Ann(ie) writes

Well, you folks have gotten me into thinking a lot about wild plants again,
and I sure miss the West Coast because of all the edible wild mushrooms
there, not to mention the rich harvest of many kinds of wild berries and
other edibles... although there are morels here in the spring, which is
pretty darned special....and there are several other wild plants that also
grow here in the Interior of BC that I am quite fond of munching.

Stinging nettles are delicious when harvested small in the early spring when
they are just coming up. They are more fibrous than spinach, but milder
tasting. This is how you do it:

Get yourself up in boots, a long-sleeved shirt, long pants and gloves.
Take a paper grocery bag and a pair of kitchen scissors to your local stinging nettle patch.
Cut the emerging nettles off 2 to 2 1/2 inches below the tops and put in the bag.
When you have the bag at *least* half full, take them home and (leaving the gloves on)
, immerse them in a sink full of cold water to wash away the sand, grit and bugs.

Put the washed nettle tops in a pot with a little water and salt or a veggie
steamer and boil or steam until tender.... about the same time as for
spinach (just a few minutes).
Cooking takes the sting out of the nettles, so now it's safe to take off the gloves.

Serve with a little butter or lemon juice or both. Mmmm!
My kids used to prefer nettles to spinach.
If you hate spinach you may not care for them.
But think of the sweet revenge of eating all of those nettles which will now
not be lying in wait to sting you later on in the woods! And you can
revisit the same patch several times during the spring...because the nettles
will grow again from the roots, and provide several batches of tender greens.

If you really get addicted to them, which is easy to do, you can dig the roots in the fall after the frost, and force them inside.
Just put the roots in sand or peat in a cardboard box and put them in a cool basement or shed, give them a little light and water, and they will sprout tender young shoots again once, sometimes more than once on into the fall!

Ann is on a roll !

And then there are cattail shoots.

In the early spring, before the cattails (bullrushes?) have sprung up from the streams, run-offs and sloughs, they sprout, and that sprout is very
tender and tasty.

A stout paring or pruning knife is a handy tool for harvesting these little honeys...
and a pair of good gumboots (wellies, rubber boots) because you
will have to muck around in cold water quite a bit.
Also a good pair of rubber coated insulated gloves.(like the ones used in
fish processing plants on the slime line)...
long ones that come right up your forearm are an asset,
because to get at them, you have to reach down in the cold water and cut
them off at the corm (root).

Once you've harvested a bucketfull...the hard part is over.
You take them home and carefully wash them under running water to remove the mud, grit, slugs and other varmints.
Then you can slice them and use them in salads, or steam or sautee them like leeks.
They don't have the oniony taste, but they are very much like leeks in the way they slice and cook.
They have a lovely sweet nutty taste. Yummy!

Faye writes:
I was surprised by all the "wild" plant life that is edible when you live on a farm in North Carolina.
I'm sure Richard and other natives can tell about a lot more than I know but my favorite herb(?) is called Cress.
Around here they pronounce it Creasey greens.
Bronco's mother introduced me to them and cooked correctly they are delicious.
We ventured forth into the corn-field after harvesting and found these little things that looked like dandelions to me.
After Mom explained how to tell male from female plants I set to with a will!
If you get male plants in the basket it turns the whole mess bitter!
After she cooked them a certain way we served them for dinner and they just melted in out mouths. Very healthy for you I understand.
Faye in NC
Gloria agreed..
Yes, watercress - I used to buy it at Chinese or Vietnamesse stores in Winnipeg...excellent source of iodine
Gloria
Gloria responds to Ann about the nettles...
Hi Ann, I feel the same way about nettles.
when I could not find any around Manitoba, I went and planted them behind my garage.
(where I had been composting for awhile) and did they ever grow good.
I ate them like spinach, cooked, put in blender, spiced and served with potato and an egg over easy.
Then in early fall I would pick the rest, tie them up and hang them in the garage - for tea.
Good for arthritis. but together with other herbs.
I miss all that now.
Gloria
Ann again :-)..
Oh, so nice to hear that you enjoyed them, Gloria.
I have dried them for arthritis tea, as well.
Along with the nettle roots and the roots of the Oregon Grape...
and I can't remember what else went into it now...sigh.
Being unsettled has played major havoc with some of my beloved pastimes :-(