 Asparagus: Queen of wild greens |
Posted on 08/04/2003 5:43:45 PM PDT by SJackson
Featured Writer
Wild Greens:
when weeds become vegetables
By Jackie Clay
This article appeared in Issue 61.
It is included in our Eleventh Year Anthology CD
We all know there are hundreds of wild greens. We call them "edible" wild plants. But somehow the term edible brings to mind something you only eat in desperate times—survival food that you know must taste bland at best. But the times have gone full circle. This spring I noticed many "weeds" in seed catalogs: amaranth, quilite, milk thistle, burdock, purselane, and more. Suddenly it’s "in" to eat weeds and natural herbs.
It’s funny, our grandmothers happily plucked these same wild foods from the garden (where they appeared as weeds), fence rows, fields, woodlands, and even marshes and used them as table fare. And while I won’t plant weeds in my garden, as they have a way of finding their way there on their own, like my grandmothers I enjoy harvesting Nature’s bounty that grows "around the edges," in the pastures, and in other wild places.
There are hundreds of commonly found wild green plants that are good to eat—not merely edible. Why is it that only a few domestic varieties are grown and harvested for most folks’ tables? Beats me.
Where my domestic garden measures about an acre and a half, our wild garden goes on for miles. I not only harvest wild foods, I also process them, canning and drying most of them in abundance, not because I have to but because they actually taste great and are nutritious.
Asparagus
Asparagus is one of those wild-domesticated-gone wild again plants. While it is prized and grown in many gardens, in most areas of the country there are many places where it grows wild in abundance. One field in northern Minnesota was nearly solid asparagus, all 20 acres of it, and only my family wanted to bother picking it. In at least one valley in Montana it grows thickly along both sides of a minor highway. Here in New Mexico it can be found along the highway to town and in several creekside cow pastures.
|
It’s everywhere. Seeds are carried by birds and excreted as they fly over pastures or they roost on fences and trees. And as asparagus is very hardy, it soon takes root, growing into a lusty and tasty plant.
Fall is perhaps the easiest time to scout for asparagus. It is during the fall and winter that you can easily spot their beige, fern-like foliage often sporting small round red seeds. Ask friends and neighbors where to find them and often you’ll get helpful tips. Then drive slowly down rural roads, walk along fence rows, and watch for those bushy, ferny plants. Don’t look for the typical plump asparagus tips you see in the supermarket.
When you locate a good patch, be sure the spot does not receive chemical sprays from neighboring fields (a cattle pasture is a good, safe bet), then jot yourself a few notes in a small notebook or tie a small orange plastic tape to a post or woody plant near the asparagus. Remember, in the spring, asparagus hides in the long dead grass beneath the plant until quite tall, so it can be a bit hard to spot in its young, tender stage.
Then in the spring, about the time the grass is beginning to grow, start watching your spot every three days or so. As the asparagus begins to grow, your harvest begins. With a sharp knife, cut off the spears just under the ground. This encourages new growth and will triple the yield you would get if you just cut each spear off a couple inches or more above the ground.
Your patch of asparagus can often be harvested every five days or so. It pays to keep careful track of it as it can grow amazingly fast. Tall asparagus becomes woody near the lower part of the spear. Harvest the entire spear, then cut it off where it becomes tough leaving the woody stem to mulch the plant and mark its location.
Asparagus can be eaten in several ways. Simply washing it, then steaming it until just tender and serving the spears garnished with lemon and dripping with butter makes mouths water. Another favorite of ours is to serve it cut in bite-sized pieces, boiled until just tender, and served in a cream sauce I make by melting a tablespoon of butter in a saucepan, mixing in 1/4 cup of flour, then slowly adding milk while stirring over a medium heat until I have a medium-thick sauce. I serve the "creamed asparagus" over crisp toasted slices of homemade bread.
I also can asparagus for winter use by packing the raw asparagus in clean canning jars and adding a teaspoon of salt to each jar along with boiling water to within an inch of the rim. Then I seal the jars with sterilized lids and process them in a pressure canner—30 minutes for pints, 40 minutes for quarts—at 10 pounds of pressure for altitudes of 1,000 ft or lower. (If you live above 1,000 feet, adjust the pressure for any canning recipe according to your canning book.)
Lamb’s quarters
In lamb’s quarters you have a traditional weed/food. When it pops up in your carrot row, you yank it and feed it to the chickens with muttered curses. But it’s actually good to eat. I’m not suggesting that you let it grow in your garden or, worse yet, that you plant it in rows. But if it’s in your garden, it’s elsewhere close by. I’ve got a dandy patch between one of my flower beds and the lawn.
Lamb’s quarters is common all across North and much of South America. In Mexico it is simply called "quilite," meaning "greens," and it’s harvested by the sackful. If you are not familiar with it, ask a few older relatives or neighbors to help you identify this easily recognized green. While it does sometimes grow quite large, you will want to pick it in the spring or summer while it is fairly small (4-12 inches) and tender. Lamb’s quarters has smallish, rather triangular leaves with a central cluster where the tiny flowers and, later, the seeds develop. Once you know it, you won’t mistake it for anything else.
|
To harvest and prepare, pick the tender tops and side branches, rinse them well, and steam or boil until just tender. Serve them as a side dish sprinkled with vinegar and chunks of butter. I like to use lambs-quarter in my own creation called homesteader quiche.
Put together a single pie crust and, while it’s baking, whip up six eggs. (If you take the time to separate the whites and whip until stiff before adding the yolks, your quiche will be much higher.) In a mixing bowl fold in 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, 1/2 cup leftover pieces of bacon, ham, or other rather spicy meat, 1/4 cup chopped raw onions, and 1/2 cup raw, chopped lamb’s quarters. Pour the mixture into baked crust and bake at 375° F. until done.
We also gather basketsfuls of lamb’s quarters to can for winter greens. It cans up less mushy than spinach and with a very nice flavor. One of my friends just put up 60 quarts of this delectable green for her family.
For canning, pick, rinse well, and pop into boiling water to wilt. Have your jars, lids, rings, and canner ready. When the greens wilt, dip them out and pack them into either quart or pint jars. Leave 1/2-inch head space at the top of the jar. Add 1 teaspoon of salt to quarts, 1/2 teaspoon to pints. Cover with boiling water, leaving 1 inch of head space. Remove any air bubbles, wipe the jar rims, then put the lids and rings on. Process pints 1 hour and 10 minutes and quarts 90 minutes at 10 pounds pressure.
Pigweed
"Oh my goodness, you eat that?"
Yep we do. And boy, is it good. Now I’m not talking about that tree-like weed after it’s grown all summer next to the barn. I’m talking about those nice, tender plants, picked when they’re about six- to eight-inches high and snap right off on a cool morning.
You see, pigweed is an amaranth, highly valued in poorer areas of the world as a wonderful green. Many folks have traditionally harvested the seed which is then ground as a flour-substitute and steamed as a gruel. Plains Indians call it "that which pokes the fingers," as the seed coverings are prickly little stickers. While I have harvested the seed, which is quite tiny, we more often harvest the large, succulent leaves and tender stems.
Pigweed is a good spinach substitute and when I canned a batch without marking it and put it on the pantry shelf next to the garden spinach, we could not tell which was which. Not bad for a weed, huh?
Pigweed is a broad-leafed weed that runs rampant if it grows in or near your garden. I’ve grown several amaranth varieties in my garden but I couldn’t see any difference, except in seed production, between plain old red rooted pigweed and "domestic" amaranth.
Pigweed can be eaten in any way you like to use greens. One of our favorites is to use it in a stir-fry. Cut up about 1 cup of fresh or leftover chicken breast into small cubes. Heat a large cast iron frying pan or wok, adding just enough oil to fry. Add the chicken, then 1/2 cup medium chopped onions, 2 cloves of chopped garlic, 1 medium coarsely grated carrot, 1 sliced bell pepper (red is pretty), and 1 cup coarsely chopped pigweed. Stir-fry, stirring constantly until almost done. Add 1 tablespoon of chunky peanut butter, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, and 1 tablespoon turmeric. You may add a bit of water, if necessary. Serve immediately over rice. The great thing with pigweed stir-fry (don’t actually call it that) is that you can add odds and ends from the garden: snow peas, broccoli, cauliflower, peas, red onions, or whatever, making it different every time.
Like other wild greens, you can home-can it and have delectable greens all winter. Just follow the directions above for lamb’s quarters.
Of course, there are dozens of other good wild greens, all basically used like the lamb’s quarters and pigweed. They include dandelion, purselane, goosefoot, and orach, just to name a few. But there are other weeds you can prepare differently.
Cattail
Take the common cattail for instance. You all know the cattail, sprouting lustily and abundantly out of many wet areas. Have you tried this versatile plant on your dinner table? While just about the whole plant is edible, I often use the delicate white shoots, just at or below the water line, as a cucumber substitute. After all, who has cucumbers in the garden in April when the cattails begin to grow?
Just make sure you harvest your cattail shoots from water free of runoff containing refuse such as farm chemical run-off, or overflow from a septic system.
Pick those tender white shoots near the bottom of the plant. Peel off any green, tough leaves, then rinse the shoots well at home. I refrigerate them for a couple of hours in water with a little salt. When the shoots are crisp, you may slice them and prepare as cucumbers. They are good eaten with a light vinegar and sugar dressing or great when mixed with a mayonnaise, sour cream, and vinegar dressing in which they are refrigerated for several hours before serving.
Cattail shoots can also be pickled for winter enjoyment using your favorite dill, sweet, bread and butter, or mustard pickle recipe.
Other parts of the cattail plant are also edible. You can dig the roots (kids love this muddy job) which can be scraped and used as a vegetable in many stews, or you can harvest the pollen and use it in place of flour in most basic recipes. Remember, the pollen is the yellowish dust on the end of the "flower," not the brown, fuzzy cattail.
You can also eat the green cattail before it begins to form seeds. They can be harvested in this tender stage, dipped in a medium batter, and deep fried. Mmm, not bad for weeds.
Cactus
"Oh, no, this time she’s gone too far!"
I can hear it now as visions of cactus stickers embedded in lips comes instantly to some folks’ minds. But wait! Because cactus grow in a wide variety of locations and states, and because they are so good and versatile, they bear a closer look.
|
The prickly pear family of cactus is the most common, nationwide-growing "weed" from Michigan, through the Northwest, throughout the West, Southwest and even many areas of the South. Its flat, roundish pads and bright peach and yellow flowers are a common sight.
So, what the heck do you eat on a cactus? The big, tender, new pads in the spring are great. In Mexico and the Southwest they are sold in stores as nopalitos, both fresh and canned.
I harvest the succulent pads with a pair of pliers, dusting off the few thorns with a small, bushy branch and scraping off any tenacious ones with a jacknife. Tender pads may be sliced whole after rinsing and added to any stir-fry or quiche. You can also pickle the sliced pads using any home pickle recipe.
Prickly pear fruits have long been savored by Native Peoples. While they are seedy, they are very sweet and juicy. One of our favorite uses of the fruits (or tunas, as they are called in the Southwest) is making prickly pear jelly. Simply harvest the fruits, de-spining them with a stiff brush and jacknife, then simmer with little water until very tender. Strain through a jelly bag overnight, then use any mild berry recipe, such as strawberry, and enjoy.
The buds of the cholla cactus are great, too. They may be cooked as a vegetable, after de-spining, of course, and served warm with butter or included, cooked, in a three-bean salad.
Of course many other cactus may be eaten. Check with the local elders for tips on which are best and how they use the harvest. One added benefit to eating cactus is that they contain complex carbohydrates and are rich in soluble fiber which helps diabetics to control blood sugar. My husband, Bob, is diabetic, so we eat as many cactus products—as well as home-grown and gathered vegetables, especially beans—as possible. Many diabetics have managed to lower their blood sugar to a point that they no longer need medication, a fact that we feel is significant.
Of course we have just touched on the tip of the iceberg here with this wild foods discussion. There are thousands of edible wild foods: berries, mushrooms, nuts, other vegetable/weeds such as burdock, flower buds, seeds, etc. Once you give wild gathering a try, you’ll be hooked, as we are. We now look at all of Nature as our "garden."
And, just as we care for our own garden, we always take great care with our wild plants never to trample, break, over-harvest, infringe on someone else’s patch, or otherwise damage our wild garden or our relationship with our neighbors, even if they are miles away.
She is right about the cactus fruit and some of the greens. They are good when they are in season.
/john
It takes more than rabbitfood to make me happy. Liver and onions is a good start.
A look back at Mother's 30 years of thought-provoking and simply wonderful ideas for living wisely including a retrospective on Helen and Scott Nearing. And, our regular line-up of informative reports: Greener Wheels. High-Efficiency Fireplaces, Lyme Disease and Ticks, Go Ahead: Get Guineas!, Super Spuds and From Farms to Five-Stars.
When you locate a good patch, be sure the spot does not receive chemical sprays from neighboring fields (a cattle pasture is a good, safe bet), then jot yourself a few notes in a small notebook or tie a small orange plastic tape to a post or woody plant near the asparagus. Remember, in the spring, asparagus hides in the long dead grass beneath the plant until quite tall, so it can be a bit hard to spot in its young, tender stage.
Then in the spring, about the time the grass is beginning to grow, start watching your spot every three days or so. As the asparagus begins to grow, your harvest begins. With a sharp knife, cut off the spears just under the ground. This encourages new growth and will triple the yield you would get if you just cut each spear off a couple inches or more above the ground. Your patch of asparagus can often be harvested every five days or so. It pays to keep careful track of it as it can grow amazingly fast. Tall asparagus becomes woody near the lower part of the spear. Harvest the entire spear, then cut it off where it becomes tough leaving the woody stem to mulch the plant and mark its location.
I am fortunate enough to live within a mile of a great place to find asparagus.
It's called a "store." You know, one of those places where you can get stuff in exchange for money. When I am overtaken by a craving for fresh asparagus (the last time was in 1997, I think), I can find them in the produce aisle of my store, three or four bucks for a nice bunch, if I recall correctly.
Of course, I could save those three or four bucks, and spend that and much more in gasoline instead, and "drive slowly down rural roads" before getting out of my car to "walk along fence rows, and watch for those bushy, ferny plants," keep a detailed log of where I find them, and then return every few days the next spring to harvest them (while tresspassing on someone else's land, by the way). So I've got to total up the auto expenses for several trips to "my" asparagus patch; throw in another buck or two for the extra laundry (harvesting veggies is dirty, sweaty work); maybe some insect repellant and sunscreen; and then, of course, there's the value of my time. Oh, and I still have to go to the store for other foodstuffs, anyway.
I think we just might be looking at a $100 bunch of asparagus before it's all said and done -- conservatively speaking, as we say around here.
GPS the site ..that way no telltales signs will let your competitors know your spot
then be sure to get their first in the Spring
When I was a kid, in the spring my grandma would take my sister and me out walking with a "poke" and a kitchen knife and we would cut all sorts of "greens" which we would then take home and watch her wash and boil down to a green, slippery mess which actually tasted halfway good with vinegar and butter on it.
The rest of the year, we ate what was bought at the store or wrenched from the grasp of the critters intent on ruining my dad's garden every summer.
We still laugh about that nearly 30 years later.
No, though I've thought of starting a list of rural topics. There is someone here, farm---, who does a farm list and could ping them, but I've forgotten his full screename (THAT'S A CALL FOR HELP). I'm not aware of any cooking lists, I post articles on home grown protein too.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
