Well, there are some up and they are beautiful to me. When they said April showers bring May flowers they left out the part about it being snow showers. But then again it was only April and no matter what the TV news people try to tell us each year, it is normal to have snow until May.
With the warming of the days and the subsequent coming of the springtime plants I have been studying up on a few wild forage plants that I would like to try this year.
Number one on my list is “Gobo”. An ancient plant that has been widely eaten in the orient for thousands of years. Or as we all know it so well “Burdock”.
Yup, that nasty, picky, dirty old plant is supposedly a delicious treat just waiting for us to use it. You can eat the roots, petioles and the shoots.
An important thing to remember is that the Burdock protects itself from being eaten by animals by having a coating of bitter flesh. So using a vegetable peeler remove all the outer peel and green flesh. As well as any hollow or woody parts of the root.
The roots should only be used from plants that have not yet sent up a shoot. They get bitter afterwards.
To use burdock simply slice crosswise or cut in a julienne fashion then add to stews, wild rice or stir fries.
Another plant to remember at this same time would be Thistle. It is a relative of the burdock and can be used in the same way. The difference is that Thistle protects itself with thorns so be careful harvesting it.
I only lightly touch on the subject of these wild foods. For more information I suggest getting some books on foraging. I use “The Foragers Harvest” quite a bit. It has good pictures and is beautifully written.
I believe that I bought it at “The Rainbow Resort” here in Mio. Barb always has a good selection of books on hand.
My Dad and my brother Brian, with the help of their wives of course, tapped some Maples this spring and did quite well making syrup for the family. Nice fresh Maple Syrup is always a welcome gift.
It surprises me very much when I talk with people that don’t make syrup or use any of the “Wild” foods that are so abundantly available to them. Some actually feel that the processed foods are better because of all the government oversight. As for me I am for NON GMO and organic when possible. Make it as close to nature as you can.
By the time this comes out and you are reading it the mushroom season should be getting close upon us. Time to sharpen our hatchets it the event we find one so big we need to chop it down. Oh, you laugh, but I know we all dream of them that large.
My wife has planted the tomatoes and onions along with some other seeds I cannot recall at the moment and we have a great mass of little green stings reaching skyward for the light. A good preacher ought to be able to get a nice analogy there for the way we grow our lives.
I have not heard any reports on the fishing in the area but hope to have something to write about it in the next issue of the paper.
Until then please keep our woods and waters clean.
This column by Warren “Toad” Stutesman ran in April 2013.
