Foraging My Yard: Early Spring in WNY
We love Clover and Chickweed on our grilled cheese!
April 20, 2020
I was recently inspired to make jam using edible flower petals. Sadly the only flowers growing in my yard currently are hyacinths, daffodils and lesser celandine, all three of which contain toxins when ingested… but having a closer look at my early spring haphazard lawn and garden beds, I noticed many other fresh plants popping up that are, in fact, edible and healthful!
Maybe they’re not great for making floral jam, but many wild spring greens are wonderful steeped in water to drink as a “tea,” or warm herbal tonics to help detoxify and cleanse your organs. When the greens are large enough, they’re also great to sauté with coconut or olive oil and add to rice dishes, stir frys, or anything that calls for cooked greens.
Foraging in your backyard is not only healthful, but encourages you to get to know your mini ecosystem and the plants around you on a more personal level. Currently as we’re living in Covid-19 Quarantine, many of us have realized the importance for us to PRODUCE MORE as we are forced to CONSUME/BUY LESS. “Weeds” can be a wonderful way to fill any fresh green voids, as long as your lawn and garden are pesticide- and herbicide-free.
Nudging ourselves to produce more of what we need, rather than relying on the harmful industrialized food system to provide for us, is perhaps the easiest and greatest step we can all take to help make ourselves and our planet healthier.
As a general foraging rule, never consume ANY wild foraged foods until you have confidently, positively identified the plants as edible.
early spring edition: foraged foods from my yard in new york state
clover leaves
I have always loved adding red clover to my teas as it is a wonderful, feminine tonic — but it wasn’t until recently I discovered how delicious clover LEAVES are! They have a sweet, fresh taste and are especially delicious raw. We’ve been dicing them up and adding to all our meals including soups, rice dishes, even grilled cheese sandwiches!
dandelion leaves
Dandelion leaves are rosetting out of the earth, and even some of the notorious yellow flowers have started blooming here in WNY. Since it’s still so early in the season, I recommend leaving the blooms for pollinators to enjoy because there isn’t much else for bees to drink. The leaves are fair game though. They are incredibly bitter (a sign that they are a wonderful tonic/detoxifying agent for our digestive systems) and are best enjoyed sautéed to cut the bite. Try sautéing in olive or coconut oil with mushrooms and fresh garlic as a side dish!
dead nettle
Dead nettle is a rampant ground cover that covers tons of my backyard — I love its purple tones, and even the purple flowers are edible! It has a slight rough, fuzziness to the leaves but sautéing the leaves takes care of that. Try adding it into your dandelion dish for extra nutrition!
chickweed
Chickweed is killer delicious. It has a unique, almost nutty flavor and I find myself picking and eating it on the spot. I also love this one raw, diced, on soups, salads, rice dishes, sandwiches… just about everything!
wild onion/chives
Chive seeds spread easily so if you see skinny scallion-looking onions popping out of the ground, they are related to chives! We have them popping up in cracks in our patio and I love going outside and grabbing a fist full of them to add a fresh bite to tacos, chili, guacamole, and potato dishes.
plantain leaves
Picked when young, plantain is delicious eaten raw in salads, or any of the ways I suggested eating clover and chickweed. When the leaves mature, they get hard “strings” growing thru them so at that point, you can steep the leaves in water for a diuretic, cleansing tea.
WHAT OTHER EARLY SPRING EDIBLES ARE YOU FINDING IN YOUR YARD? COMMENT BELOW!
peace, love + plant magic,
Fran Parrish
