Sunday, January 31, 2010

Hungry for spring!

I dragged out some wild food books over the weekend and spent some time looking through them, finding a few recipes to try this spring and summer, as well as deciding to try a couple of "weeds" that I've not eaten before. It was a good way to spend an otherwise boring winter afternoon, but it really got me fired up for spring!

Dandelions will be in grave danger this year, I can tell you. I'm so looking forward to fresh greens and more. One of the books I rediscovered is "Dandelion Celebration" by Peter Gail. Curious, I tried to track him down and actually found a blog he wrote, but the last entry was in April of last year. I'm hoping that he just got busy with other things and will return soon.

That little book was what really got me started on dandelions and I'm still learning about them. Not only can you eat the leaves as cooked greens, you can eat them raw in a salad or sandwich. You can steam the buds and eat them with butter, fritter the flower heads or add the flowers to cookie dough... make dandelion coffee and, of course, dandelion wine. All for free (how frugal is that??)

Then you can sprout the seeds for a midwinter green, or you can bring in a plant or two and have greens year 'round. Dig the roots for a cooked vegetable, too.

And so my weekend went... and so I'm hungry for all those good, free, wild foods that won't grow here just yet.

If you haven't tried wild foods, do yourself and your food budget a favor and try dandelions this spring. You might be able to find a copy of Peter Gail's book at a library, but if you can't, there are many dandelion recipes on the internet. Just remember to not gather them from lawns or fields that have been sprayed with herbicides or pesticides or that are close to highways or busy streets.

Have you had any experience with dandelions or other wild foods? I'd love to learn more!

26 comments:

  1. Going to try fried blossoms this year. My dad use to make dadelion wine. I also found a recipe for dandelion jelly that I will be making this year. We don't use chemicals and neither do our neighbors, and God us all those beauties for a reason!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Let me know how the jelly turns out if you remember. That's one thing I haven't tried with dandelions. I don't use much jelly so didn't think it would be worth the effort.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Pat,

    Thanks for the dandelion ispiration! I'm curious about sprouting the seeds. Is it done the usual way one sprouts seeds, just soaked in water? Guess one would need to save up a lot of that dandelion fluff in the summer for sprouting in the winter!! Love it that you talked about a book, and I plan to look for it on my weekly trip to the library tomorrow. Best regards. Bette

    ReplyDelete
  4. p.s. Dried dandelion leaves (& probably other of its parts as well) make a very nourishing tea.

    Susun Weed has written several books about using herbs for health, eating, energy, etc. Her books are some of the best available on herbs and they include some fantastic recipes.
    --Bette

    ReplyDelete
  5. As far as I know, that's the way to do them. I haven't tried to sprout them yet, since I only found out about it this year and don't have any seed available. I'm going to try it this spring, though, and if I like them, I'll gather some for winter. Someone (I think it was on a Yahoo group) said that if you put the seeds in a paper bag and leave them for a few days, the parachute part will come off and you can blow that part away, leaving the seeds at the bottom.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yes, I like Susun Weed, too. There are several good authors and books to whet our appetites. :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. By the way, thanks for the idea about making tea from the dried leaves. I wondered last year if there was any benefit to drying some leaves... now I know. :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. A word of warning on eating dandelions and drinking their tea: they are a powerful diuretic. Avoid them if you take certain medications. Otherwise, enjoy!

    ReplyDelete
  9. True! I'd forgotten to mention that.

    ReplyDelete
  10. And so I will forage out of my pantry again this month and have No Spend February. I have Dandelion tea sitting in my cupboard that I will take out and drink!! I just stocked up again at the end of January and hopefully have enough stuff to last for about three weeks!! I will enjoy my tea in between meals maybe it will help in weight loss!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I used to have a pet bearded dragon and his fave food was dandilions, so I would go out and pick them for him.

    This led me to start throwing some in salads and things and they are a good food source.... I have not tried the leaves before so will have to see if I can do that this summer although I am living in Cairo right now and I have not seen any growing anywhere!

    Thanks,

    Forest.
    http://frugalzeitgeist.com

    ps.... I was looking for an email signup so I can follow you but I can't find it, do you have one? If not I can help you set up email sign up, just mail me (forest.parks@gmail.com).

    ReplyDelete
  12. I managed to dig enough dandelion roots last year to last me so far, but I'm going to run out before next fall and I'll have to buy some, too. I also canned some greens and froze a few, but what I'm really hungry for now is the fresh greens and the buds and flowers!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Some fun comments here! Love this stuff!!

    I've found tea from the dried dandelion leaves by themselves a bit lacking, so I make a "cocktail" using other dried herbs and a lot of dried mint from my garden to help the flavor. I add the mint to almost all of my infusions and it really makes it more palatable.

    Nettle is a good herb to mix with the dandelion. It is very nourishing and makes the tea very green. I like to let it steep all night in a pot on the stove & then strain it in the morning for consumption during the day. When I'm on-the-run, I dispense it into a glass bottle to sip instead of pop, etc.

    Best regards!
    Bette

    ReplyDelete
  14. Bette, do you use anything else besides nettle (doesn't grow around here) or mint? Your "cocktail" sounds interesting!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Forest, the leaves are really good in salads or cooked. I like them on sandwiches, too. Did you know that you can buy dandelion seeds? Grow them in a pot on your windowsill, if nothing else. :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Thanks Pat,

    I may have to get some seeds brought over. I'm sure they would grow splendidly on my window.

    Forest.
    http://frugalzeitgeist.com

    ReplyDelete
  17. Forest, I forgot to mention that I had a feedblitz subscription sign up, but removed it in a fit of blog housecleaning. It's back now. :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. Pat,

    I buy my dried nettle at the health food store to make my tea cocktail. I think it is available online, too, perhaps through places like Frontier food company. I would dry my own if I could find some!!

    I also mix the dandelion with: raspberry, red clover, chamomile and fenugreek seeds, all of which I purchased at the health food store for "medicinal" purposes, primarily hormonal related issues. I think you could mix the dandelion w/about any herb for tea, including store-bought black tea, green tea, etc. Susun Weeds books and her website give detailed info about what herbs to use for what ailments and desired results, such as more energy, adrenal gland restoration, head aches, menopause symptoms, etc. I try to drink at least a pint of it a day, sometimes more. It is like an energy drink w/healthful and healing properties for me. You can experiment w/what to include in your cocktail based on what your needs are at the time. Good stuff and cheap "medicine!!"

    Best regards,
    Bette

    ReplyDelete
  19. Pat,

    As far as other wild foods, I grew up eating several wild mushrooms, poke salat (a.k.a. salad - it's a hillbilly thing!), lamb's quarters, water cress from the creek, wild blackberries and raspberries. To that, I've added purslane, a common weed in most gardens and wild garlic my son digs out of my flowerbeds.

    Bette

    ReplyDelete
  20. Yeah, I guess I could buy nettles! I just get my head stuck one way sometimes! :)

    I was just curious as to whether you'd found a good tasting combination that you preferred. I have kidney disease so have to be careful of how much of what I drink. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Bette, I eat purslane, lambsquarter, wild salsify and dandelion out of my back yard. I love dock in the spring but it doesn't grow here. I remember cress from my childhood way back when. We might have had poke, but I don't remember that and it doesn't grow here, either. I love wild onions, but have never found any wild garlic.

    ReplyDelete
  22. I appreciate wild foods. I eat wild strawberries, purslane, goose foot( also referred to as lamb's quarters, I believe). I guess I should try dandelion, which I never have.
    I have not much freezer space, so I'm interested in the canning technique that Pat has mentioned. How long do you can the greens for & at what pressure, add any salt, etc?

    ReplyDelete
  23. Can dandelion greens just like you would spinach. I don't have the specifics with me right now, but they will be in any canning guide. Any wild green can be canned like that.

    ReplyDelete
  24. speaking of Spring...I went to the grocery store today and am seeing Easter Baskets on display starting at around 9 bucks. Every year I do this and can't believe how much more people are paying and getting less. I reuse plastic gallon milk jugs and make baskets out of them. I cut a shape in the front either oval for an egg or a half circle and a zig zag line two inches up from the bottom of the jug. I took green construction paper cut it in long strips and then curled them with scissors. I then put the "grass" inside the basket. I took tissue paper in pastel colors (I found mine at the $ store 30 sheets for a dollar) I then cut the tissue paper into two inch squares and twisted the bottom half of the squares so that the top of the square looked like blossoms. I glued these all over the milk jug covering every inch of space. I then put more glue on top of the tissue paper and put pastel glitter ( you can use you left over Christmas glitter if you have some) I put a pom pom on the cover of the milk jug and voila I had a beautiful Easter Basket for a buck (only because I bought the tissue paper) You can make yours for FREE if you look into your Christmas stuff to see whats available. I then went and stuffed it to the brim with candy and trinkets. One year at the $ store I bought two glass eggs that I put into the baskets along with candy! I also made one for our class party that we were having and everyone wanted it so I ended up raffling off! So if you are ready for winter to be over it's NOT too early to start this project! By the time Easter comes you'll have the best looking basket ever!
    Also I took real heavy tissue (for noses....get the good sturdy ones and don't forget to use your coupon!) and some green pipe cleaner and I made tissue flowers from them. I then dipped the flowers in craft paint (just the tops and lightly so they don't fall) you can choose whatever color you like. They are beautiful and say "Spring has Sprung" You can use them for your Easter table and they really are beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Great ideas for Easter! I agree, it's not too early to start on projects like this.

    ReplyDelete