The Inaugural Plant Walk

We were a small but sturdy group of intrepid souls who braved the chilly temperatures and blustery winds to attend the first plant walk of the season.
I headed out earlier that morning to gather some ingredients for the wild snack I always provide on my walks.  But first I harvested some litter, as every good forager should!

Even with the cold and the sudden shower of snow pellets, it felt so good to be outside grubbing in the dirt again and welcoming all the new spring growth, including some serpentine friends.

The fiddleheads were still tightly furled and just barely peeking through the base of the ferns.  I made a note to revisit them in a week or so and kept walking, but there were plenty of fresh greens far enough along to gather, and it’s the perfect time of year for daylily tubers.

For the greens, I harvested dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), stinging nettle (Urtica dioica), Virginia waterleaf (Hydrophyllum virginianum), garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata), daylily (Hemerocallis fulva), violet leaf (Viola spp.) and purple deadnettle (Lamium purpureum).

Back at home I quickly whipped up a wild greens pesto.  It’s a fast and easy treatment that works especially well in the early spring when there might not be enough of any one thing to make a meal from, but there are small amounts of a few different things that add up.  It’s also a good way to incorporate the bland or not-so-choice edibles like purple deadnettle and Virgina waterleaf.  On their own they don’t taste like much, but they work just fine added in small amounts to a dish, with other greens.  Apparently, deadnettle is high in iron, so what it lacks in taste and texture, it might make up for in nutritional value.  Mixed with a lovely oil, nuts and a healthy dose of cheese doesn’t hurt either!
I must confess I’m not one to follow recipes to the letter, often playing fast and loose with substitutes and amounts, adding a little of this, throwing in a dash of that, so I apologize in advance: I’m not the one who will offer you precise recipes or step-by-step directions.  Rather, I’ll provide you with suggestions, ballparks and guesstimates that will hopefully inspire you to play with your wild food and try new things using what you have at hand.  The good news is, this here internet is full of fabulous people who love to write detailed recipes and I’ll point you in their direction whenever I can!
So for the wild greens pesto, I would suggest taking your favourite pesto recipe and substituting the basil for whatever wild edibles are growing in your backyard.  Don’t have a favourite pesto recipe?  Try this one!
For this batch, I used about 2 cups of greens, one cup of EVO, a handful of sunflower seeds, three cloves of garlic and the aforementioned healthy dose of Parmesan cheese.  I whirred it up in my blender and added S&P to taste.  Once I got the final stamp of approval from my head taste-tester it was ready to go.

Served with hot dandelion root coffee at the end of the walk, I think both treats were appreciated, as the group chatted about the plants we had just spent time with.  We didn’t linger long though, as we blew on our hands and shivered in the wind.  I can’t speak for the rest of the group but, in spite of the cold, I certainly left the walk feeling invigorated and excited about another season of plant walks ahead!  I’m already looking forward to the next one.