It is easy to believe that few succulent morsels can be harvested in the early Spring. In the Northeast, most wait for the appearance of asparagus and rhubarb in May and strawberries in June to begin their weekly sojourns to farm stands. But as I showed my clients at Ann’s Place this month there are many things to nibble on that are hiding in plain sight.
I had a full class with pensive clients not really knowing what to expect; what they didn’t know was that early Spring is the best time to forage for tender and tasty greens. Ranging from fiddlehead ferns to wild spinach to wood sorrel to violets the woods (and your lawn if you don’t treat it) has much to offer in April and May.
“Here is a salad that you can pick with abundance in your backyard,” I told my clients reveling a set of greens that I picked a few hours ago in my lawn and adjacent woods. With a base of plantain leaves there were many others in smaller quantities including garlic mustard, dandelions, clover, wild leeks, wild thyme and claytonia. Giving the top color were redbud flowers, violets and wild pansies, all of which added a sweetness to the greens.
“Now you need to be careful not to pick too many bitter greens or ones that have started to bolt,” I said. “Wild greens can be very tasty but you need to be mindful of what you pick and in which proportions. Dig in.”
A mix of expressions followed the salad around the table with mostly everyone shocked at how delicious the unadorned salad was. There was none left after it made a single loop around the table.
We then moved on to a sampling of May wine, which combines sweet woodruff, strawberries and a good German Riesling. “Be careful of how much you take in,” I warned, “as May wine has been known to have a strong aphrodisiac effect.” Clients laughed as they enjoyed their sampling with gusto, with some asking for an additional fill up.
Finally, I brought out dandelion muffins. “This batch of 18 muffins took nearly 100 dandelion flower heads.” Split open tiny petals appeared in a golden yellow muffin. The recipe required only a few tablespoons of honey yet the breads were very sweet. No one left a crumb on their plates.
“Now that you have sampled different wild greens let’s go on a scavenger hunt in the back of Ann’s Place. Every green that you have eaten is in the back.” And with that challenge I took my clients outside to stalk, as Euell Gibbons would say, the wild asparagus. They spent the better part of 30 minutes bending over looking for greens, sampling a few they picked and enjoying the sunny day with a new perspective and admiration for the simple dandelion and its weedy counterparts.
