We foraged for, cooked with and ATE 30 different wild delectables.

Drinks: Roses, Sumac, Beebalm, Spearmint, Peppermint
Salad: Dandelion, Violet, Lambs Quarter, Purslane, Daisy, Chickweed, Red Clover, Raspberry, Marshmallow, Sheep Sorrel, Wood Sorrel, Amaranth, Autumn Olive Berries (in the dressing)
Flowers: Elderflower, Lilly, Chamomile, Beardstongue, Daisy, Primrose
Dinner: Wild Grape, Parsley, Mint, Milkweed Buds, Cattail Shoots, Milkweed Shoots, Nettle, Dandelion, Purslane, Dill, Burdock
Dessert: Carolina Pecans, Elderflowers and Elderberries

Pictures and recipes of each individual dish are found in the Cooking section under Wild Recipes

Following Nature’s Wave is a great deal of fun and so very rewarding.  The early Spring greens are getting a bit more bitter but the Summer flowers and berries are emerging to bring their gifts of health and joy.   Cheryl and Joy brought two grocery sacks full of primetime Milkweed flower buds for one of our casseroles.

We began the adventure learning together about foraging rules and tips for shopping in the wild.  Each person chose a recipe to cook and forage for the plants around my yard. As we took our plant walk I had fun introducing my guests to the plants we would be using in our dinner.  We talked at length about Elderflower, Burdock, Plantain, Lambs Quarters and Purslane.  Even though Mullein was not on the menu I could not pass up this tremendously powerful and beautiful wild blessing without extolling it’s many gifts.  Milkweed and Cattail were main ingredients in our dinner but I don’t have them here on my acre, not yet anyway!

Gerald brought a grocery sack of Violets from his land to share and the salad preparers were blessed to discover that the greens were not the tasty Violet leaves but the unedible look-a-like Groundsell.  I’ll write a separate blog on the importance of accurate identification when foraging and as a safety net, ‘garbling’ the groceries to sort out the various plants.  Thankfully we had a ‘Groundsell free’ salad complete with Kalamata olives and an amazing dressing that Morgan made with Autumn Olive Berry infused apple cider vinegar.

Baskets full the chefs kicked into high gear and manned their stations cooking up our wild Greek feast.  As usual, we watched my mentor, Linda Runyon’s fabulous DVD while eating baklava with wild Pecans and Elderflower funnel cakes with peaches and Elderberry syrup, sipping Peppermint tea or Root coffee.

An evening to remember.  Thanks everyone for your hard work, great attitudes, the interesting discussion…  I hope the wild fire is burning in each heart!  Eat wild everyday and reclaim your heritage as a human on God’s green earth.

Wild Blessing abound!

Holly