End of the season salsaMade with things harvested from the fields… The end of the tomatillos and heirloom tomatoes from the garden, poor man’s pepper from the fields, springlike onions from the fields and the usual peppers and onions and garlic from the gardenAnd I might add a few persimmons from a nearby field, and some figs from our fig tree in the backyard. All in all a pretty tasty mix.
We are vegan so these scones are not made in the usual way but you can substitute persimmons… Without the seeds of course… For pumpkin and pumpkin scones or for the apples and apple scones… Or basically substitute for any kind of fruit scones
It’s that time again! My son called to tell us that there was a wonderful tree full of persimmons on the campus of OSU just down the street from us so we gathered up our bags and went to harvest some from the ground after the rain last night and the strong winds. Since there are no deer on campus the only ones that are going to be interested in these persimmons are probably us :-) but we left plenty in case anyone else finds the treasure. I canned them without Sugar as I feel that they are plenty sweet enough, added just a little bit of lemon juice, some ginger, and a teaspoon of vanilla
Prim rose buds and beans. Evening primrose is a beautiful wild plant which we allowed to grow in our garden, both for its beauty and Because it is delicious. The buds, flowers, and leaves are all edible. I add the buds salads and also cook them with beans and new potatoes. The picture below is a painting that I did of the beautiful primroses.
Foraging in your garden This is kind of a strange post because I have a lot of things growing in my garden that you’re very familiar with but you may not be familiar with eating other parts of these plants. You’re probably familiar you’re with eating garlic bulbs which appear under the ground but maybe not so familiar with eating garlic scrapes which are the little tassel things that grow above the ground and eventually produce a pretty little garlic flour. You can eat both the scrapes and the flowers. I also have evening primrose growing in my garden you can eat both the flowers and the leaves and they end up in quite a few of my salads. I grew radishes this year and let some of them go to seed so that I can plant the seeds next year But I bet you didn’t know that you can also eat those little seed pods. They’re both crunchy and spicy. Great and salads.
My elderberries are flowering now and since it seems to me like the birds usually get to the actual berries before I do I decided to go ahead and make some elderberry flour pancakes.
A friend posted yesterday that she makes cleaver/pineapple juice for her kids each spring and they love it. I had tried cleavers before and wasn't blown away by the texture so I thought the idea of putting them in a juicer w other greens might just be the thing. I added some fresh mint, lambsquarters and the petals of dandelion just for fun. I had opened a can of pineapple and kept the juice a couple of days ago and had a mandarin orange on hand and threw them all together in the juicer and man, was it good!!
I am working with a group called Poetic Justice. We do a program involving writing with women in prison. We both work on the same assignments and share them with each other. This assignment involved writing an ode to ones self about one or more attributes that you like about yourself This is mine...
Ode to a
Forager
When you were
young, in meadows wandered
At home in
wild, and quiet places
Saddened when
the bountiful beauty was lost and squandered
By those taking
more, as if it were a race
Now siting
by a whispering stream
You point to
food growing along the banks
Others fail
to care, or so it seems
And do not
stop to offer thanks
Will the
gifts given to sustain all the living
be treasured
with surprise and wonder
Honored beauty,
nurture, healing….
Or lost to
us as short sighted work to plunder.
