(wild leeks, Allium tricoccum)
Early spring is an exciting time to ramble through gardens, fields and forests, observing all the new life bursting forth. Tiny shoots poke up through chilly soil, reaching for sun, drinking in rain. The riotous, lushness of summer’s greenery is all just potential at this point. It’s hard to imagine how May’s 6 inch nettle shoot will become September’s 6 foot stalk, or that innocuous looking rosette of garlic mustard will soon become an invading nuisance, but like mothers watching their children grow up too fast, this fleeting season of new growth is setting the stage for each plant’s journey toward flower and seed.
Early spring is an exciting time to ramble through gardens, fields and forests, observing all the new life bursting forth. Tiny shoots poke up through chilly soil, reaching for sun, drinking in rain. The riotous, lushness of summer’s greenery is all just potential at this point. It’s hard to imagine how May’s 6 inch nettle shoot will become September’s 6 foot stalk, or that innocuous looking rosette of garlic mustard will soon become an invading nuisance, but like mothers watching their children grow up too fast, this fleeting season of new growth is setting the stage for each plant’s journey toward flower and seed.
(stinging nettle, Urtica dioica)
At this time of year, I often find that there isn’t really enough of any one thing available to make a meal out of yet. In a few weeks I’ll be gathering nettle and other greens by the armload. In the meantime, my first wild harvests of the year are all about gathering a little of a lot. A small bunch of violet leaves, a handful of dandy greens, a few daylily shoots, a pinch of wintercress…
At this time of year, I often find that there isn’t really enough of any one thing available to make a meal out of yet. In a few weeks I’ll be gathering nettle and other greens by the armload. In the meantime, my first wild harvests of the year are all about gathering a little of a lot. A small bunch of violet leaves, a handful of dandy greens, a few daylily shoots, a pinch of wintercress…
(daylily shoots, Hemerocallis fulva)
(daisy greens, Leucanthemum vulgare)
I pick a little of whatever is up and available and before long I have a full bowlful of a half a dozen or more of a wide variety of wild plants that I can throw into a salad, or sauté quickly.
I pick a little of whatever is up and available and before long I have a full bowlful of a half a dozen or more of a wide variety of wild plants that I can throw into a salad, or sauté quickly.
My favourite way to prepare these early spring offerings is in a wild pesto. Just take your favourite pesto recipe and sub in whatever plants you’ve gathered in place of your basil.
I’m not one for following precise cookery measurements or ingredients so I just approximate by taste and eye and whatever I have in my pantry. A little more olive oil, another handful of pumpkin seeds (or sunflower seeds, or pine nuts or walnuts…). I skip the dairy and add salt and pepper to taste. It’s quick and easy and a great way to get fresh, wild nutrients into a winter-starved body!
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