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.

Summer greens That you may have never thought about

That you may have never thought about. 

 This summer salad includes lettuce, with the additions of curly dock greens, okra and sweet potato leaves. I chop them up and take the ribs out before adding them to the salad. These leaves are very nutritious and I cannot decipher the difference between them and lettuce once I’ve added my dressings. The pasta Primavera also includes gifts from the garden. I added garlic, tomatoes, and basil, all from the summer garden.

so my curly dock was cut down to the ground at the middle of summer and now it’s sprouting new growth so the salad has curly dock in it for one. Also I have since planted okra and sweet potatoes. Did you know that you can eat the leaves of both okra and sweet potatoes?! I chopped them up very small and add them to my salad as they are a little bit tougher than what you’re used to if you’re just used to eating lettuce If you chop them up small though you’ll never know the difference :-) also the pasta Primavera had fresh basil, garlic, and tomatoes from the garden.

Curly Dock and Violet Salad

Grilled Cheese and Chickweed Sandwhich

Wanting a little taste of Spring in my sandwich, I added a little chickweed.  It is winter here but I have some garden beds that I have covered with glass so that I can grow lettuce, spinach and cilantro throughout the winter.  Along with them grows nettles and chickweed. Now my relatively healthy sandwich just got healthier.

Sun Flowers... Sun-chokes

Can you remember seeing the wild sunflowers growing in the alleyway or roadside?  Now is the time to dig down and see what treasures they have left for you.  They are usually better after a nice hard freeze hits the land and I am always excited to remember that there is something delicious waiting for me in the dead of winter.  These are sun-chokes, or Jerusalem artichokes.  They are best ( in my opinion ) lightly sauteed.  They have kind of a nutty flavor but look like a potato.  I like them cooked with fried potatoes actually.  They have around 26 carbs per cup  which is less than potatoes and they have a higher nutritional value than a potato as well.