Redbuds are pretty and taste good! |
We found several of the plants we were introduced to in the last class - the common plantain, the seaside plantain, wild onions, and my favorite, the yarrow.
I learned that the weeds growing in between the pavers of my patio are Pennsylvania Bittercress, which I quite enjoy. I'd pull them up and put them in my salad if I didn't know what pesticides our homeowner's association sprayed on them. That, and the neighbor's dog pees on my patio to torment my dog. I'll find a safer place to forage.
The Pennsylvania Bittercress's cousin, Wintercress, I didn't enjoy so much. It was tasty at first, then the bitterness sneaked up on me and smacked me in the head. I'll eat it in a survival situation , but I don't think I'll be making it part of my everyday diet.
My favorite of this class was the Spring Beauty, or as it was billed, the "elusive Fairy Potato". The flower is beautiful and incredibly delicate and if you dig it up, you get a tiny little potato. I was surprised how delicate the plant was.
I brought home two of the tiny potatoes and made itty bitty Fairy Potato Chips. It was a lot of work for a few tiny chips, but they were very good. I think if I cook with them again, I'll just cut them in half and drop them in a cup of soup or something.
We did find a small patch of wild strawberries. They'll be ready in June. Sadly, I won't be there for those, but maybe someone will get lucky and get a strawberry before the wild animals do.
One of the other bonuses of this class? We scoped out all the blackberries and other summer goodies are for the Summer Wild Edibles class and the Wild Brewing class - mostly the Wild Brewing class. That reminds me... I am off to empty three wine bottles for the Wild Brewing class so that we can refill them! (Don't worry. I won't empty them all at once.)
I learned that the weeds growing in between the pavers of my patio are Pennsylvania Bittercress, which I quite enjoy. I'd pull them up and put them in my salad if I didn't know what pesticides our homeowner's association sprayed on them. That, and the neighbor's dog pees on my patio to torment my dog. I'll find a safer place to forage.
The Pennsylvania Bittercress's cousin, Wintercress, I didn't enjoy so much. It was tasty at first, then the bitterness sneaked up on me and smacked me in the head. I'll eat it in a survival situation , but I don't think I'll be making it part of my everyday diet.
Spring Beauty aka The Fairy Potato |
The actual Fairy Potato |
I brought home two of the tiny potatoes and made itty bitty Fairy Potato Chips. It was a lot of work for a few tiny chips, but they were very good. I think if I cook with them again, I'll just cut them in half and drop them in a cup of soup or something.
We did find a small patch of wild strawberries. They'll be ready in June. Sadly, I won't be there for those, but maybe someone will get lucky and get a strawberry before the wild animals do.
One of the other bonuses of this class? We scoped out all the blackberries and other summer goodies are for the Summer Wild Edibles class and the Wild Brewing class - mostly the Wild Brewing class. That reminds me... I am off to empty three wine bottles for the Wild Brewing class so that we can refill them! (Don't worry. I won't empty them all at once.)
Salt and Pepper Fairy Potato Chips |
No comments:
Post a Comment