The Good Stuff

Are ya feelin' a might sluggish and poorly? I know what you need....Poke Salad! It's that time of year again and time for poke and all the other wild greens out there.  People ate wild spring greens because after a winter of eating dried beans, tack and jerky, they needed the vitamins and minerals the fresh greens provided - not to mention the digestive boost from the fiber.  Since we have vitamin pills and ready access to fresh produce in the supermarkets, nutrition from wild greens isn't as important today as it was a hundred years ago.  Unfortunately, it's a time honored tradition that has fallen by the wayside. I don't remember picking greens because of how nutritious they were, it's memorable because I did it with my family.  I want to make memories like that with my granddaughter, that's the good stuff.

No matter what part of the United States you live in, there are wild greens available.  Some are better than others but they are all wonderful and FREE for the picking!!
Here are a few of the easiest to identify:

 Curly Dock (Rumex crispus) aka Sour Dock is a tender green, has a wonderful tangy taste and cooks as quickly as spinach. Just a few seconds in boiling water or a quick saute and it's done.  Pick the leaves that are just unrolled so they are nice and tender. In the fall the Dock produces seed heads that make a great bran substitute.

Cat's Ear (Hypochaeris radicata) aka False Dandelion is a mild cousin to the regular dandelion.  It lacks the bitterness found in traditional dandelion so you can add it to any other greens mix. It's a hardier green and takes a while to cook tender, much like collards in regard to the cooking times.

Chickweed (Stellaria media) is a nice little green to add to salads or in with cooked greens.  It takes a few minutes to cook, about 5 minutes or so.  It's a neutral tasting green and can be added to most anything.  Stems and all can be eaten!

Poke Salad (Phytolacca americana) aka Poke, Inkberry is my all time favorite wild green. It's recommended that the leaves be parboiled 3 times before being eaten, but I only pick leaves that are less than 5" long and still have the tender, sticky feel to them.  I parboil those twice then cook.  The stems (as long as they are not red) can be eaten steamed or battered and fried like asparagus. When I was little we'd head out to the country to a friends property and my mother, grandmother and I would pick big sacks of poke salad to take home for supper.  I know most young people are scared to eat it because of all the scary info on the Internet but I eat it anyway. I've eaten it for 53 years and my ancestors ate it for thousands of years before me, so I reckon it's alright to eat.  Just pick it young and prepare it correctly and you'll be fine.

Sheep Sorrel (Rumex acetosella) aka Sour Weed is much like Sorrel in that it's super quick cooking and also has a tangy taste - even more so than Dock.  I love it so much.  Ya'll know I do if you read my blog lol.

Southern Mixed Wild Greens in Pot Liquor
If you want a big pot of cooked wild mixed greens just cook them in this order and they'll come out perfect:
In boiling water, add 1 slice bacon and salt to taste. Add Cat's Ear (cook till almost tender) then add Poke (pre-parboiled), cook for 1 minute, add Chickweed and cook another minute. Add Sorrel, cook 1 minute then add Dock, just cook for a few seconds then it's all done.  Make some Hot Water Cornbread and serve it with big pats of butter and you're set.  That's the good stuff, too.

Late Winter-Early Spring Meditations

I love John Denver, always have. Even before, and certainly ever since, I was 14 and my parents took me to The Hirsch Memorial Coliseum in Shreveport, I have loved John Denver. Not in that infatuated way teenage girls like celebrities (like I love Mike Rowe now lol) but in an ethereal way.  He was just so soothing and calming to me during all my teenage angst, and I had a big dose of angst!  This is a great acoustical version of this song and it just sounds like a chilly late winter day where you can feel the faintest wisps of a spring breeze mixed in with the fading winters breath.  Hope you enjoy it....



Now that you're relaxed and in the proper frame of mind, let's talk about this in between season that is Late Winter, Early Spring.  I'm sure you've all heard the saying "March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb" and that certainly seems to be true.  Already this month we've had nearly 10 inches of rain.  There's another old saying that whatever rain falls in March will also fall in June.  Let's hope that's true!

With all this rain and warmer than usual temps, I have already started planting a few things in the garden. In January I set out Onions and on March 1st the Kale, Spinach, Cabbage, Lettuce and Collards went in.  Now, I'm really feeling brave because Tuesday I planted corn.  We always have a cold snap in March or early April but for some reason I'm feeling safe this year. Even if there ends up an unexpected freeze, I can just cover everything.

Courtesy Old Farmers Almanac

Have you ever heard of the Three Sisters Planting Method? It's a traditional Indian planting technique and I find that it's a pretty effective way to grow a lot of food in a smallish space.  The technique is to plant 6 corn seed in a 2' circle and when the corn is 5" tall, you plant 4 bean seed (half-runner type beans only!) around the corn. A week later plant 6 squash seed around the beans.  The idea is to have the corn provide a trellis for the beans, which provide the nitrogen for the corn and squash, and in turn the squash provides shade to hold moisture and prevent weeds by providing shade with its large leaves. Since I have raised beds I did this on a smaller scale and it still worked well.  Give that a try and see what you think.

Since the weather is so warm right now, I decided to go on a little hike through my woods today.  I decided to venture off the beaten path and cut through the woods.  Now, I've lived here 3 years and have never walked out this direction and was amazed.  There's always so much greenbriar (which is 100% edible by the way) that I usually don't trail blaze but today I felt adventurous.  I found a creek and on the bank of this little creek were 2 fruit trees.  I'm not sure what they were but from the leaves it was obvious they were fruit trees.  Possibly a crab apple or wild pear of some sort, not a plum because they haven't leafed out yet.  I've heard stories of wild pears in these woods but have never seen one.  I tried to mark the location on Google Earth but I'm apparently not savvy enough because I couldn't figure it out.  I'll go back in a few days and find it again and just flag it I guess.  Near by the creek I found a couple of holes about a foot in diameter and probably 100' apart and they were lined on the surface with flat rocks and I never did touch the bottom of them with the long stick I poked them with<  It's a mystery alright!  The oddest thing is the area I was walking in was the top of a hill and all cleared of underbrush and there were these holes, too small for a well I think.  Just bum fuddles me.

I found Wild Violets, in which a tea made from the leaves and flowers is reputed to sweeten a sour temperament...

And as I was finishing up my walk I stopped to pick sorrel and ended up with about a pound of it. Just enough to make a pot of rich French Sorrel Soup...

I'm headed to a friends house Sunday to gather some Cottonwood buds to make some Balm of Gilead Oil.  If I'm not too late to get some, my next blog will be instructions on making it!

Enjoy this wonderful mid season while you can, soon it'll be too hot to breathe!