Free Nectarines

My husband knows he can score big points with me by finding us opportunities for foraging and gleaning.

He was at the home of an older woman from our church and saw a neglected nectarine tee. Heasked her about it and she said, “Please, come take the fruit!” So we took the boys and some friends with us, and went to harvest free nectarines.

We brought home two baskets of fruit. We added some bananas to the mix to help the “greener ones ripen, and snacked on nectarines for days and days. I also put up four pint jars of jam for the freezer to enjoy our harvest again later.

Elderflower Cordial

We made a big batch of elderflower cordial from the elderflower heads we foraged.  We’d never had elderflower cordial before, but apparently it’s a soft drink dating back to the roman empire, and has been traditionally very popular in northwestern Europe where it has a strong Victorian heritage.  We have a soft spot for things Victorian around here so we were even more determined to try it.

We cobbled together a recipe from a few we saw online, and in the end I’m still not quite sure what constitutes “one large head” of elderflowers, so I’m sure (like with most things) variation is acceptable.  It has a pleasant unique flavor, that really doesn’t taste like anything else.  We’ve been mixing it about 1 part to 8 parts sparkling water, but that’s all up to personal taste.  Some people even mix it with “still water”, it would still have a pleasant zing from the lemon and acid.

Elderflower Cordial Recipe

• 25 large elderflower heads
• 2 pints water
• 2 lbs sugar
• 2 oz tartaric acid (cream of tartar) or citric acid
• 2 lemons, juiced

Dissolve sugar in water over low heat.  Add tartaric or citric acid and lemon juice.  (Zest of lemons can be added as well.)  Mix well.  Add elderflowers.  Steep 24 hours.  Strain into jars.  Store in the refrigerator or freezer–just to be safe.

Mix with sparkling water to drink, or substitute for any flavored syrup in recipes.

 

Five Rules for Beginning Wildcrafting — Elderflowers

This weekend we went wildcrafting, or wild foraging, for elderflowers.  I’ve been meaning to for a few weeks now, and barely squeaked in a harvest before the blooms were all gone.  Wildcrafting is a lot of fun–especially with kids–but there are a few pointers or rules for a good wildcrafting experience.

#1- Positively identify plant.  Have a good book or an experienced guide that can make sure you identify your plants correctly.

Shrubs 5-plus feet tall.  In sunny areas.  Leaves in pairs up the stem.  Uneven number of leaves (one extra on the end).  Greenish younger bark.  Large clusters of star-shaped (five petal)  flowers.  Never harvest from a plant unless you are completely sure of its identity. 

#2 Know which part to harvest.  Elder flowers and elderberries are fit to harvest, the leaves and stems can be toxic.

#3 Harvest responsibly.  Never strip an entire plant or area.  (These stems have already blossomed and will now grow in to elderberries which will ripen in the fall.)  Always leave some behind so the plants can continue on in their natural life cycles, so the birds and animals can still have access to the plants, and so other wildcrafters might have the opportunity to harvest as well.

Along with this harvesting responsibly is to make sure the location is fit to harvest from.  Many people won’t harvest by roadsides for example, because of the possibility of pollution’s effect on the plants.

#4 Obey the law.  Follow all posted warnings or no trespassing signs.  “Jeremy, I said. . . oh never mind!”

#5 Follow all outdoor safety rules.  You know them:  Take water to stay hydrated.  Go in groups or tell someone exactly where you will be going and when to expect you back.  All that good stuff.

Wildcrafting is a lot of fun.  It’s a hobby that I’ve been able to get into without experience, but just learning a little more and more at a time.  Then I look back and realize that I know quite a bit now.  (It kind of sounds like how my guitar lessons are going.)  Our elderflowers are now in a pot on the way to becoming elderflower cordial.  We can’t wait!

Eating Weeds

Since we had so much fun foraging mulberries with my mom here, I thought we’d give her a taste of lamb’s quarter too.  (Aka: weeds that grow in the back yard.)

We ate them like we did last year– creamed on toast with an egg.  It makes a really delicious meal.  My mom thought so too.

When I told her that lamb’s quarter is also sometimes called pig weed she said “Oh yeah” an told us that her dad talked about eating pig weed as a boy.  They would pick it along the creek.

I loved to hear that about my grandpa.  I love that the things Jeremy and I are learning about are old knowledge–what used to be common knowledge–and we’re carrying that on for the next generation.

We don’t eat wild all the time, but every once in a while.  It’s interesting and empowering.  And I’m sure–after seeing how irresponsibly non-traditionally we are living much of the rest of our lives–my mom can at least rest assured that with our ever-growing knowledge of wild food, at least we won’t let her grand children starve to death.

 

Urban Foraging Mulberries

On Saturday we were out visiting a historic site, and when I was walking around the side of the car to get back in, I noticed black globs smeared on the sidewalk.

That was my clue to look up.

I saw a fruiting mulberry tree! A perfect opportunity for urban foraging.

I climbed the four foot retaining wall up on to the lawn where I could easily reach the branches.

I gave little handfuls to my baby birds waiting in the car.

Mulberries are super sweet–not a berry that needs sugar or honey.  They are very tender berries that crush easily.  I’ve read that the reason they aren’t distributed in grocery stores is because they simply can’t hold up to distribution.

If you happen to have easy access to a mulberry tree an effective way to harvest the berries is to lay out a sheet on the ground under the tree, then rake through the branches causing the ripe fruits to fall onto the sheet to be collected.

We didn’t have time for that on Saturday, but certainly enjoyed stopping for a small snack along our way.

Wild Spring Salad

Ever bought a bagged salad called “spring mix” from the grocery store that had a “lettuce” in it that looked suspiciously like dandelion greens?  Surprise! It was dandelion greens.

Last night we picked some from our own backyard, and added them to baby spinach.  For fun we added some edible wild violets, and these little yellow blossoms.  The yellow flowers are blooming on an old cabbage plant that overwintered in the hoop house, and they taste like a sweet broccoli.  They are a very fun garden surprise.

We ate the salad with wild salmon for a totally “wild meal”.  Dandelion greens taste a bit bitter compared to other lettuces, so we dressed the salad with a sweet poppy seed dressing.  That way, even the boys ate it up.

Foraged Violet Jelly

Sometimes when I see or read an idea, I know instantly: I will do that.  I latch on to it and become determined to make it happen.  That’s how it was for me when I first heard of wildflower jelly.

Last year I made dandelion jelly first, but was sad to have missed the wild violet season. This year I was determined to make the violet jelly, so I did that first and next I’ll do some more dandelion jelly.

I got some blossoms from my backyard for my first batch.  But I didn’t have very many so later we went foraging through the neighborhood for more.  I knocked on a neibor’s door and she was surprised but more than happy to let me help myself to her patch of violets.

to make violet jelly you pour boiling water over the blossoms to steep them like tea.

I always strain it through a floursack towel to keep out all the dirt. (See what got left behind?)

The violet water is a deep blue color, but when you add lemon juice (the acidity is necessary to preserve the jelly) it turns a bright fuchsia color.

They really are beautiful.

Violet Jelly Recipe:

The basic recipe is all over the internet-

2 cups violet blossoms, stems removed.

2 cups boiling water

juice of one lemon

1 package pectin (I used sure-jel for these)

4 cups sugar

Steep blossoms in water overnight.  Strain.  Add water if needed to make 2 cups.  Add lemon juice.  Follow directions for your pectin–mine were: Add pectin to juice.  Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve.  Add sugar, return to rolling boil, and boil for one minute exactly.  Ladle into jars and process in water bath canner for 10 minutes.  (Makes 12 4oz jars)

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Violet Jelly with Honey variation:

I experimented with using honey instead of white sugar to make the jelly.  I use Pomona’s Pectin. I used one cup of the violet water and followed the directions in Pomona’s for a basic jelly.  It was 1T lemon juice; 1/4 cup honey; 1 tsp of the calcium water (that comes with the Pomona’s Pectin); and 1 tsp of pectin. (Makes 3 4oz jars)

Next time I will use a little bit more pectin because it was a pretty loose set, and I may add a bit more honey–it was a very mellow jelly.  It definitely has some floral hints to it and I could taste the honey.  Obviously the jelly was more cloudy from the honey, but all-natural instead.

All-in-all it was a very satisfying project.

Wildcrafting

The weather has been so beautiful lately we’ve been spending so much time out of doors.  Accordingly we’ve been working on some outdoorsy projects.

Two fun projects, actually–one which required. . .

. . . wild violets–a delicious wild edible (I thought Jeremy was nuts when he handed me his young newlywed bride a violet to snack on from someone’s lawn but I’ve since changed my tune.),

and another project requiring moss.

We’re currently in the midst of both projects, and hopefully they turn out well enough to merit our current excitement level (which is very high).  It’s exciting to have projects pop up for us to do from our own backyard.

Foraged Elderberry Pancakes

In late September we went urban foraging for elderberries. There’s a number of bushes in the public gardens on campus.  Jeremy recognized them from his childhood. I took some shears and a basket and helped myself.

The boys loved eating them. The elderberries turned their fingers and tongues purple.

Back in my kitchen I didn’t think it was too hard to pick them from their stems. I had read a suggestion of freezing the berries to get them off the stems easier, but I didn’t find that to be the case. I found that once I had frozen them they thawed super quickly because they are so small, which left them mushier than before and thus harder to pick off the stems–next time I’ll pick them raw.

I turned some into syrup and froze a bunch as well.  I like the bags of loose frozen berries. We throw them into smoothies and such, and this week we made elderberry pancakes.

Like most berries, its better to just drop them on the batter before flipping rather than stir them in.

A little bit of maple syrup (which Jonas reminds us every time we use, that “It comes from trees!”) drizzled on top and they were delicious.  And perhaps even good for our immune systems during this winter season.