Ephemeral songs of spring…

Jun 2, 2015

PictureA bountiful blooming Black Locust in Easthampton, MA.

Spring offers a rapid succession of wild foods with what seems like all too brief harvesting windows. I understand that the show must go on, and the green world will unfold as she may. Yet, as my spring time favorites sneak past their prime—dandelion greens, nettles, and japanese knotweed shoots—I reckon with the speed of seasonal change and already miss them. 


No time for grief though, for the great parade of edibles has just begun!  As one window of harvest closes, another opens just in time.  Here are three of my upcoming favorites. 


Black Locust Blossoms
Robinia psuedoacacia 

Breezes thick with the scent Black Locust blooms carry the seeds of next year’s dandelion.  Hanging heavy with clusters of edible flowers, Black Locust is a true late-spring delicacy. A strong infusion (pour boiling water over a jar stuffed with flowers, let steep for 6-8 hours) heavily sweetened with maple syrup, makes an other worldly dessert cordial. Freeze or refrigerate your cordial, otherwise you will end up with an exploded jar or fizzy, alcoholic beverage.  Russ Cohen, a prominent wild foods educator and writer recently shared his recipe for Black Locust fritters with me. You can also eat them raw in salads, stuffed in spring rolls, mixed in ice cream, baked into custards, cakes, and pasta sauces. Many blogs abound on the identification of black locust flowers, so check out a good one here before you leap! Don’t wait too long though, they are only in their peak form for 1-2 weeks depending on your town’s microclimate.  The trees in the Hilltowns (Goshen, Cummington, Worthington, etc.) just began blooming—though the heavy rains may have washed out their fragrance a bit.

 


Picture

Lamb’s quarters on the chopping block.

Lamb’s quarters 
Chenopodium album 


Lamb’s quarters, a cousin of quinoa, is another dear friend who is showing up in compost piles and farm fields every where, in prime harvest condition. Similar to spinach in texture and flavor, Lamb’s quarters delivers a hearty dose of vitamin A, C, B vitamins, and iron. When young and their stems break with ease, even up to a foot or more tall, the whole plant can be chopped, stalk and all, and sautéed with a bit of fat and touch of vinegar or lemon juice to maximize digestibility. Adding acid to vegetables generally increases the amount of calcium you absorb from your food by one third.  Today I had a simple breakfast of Lamb’s quarters prepared this way, seasoned with salt and pepper with a couple of sunny side up eggs—delicious and nourishing! Once their stalks grow too tough to break easily, just pluck off the leaves and continue to enjoy them, as you would spinach, in casseroles, with eggs, or try this “massaged” greens salad:

 Marinated Greens Medley 
A raw salad best served after a period of marinating—at least 2 hours, overnight is better. The oils and acids help break down the plant cell walls so we can better access the vitamins/minerals in the greens. 


Coarsely hand shred or chop an assortment of wild greens: Lamb’s quarters, Amaranth, Sheep Sorrel, and Purslane. to equal about 12 cups of greens. 

Make a dressing with 1/3c. extra virgin olive oil, 1/4c. apple cider vinegar, 1 garlic clove, 1 bunch fresh cilantro, 1 tsp fresh ground coriander, 1/4tsp sea salt. Finely minced garlic and cilantro and add to the rest of ingredients, or blend it all together in a food processor. 


Massage the dressing (add as much or as little as you like) into the greens so that each surface is coated. Let this salad marinate and serve!


Lamb’s quarters are late bloomers compared to the other spring greens, yet their edibility extends far into the growing season, bearing food (leaves then seeds) until the first hard frost. Grab a taste now and compare their changing flavor and texture through the season.  Check out this site on Lamb’s quarters I.D. with plenty of helpful photos and interesting charts! 

Picture

Vitis riparia

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Vitis aestivalis

Grape Leaves 
Vitis riparia and Vitis aestivalis 

Grape leaves are another late spring treasure offering tenderness and optimal edibility only for a short while. Grape leaves appear on plates around the world from Turkey to Vietnam, commonly stuffed with grains, fruits, nuts, fresh herbs, and/or meats. Jars of preserved leaves can be found in U.S. stores, often made with leaves from grape plantations in California. You learn to identify and preserve your own from the local, abundantly growing vines found on forest edges and stream banks everywhere.  Harvest grape leaves when they are still tender but large enough to stuff, about 5-6″ across. Marinating, blanching, or lacto-fermenting grape leaves before stuffing enhances the flavor and softens the texture.  See Dina Falconi’s blog post from her book Foraging and Feasting for extensive and specific instructions on harvesting and preserving your own stores of grape leaves for a terrific treat. There are a couple of plants that could be potentially confused with grapes, including Canada Moonseed and Virginia Creeper. Check out this blog post from First Ways for some key identification pointers. 

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