Food for Free: Wild Foraging Close to Home
Foraging has been going on for ages. People knew the seasons and when it was the right time, wandered fields, forest, and seashore for wild edibles that would nourish and sustain. While the wilds are filled with edibles like wild garlic, fiddleheads, chickweed, and wood sorrel in early spring, you don’t have to stray too far from home to find many delicious and surprisingly common spring greens. Dandelion, lamb’s quarters and even nettles can often be found in even the most urban green or garden.
Start foraging by picking where you know it hasn’t been sprayed with pesticides and isn’t an animal run, when the plants are still young and tender, and only what you identify 100% positively — “when in doubt, leave it out!”
Dandelions are probably one of the most familiar weeds. They spring up everywhere, with their golden flowers that annoy lawn owners everywhere. Dandelions are actually very nutritious. Their leaves are perfect for salads and contain a lot of calcium, iron, vitamins, and even folic acid. The flower petals are just as delicious to use — dried and sprinkled over salads, in homemade crackers, or even the whole flower head dipped in batter for fritters. Pick the dandelion greens in early spring before they get bitter. They mix well with other salad greens. Try mixing in a few Tablespoons of fresh dandelion petals in the Flax-Chia Cracker recipe in the Seeds for Heath article.
There are many edible wild flowers, and one of the easiest-to-spot spring flowers is the Johnny Jump-Up, pansy, or viola. The flowers can be eaten raw or cooked, and are beautiful in a spring salad! Johnny Jump-Ups are also often crystallized and used as decorations for cakes and cupcakes.
Lamb’s Quarters are nutritious, easy to identify, and grow wild in most gardens. The telltale white powdery center helps with identification and they have a milder flavor than the dandelion. Pick them young and tender, rinse well, and toss into your salad!
Another plant that loves to pop up in garden plots or along the sidewalk is Purslane. It is high in vitamins, omega-3 fatty acids and iron! Just pinch the succulent top leaves off of the plant and rinse well. You can eat the crunchy tart bits raw in a salad, pickled, or even sautéed with garlic and oil.
Sautéed Purslane
{GF, DF, NF}
240 ml / 1 cup of fresh purslane, rinsed, leaves removed from stems
1 clove of garlic, finely sliced
coconut oil
salt and pepper to taste
Heat the pan with enough coconut oil to coat, adding the garlic once the pan is hot. Sauté the garlic for a minute and add the purslane before the garlic turns brown. Stir continuously as the purslane sautés in the pan. After a minute or two, remove from the pan, and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste before serving.
Remember to pick what you know, look it up online to become familiar with the photos, start simple, pick in unsprayed areas, and “when in doubt, leave it out”. For the more adventurous forager, many towns now have workshops and hikes to learn about wild foraging from a local expert. There are also many blogs, books, and videos you can find. Start with what you know!
