berries are hidden.

After picking your berries, rinse throughly or soak in a little salt water. Then use them in your favorite recipes. Berry pie is really easy to make.

Berry Pie
Scoop three cups of berries into a pie crust. Dot with 1 TB of butter. Mix 1/2 C brown sugar with 1 tsp of cornstarch and pour over the berries. Put top pie crust on. Seal edges. Use a knife to make a vent on the top of the crust. Bake at 450 F for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 400 F and bake for 30 minutes until the crust is a nice golden color.

More recipes: Berry Cobbler and Syrup,

For more frugal ideas and tips visit Frugal Fridays.
blackberries, wild food, recipes

Blackberry Picking

Maybe I should wear gloves?

Wordless Wednesday

Wild Berries Scouting Report & Blackberry Recipes

We have lots of wild berries here; mostly blackberries, but red and black raspberries can also be found. Last year we picked what seemed like an enormous quantity of berries. We made cobblers, syrup, jam, vinegar, and a drink concentrate called shrub, among other things. It was all so good. So good that we ran out of well before the next berry season.

This season I am determined to pick more, preserve more and have more to enjoy through the winter. Last week the kids and I went on a scouting mission to see how the berries were coming along. It has been a hot, dry spring here. The berries are showing it. Some of the foliage is already dying away, before the berries are ripe. The black raspberries are tiny, and seedy without much flavor. The blackberries are producing, but the fruit is much smaller, and not as sweet as last year. The red raspberries come a bit later, so it is a little early to tell how they are doing.

The season really isn't here yet. The first good harvest last year was June 29th. I am hoping that the last few days of cooler and wetter weather will help the berries, and next week we will find tons of big sweet berries.

There are good blackberries to be had, but they are deep in the thickets. My arms and legs show the evidence of how deep the berries are in the thickets. Note to self: Must wear long sleeves and pants when picking! We managed to find about two quarts of berries despite the weather, and the fact that it is a bit early.

The first quart was used to make Boiled Blackberry Dumplings. The second for syrup. Recipes adapted from Bootstraps and Biscuits.

Boiled Blackberry Dumplings
Dumplings
1 C flour
2 1/2 TB butter
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 C sugar
milk for dropping batter (about 2/3 C)

Sauce
4 C blackberries
1 C water
1 C sugar

Put sauce ingredients in a wide bottom pan. Stir to a boil. Mix up dumplings. Pour mix by the spoonful over the sauce. Put a lid and and do not remove until cooked, about 20 minutes.

Berry Syrup
Put 4 C berries, 4 C sugar and 3 C water in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Boil for about 15 minutes. Strain.

I fed the leftover pulp to the birds, but it can also be used to make fruit leather.

I have big plans for the berries this year. I sure hope that they cooperate!

wild food, blackberries, recipes

Eating Wild Flowers

It is summer and the wild flowers are in full bloom! Among them, Common Milkweed is blooming in our area. These flowers are very lovely and their smell is incredible. Many people use them in crafts. They also make some good eating. Really!

When you come across Common Milkweed in bloom, there will be several flowers on the plant. Look for plants who have flowers in bloom, and unopened buds. Avoid plants with flowers that are already spent. These flowers can not be used.

Snip the stalk just below the lowest usable flower. Don't take it from all the plants. Leave plenty of them for the bees and monarchs! You will have young greens that can be prepared as in Common Milkweed: Food for Monarchs and Me. The older greens will be tough, so don't bother with the leaves below the flowers.

You will have unopened flowers that kind of resemble broccoli. These can be prepared in the same manner as the leaves, and taste similar to the the leaves. They remind me of green beans with an almost sweet flavor. The bud texture is very enjoyable.

Now on to the best part; the blooming flowers. These contain very little sap, so they don't need as much prep work as the greens and buds. I bring a pot of water to boil and place the flowers in for about three minutes, drain, and rinse. Then they are ready to use.

I've only used Milkweed flowers for fritters. They are so good. Prepare a fritter batter. I just use a thin pancake batter. I do not have a deep fryer, so I use a pan with several inches of oil. Heat the oil until water drops dance around. Dip your flower in the batter. Allow excess to drip off. Carefully place in the oil. Fry until it begins to float. I needed to flip mine because my oil was not deep enough. Fry until golden. Yummy! Not exactly the healthiest way to prepare wild food, but it is so good! A great special treat!


Common Milkweed Flowers are not the only wild flowers that can be prepared as fritters. We also prepare Daylily and Queen Anne's Lace in this manner. Make fritters with these as above. The Queen Anne's Lace needs no preparation, except washing. For the Daylily, simply wash and pull out the stamen.

Though we have used them for fritters, I prefer both of these flowers simply in salads. Wash the flowers. Cut up the Queen Anne's Lace and add to your salad. It has a mild carrot taste. For the Daylily, pull the petals off, and add to a salad. The flavor is very similar to lettuce. It adds a nice crunch and pretty color. Daylily is also good to hold fillings like chicken salad, or as Wild T made, Salmon Stuffed Daylilies.

When you pick Daylilies, cut off the whole flower stem. Use the open flowers as described above. The buds are wonderful sautéed in a little butter. They remind me of a sugar snap pea. Or you can put the stem in a vase of water and new buds will open everyday. I've read that the spent flowers are good in soups, for use as a thickening agent, and are a traditional ingredient in Chinese cooking. I have used them a little like this, but have yet to locate a recipe, just side notes about their use.

I enjoy using wild flowers in my meals. They add flavor, and make the meal visually pleasing too. Next time you are driving down a country road, or taking a walk in the woods, and spy some of these wild flowers, stop and pick a few. Take them home and try them for yourself.
I think you'll be pleased.

wild foods, nature,

Stuffed Wild Grape Leaves

When I was in high school, I worked in a Greek restaurant. I didn't particularly care for the boss there, but I loved the food! That may have been the beginning of my love for ethnic foods. So, when I spotted some wild grape vine on the property a few weeks ago, my first thought was stuffed grape leaves.

I've never made stuffed grape leaves, so I started looking for recipes. About the only constants in the recipes were grape leaves and rice. The other ingredients and the way to prepare them varied greatly. In the end I made up my own recipe.


The Stuffing
2 C leftover rice
1 lb hamburger
1 minced onion
6 cloves of garlic minced
1/2 C chopped pecans
1 handful plantain chopped (this is a wild green, you could substitute swiss chard or spinach)
2 TB lemon juice
salt
pepper

Brown hamburger with onion and garlic. Drain if needed. Add salt, pepper, and nuts. Cook a few more minutes. Mix with remaining ingredients. Allow to cool.

The Leaves
I used wild grape leaves. I never did get a count, but I think there were about six dozen. Harvest leaves that are still a light green, but at least as big as woman's hand. Rinse them. Bring a pot of water with 1 tsp salt to boil. Add leaves and boil a few minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water.

I have not tried this with store bought leaves, but most of the recipes I read recommended soaking them before using to help get the salt of the brine off the leaves.

Place the leaf stem side up. Put about 1 TB of stuffing on near the stem end. Fold the sides in and roll tightly, and place in a shallow baking dish. I made three different pans, different ways. All were baked at 300 F for 50 minutes.

Pan one: Topped with about one cup leftover spaghetti sauce before baking. In my opinion, this was the best of the three for eating hot.

Pan two: Brushed with olive oil before baking. This made the leaves crispier. I didn't care for them hot, but they are good this way when eaten cold.

Pan three: Added small amount of water to the pan before baking. These were okay hot or cold, but not my favorite either way.

The kids and I ate them for lunch. Nolan (3) really enjoyed them. The others were neutral. I thought I might freeze some of the extras, but Nolan and I have been snacking on them cold this afternoon. There may be not be any left to freeze.



recipes, wild foods, ethnic food

Why Eat Wild Foods?

Yesterday, I was searching for a recipe, and came across another great site dedicated to wild foods. What recipe was I searching for? Well, I can't tell you, that would ruin the surprise for my challenge week Make It From Scratch entry. That, and if I back out of the idea, you will never know!

Anyway, the site is Prodigal Gardens, and she has so much great information. It looks like she is still adding to it too. She has her plants organized alphabetically, but also by the month she harvests them. That is a huge help to those who are new to wild foods. She does live in the Upper Midwest so you would need to adjust for your growing zone. She has an interesting background, and is very knowledgeable about the medicinal and nutritional values of wild plants.

My favorite part on her site though is Why Eat Wild Foods? I couldn't agree more! Check out this great site!


wild foods