Wild Foods of Spring
On a mild day in spring it is pleasant to take a light basket on one’s arm and go for a long walk, garnering whatever the fields, woods and streams offer, the best foraging is probably close to home, around the flower and vegetable gardens, where many early-developing weeds are most abundant and tasty. The fattest finest dandelions will certainly be plentiful there, and violets, and possibly Saint Barbara’s weed. Chickweed will never be far from any recently cultivated ground, and if you have succeeded in keeping jewelweed out of the shadier parts of your garden, we would like to know your secret. But in the garden, other edibles plants will be available, all familiar nuisances, many worth gathering for food.
Joe Eck & Wayne Winterrowd in Living Seasonally: The Kitchen Garden and the Table at North Hill
I haven’t had much of a chance to get out foraging yet, but I did score some fiddlehead ferns at the farmers market last week. We enjoyed them sautéed for breakfast with poached eggs on top.
Dandelions have been making their way from the edges of the woodlot to our plates. I’ve been waiting for rain to start searching for mushrooms in earnest. Looks like this will be the perfect week for the that.
Wild violets also abound in the lawn, they always find their way into salads to add that special bit of beauty and a ton of vitamin C. There’s nothing quite like finding food that you didn’t have to take the time to cultivate!
Are you enjoying any foraged food at the moment?
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Friday Favorite: Farm Stands
I have to admit, I’m a sucker for a farm stand. Whenever I see a sign like this, I slam on the brakes to see what they’ve got. Last Saturday, on my way between plant sales, I spotted this beautiful farm on a back road.
Lucky me, I scored a few bags of spinach and very spicy tiny leaved salad mix. Mr Chiots and I especially love seeing these when we’re out traveling. It certainly makes adding local vegetable to your plate much easier wherever you are.
I especially love little stands like this that work on the honor system. There’s something so comforting about knowing that there are still honest folks in the world and things like this still work.
Do you ever stop when you see signs like this while traveling?
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A Good Cause
This past weekend, I stopped at a few of our local conservation district plant sales. At one, there were a few grade schoolers selling packs of seeds to raise money for a new garden shed for their school garden.
I couldn’t pass them up without buying any seeds from them, they were so enthusiastic about their fundraiser. I loved that the seed packs are decorated by students. They even had a little catalog.
There’s nothing I love more than helping out industrious kids, especially when they’re trying to better their school garden. I didn’t really need any more seeds, but I couldn’t pass this up!
Have you purchased any interesting items from local kids recently?
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Keep It Simple
This is the fourth installment in the 5×5 Garden Challenge Series. Every Wednesday I’ll be posting about the challenge, covering topics that will help all the new gardeners get started. If you haven’t heard about the challenge head on over to the 5×5 Challenge Website, we’ll also be putting up a page here that pulls in all the 5×5 Challenge posts.
It seems like I’m always seeing advertisements for different gardening products on every website I go to and in every catalog that arrives in my mailbox. When it comes to gardening, I like to keep things simple. You don’t need all the latest and greatest gardening gadgets. Instead of buying a bunch of stuff you don’t need, invest in a good trowel.
I also find a bucket invaluable in the garden. It comes in handy for carrying soil amendments, plants, tools, weeds, and freshly harvested vegetables.
In addition to my trowel and bucket, I also use a watering can all the time. A big one, with a nice big crown that spreads the water far and wide.
This is pretty much all I ever use in the garden, especially on a day to day basis. If you’re just getting started, don’t spend a lot of money, keep it simple!
What three garden tools would you recommend to a beginning gardener?
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The Maiden Voyage
Yesterday, the chicks spent the afternoon outside running around in the green grass and soaking up a little sunshine. They were happy as clams, scratching and digging, dust bathing, finding bugs, chasing each other around, and trying to learn how to fly. They’re all a little over a week old and it’s time for them to start spending as much time outside as possible.
I believe animals should be outside honing their natural instincts. These chicks will need to learn to peck and scratch so they can forage for some of their own food, no freeloading animals here (except the indoor cats). Of course the ducks had to come over and see what all the fuss was about, I wonder if they remember being inside this pen? The lady duck was very interested in the little chickies. Hopefully she’ll start laying eggs soon and hatch her own little ones.
It’s been fun watching these little lovelies grow up, it’s so amazing how quickly their wing feathers start to come in (they’re already starting to fly a bit). I feel like I know exactly what these little chickies are feeling, in spring I’m so excited to get outside and to enjoy the weather, no doubt they’ll be looking forward to their trip out each day.
Have you been able to spend time outside soaking up the sun and feeling grass under your feet?
