Persimmons

It's that time again.... Time to take a walk in the woods without having to worry about getting chiggers or ticks and look for something sweet.  They are as much fun to paint as they are to eat.  If they are squishy and ugly, those are the ones you want to eat.  A lot of times you will find them on the ground when they reach that point.    You have to be quick though because the deer love them as much as you do.  ;-)

Foraging with Jackie Dill in Oklahoma

This time last year Scott and I were in a workshop over in Coyle, OK where we were learning about all the different kinds of wild foods that were available to us in our state.  I brought my camera along so I wouldn't forget how to recognize different plants.  While there I snapped a pic or two of other participants.  This is a painting done from one of those photos.  Just a side note, our facilitator was Jackie Dill, a Native American woman who shared with us her favorite gathering places and taught us how to identify and cook foraged food.  At this writing her stone home is nearly destroyed by recent waste water injection caused earthquakes that have rattled my own home which is a 2 1/2 hour drive from the epicenter.



To visit this piece in my Ebay Auction, Click Here

persimmons

Yet one more example of foraged food that ends up in a painting.  I love to take walks on the back 40 of the Gilcrease Museum.  These were gathered from deep in the woods last fall and are on sale as a group right now in my ebay gallery.

EBAY GALLERY

Look what I found! Mouse Melon

This sweet little vine was growing up my mini cherry tree in the flower garden.  My husband was getting ready to pull it when I stopped him saying, " I think that might be some sort of wild cucumber."  It is!  some call it mouse melon ( imagine a little mouse family cutting it open for their dinner ;-)  others, cucemelon ( cucumber/melon)  I hope I spelled that right.

Wildcrafting and Painting

When I look at my body of work, I begin to notice how many paintings involve wildcrafting/foraging.  This painting is called Gathering Herbs:  This painting began, as many of mine do, from a class demonstration.  We started with a master work and then changed scenery, hair styles, clothing etc.  I think she was originally standing in a chapel or some sort of fancy interior and she wasn't holding a basket of herbs.  She found a nice place above my mantle for a long time, but as many of my paintings, she is for sale.  If you would like to bid on her or just visit my ebay gallery, CLICK HERE 

This is Spring Creek where I find Wapato

Finding Sand Plums

plums, black berries and poke

from the top of a mulberry tree

gathering berries, notice the tall mulein plant 

My own little flower garden where I just found mouse melon

Brady Heights Library

In our neighborhood we have a community garden and just outside that garden we created a little borrowing library.  Claire Goes Foraging will be added today.

Supper from the alleyway

I decided to shop for supper in the wild places tonight.  Most of this meal came within steps from my back door.  I think it is one of my new favorite meals.
Main Dish
Poke ( boiled one time, water poured off and then sauted w other greens)
Lambsquarters
Wood Sorrel ( just a little)
lemon zest
garlic
a squeeze of lemon
a sprinkle of Parmesan
lemon zest ravioli from Trader Joes

Salad
fresh picked lettuce from the garden along with
Lambsquarters and a Magenta form of Lambsquarters
a few leaves from the cabbage, broccoli and kale plants
home made oil and vinegar dressing w a little dijon and lemon
avocado, cashews

Propeller Seeds from the Maple Tree

I went to a permaculture pot luck meal the other night and ran into an old friend who now works for the health dept and is interested in teaching people about available food that is right outside their door.  I always liked that guy :-).  Guess what I learned from him?  You can eat those cool propeller seeds from the maple tree.  You just peel the outside off the nice little seed and pop it into your mouth.  Some taste just like a fresh pea, others, a little bitter.  After a little research on the internet it seems that many use as a trail snack but others boil or roast them.  I think I want to try them cooked.  I will let you know how they taste.  The ones I tried were already dry looking but the seed inside was plump and green.

It's time for greens!

There are so many things you can do with fresh greens,  Just think about what you normally do with kale, spinach, lettuce.  I just picked fresh Poke Greens, Lambsquarters and Wood Sorrel.  I have a garden full of lettuce and spinach too so here is what I am going to do... I made a delish meal with lemon zest ravioli... added the sorrel, lambsquarters, twice cooked poke and pesto w lemon zest.  Then made a salad w lettuce, spinach, lambsquarters.  Soo good.

Winter Harvest

With just a little effort you can have a garden year round in Oklahoma.  Right now I am harvesting sunchokes, arugula, lettuce, broccoli, broccoli greens, kale, brusselsprout greens, cabbage greens.  Notice how I said greens rather than cabbage and brusselsprouts?  You don't have to wait till the full heads form when there are perfectly good greens just begging to be eaten.  Don't pull the lettuce or arugula up by the roots.  Those guys really want to live so they will put out more leaves just for you to snatch on the next trip to the garden.

Dinner from the garden and beyond

I started making dinner tonight and realized that everything had come from my garden, either because I had frozen it or freshly picked from a protected winter garden.  I created pesto earlier in the year in the usual way but then added an extra ingredient from the wild, poke greens.  From the winter garden I picked leaves from both cabbage and broccoli.  I still had tomatoes from the summer garden that had been picked green and allowed to ripen. What you don't see are mushrooms that were found in the woods, dehydrated and rehydrated for this meal. For me it is always so satisfying to create a meal from both found and grown food.  Also pictured below are the flowers from the broccoli plant which are also both pretty, and edible!

A Plant that should NEVER be eaten... Jimson Weed

A beautiful but dangerous plant, Jimson Weed or Moon Flower.

I have a friend who is a luthier .  He thought it would be fun to paint on a blank violin and I agreed!  This is one of my favorite painting which just happens to not be on a stretched canvas.  I just reduced the price of this masterpiece on my ebay site. :-)  To visit my ebay gallery and possibly bid on this painting/instrument click here  My pal will totally dress this out to a playable violin for you too!  To visit my artist blog where you can purchase one of my books on painting either the still life or landscape in oil, click here  These books are full color, step by step, and written in a very easy to understand way.

Making ginger beer

Did you know that you can make your own carbonated, non alcoholic, ginger beer?  It is very easy.  I just pulled a recipe off of the internet earlier this year and have been making it ever since.  This time I am experimenting with these balloons so that I don't have to worry about the carbonation blowing up my glass jars.  It seems to be working and they look very festive for the New Years Day Calendar, don't you think?

Author book event next week

Both Scott and I will be hawking our wares at this book event at the Tulsa Public Library next week.  It is an annual event and we are happy that we get to participate this year with both of our books.  If you are in Tulsa or the area... please stop in and introduce yourselves.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1687979241438395/