Edible Greenbrier tendrils

 I was walking down the alleyway behind my house and search a poke salet When I spied some greenbriar growing beside the poke.  So I decided to have a little snack. The tenders of the Greenbrier are so tasty, nice and crunchy.

Civic science research plot

 Last year I was invited to become a citizen scientist to provide data on Eight different plants. The researchers are trying to find a more sustainable food crop that doesn’t need much tending, and can survive pretty much on its own. I’m growing three different kinds of sunflowers, used for oil. I’m growing two different kinds of flax, lentils, sanfoin, and One more that wintered over last year, whose name just totally escapes me

Sunchokes?!

 Well, I know that it’s recommended that you start digging these up in February when there’s nothing else growing in your garden that’s edible but as luck would have it, my husband wanted to move these to a different place… Or should I say he doesn’t wanna see them ever again… But I actually like them so I’m bringing them in and we’ll chop them up and fry them a little till they crispy and delicious. I may be the only one eating them though, and I guess we won’t see the sunflowers this year, or actually we probably will because once they’re in the ground, they keep putting out more tubers and even if you break one in half it produces another flower. I personally think it’s a wonderful plant and it has a lot of good medicinal properties as long as it’s nutritious value.

Mint and wood sorrel tea

 I’ve been out in the garden all morning. I enjoy planting the food that everybody is used to eating, but I always allow the wild things to have a place out there as well. I just noticed some pretty yellow flowers that weren’t there yesterday. The green leaves were but today they made me notice them even more When they popped their pretty yellow heads out. Wood sorrel is such a nice lemony taste and I’m thinking it might go well with the mint leaves that are also just starting to emerge. I brought both of them in and I’m making mint tea. It’s so refreshing and delicious and I think the wood so will be a nice addition. 

It’s drying time already

 I have wild leaks growing in the backyard and looked up a great recipe, which is basically wild leeks, mushrooms, sautéed, and then throw in some pinenuts and sauté them just for a few minutes, add some cooking, sherry, milk(The recipe actually called for heavy cream, but I’d prefer not to add all that fat when I’m going to add cheese in just a minute) Chopped up, sage leaves just a few, a little bit of balsamic vinegar, some lemon zest, and Greyere cheese. I just stirred that down until the cheese melted and poured it over angel hair, spaghetti noodles, and angel hair Heart of palm noodles..

Well, I was meaning just to tell you about getting ready to dry these things or should I say put them on the dehydrator. I also added some wood sorrel as I brought it in with my mint to make tea, but I think that lemonade taste in that herb mix will be delicious. I’ve done it in the past with good results. so as I was saying, I brought in fresh oregano, just a few sage leaves, the tops of all of the leaks separated and wood sorrel, which I’ll dry. It usually takes an hour or two and then grind it up for use in all sorts of soups and casseroles and sandwiches. It’s really delicious.

Roasted dandelion roots for coffee/tea.

 I pulled up a lot of dandelion plants and roasted the roots. You wash them off real good, cut them in smaller pieces and dry them off a little and throw them in the oven at 3:50 for about 30 minutes or so then I stirred them around a little bit and then just kept cooking at about 10 to 15 minute intervals until they were crispy and totally dried out. I think all in all it probably took about an hour. You can add this to your coffee grounds for an interesting cup of coffee. I think it has a nice flavor kind of reminds me of the chicory coffee they served down in New Orleans.