Tag: foraging

Spring Beauty

Shawn 4 Comments

Spring Beauty 1It’s May and the green belt behind our house is just that. Green! A chlorophyll wonderland of shimmering leaves, budding tree branches and ferns studded with tiny little purple flowers that I can’t identify but look so freakin cute! Viewed from my kitchen window the scene overwhelms the senses. So much is growing and moving. So much is green! My eyes focus and unfocus wildly, trying hopelessly to impose some order on all this chaos, this emerald leviathan, this explosion of life.

And the edibles! Dandelions, fiddleheads, salmonberry shoots, nettles and everything else I’ve been gushing about for the last three or four posts. It’s a forager’s paradise! And now, I can add Miner’s Lettuce (aka: Indian Lettuce, Winter Purslane and Spring Beauty) to my growing list of spring pickings. Read More

Dandelion Omelette with Spring Herbs and Smoked Asiago

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Dandelion Omelette 1For some reason, every time I make an omelette I think of Neil Gaimen’s Sandman comic. There is this scene where Morpheus (the titular character) is asked what he wants to eat. He responds: “An omelette, a light salad and a glass of white wine…”

This, to me is the essence of brunch: A couple eggs, something green and restorative and a bit of the ‘ol hair of the dog. The perfect thing for that weird, still-dazed, what the hell am I doing with my day? feeling that comes from waking late and piecing together the night before. Food’s got to be nourishing, light and easy… With bite. Read More

Pulling Lion’s Teeth

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Dandelions 1Dandelions are everywhere, right now.

They’re in your backyard, along ditches and footpaths, flash-mobbing soccer fields, sneaking through cracks in the sidewalk and fighting to overtake golf courses. They are the hardiest (most say would say “insidious”) of vegetation, able to resurface again and again in the most unbelievably anti-green environments our concrete and Astroturf-loving human brains can conceive. They resist toxic assault and uprooting with ease. They are a symbol of everything gardeners hate: The uncontrollable factor riddling even the most minutely-controlled landscaping project. Just Google the word “Danedlion” and the first result you get will be “Kill dandelions dead!”

They have become the enemy, the plague, the weed… But before you get out the pitchforks and lawn-napalm, there might be something else we can do with these offenders. Our ancestors knew this plant very well, not as a weed, but as a source of food ‘n medicine… Yeah, dandelions are completely edible. It blew my mind as well! Read More

Best Westcoast Foraging Guides

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Best Foraging GuidesMy co-worker and fellow creative lunatic Carol recently asked me what I considered to be the best, most easily accessible books on Wescoast foraging. She’d been poking around the backyard, getting excited about harvesting some local spring plants to eat and wanted a guide that could: a) Give her a fundamental understanding of foraging – ie. when and where to pick what. b) Clearly identify what plants are edible and what to avoid. c) Inspire her to roam farther afield for new experiences. Read More