Spring Fling with Nettles
Stinging nettles poking out of the ground, 4/16/15.
I grow nettles in the "flower" bed up against my home. I have been asked on many occasions: "What person in their right mind would plant nettles in any flower bed and the bed right up against the house?" The answer is obvious to me; I am not in my right mind and who wouldn't plant nettles so close to the house? They are oh so close when I need them for soups. stews, stir fries, pesto, tinctures, medicinal infusions, etc.
Now here is the double edged sword with this situation: they are close at hand but these 'lil buggers like to run and take over the world just like mints. They create this under soil runner that, well, just runs, and runs, and runs spiraling out of control. I spend the spring pulling the renegade nettles out of the rest of the flower bed in front of my home. When I planted them, 5 years ago, I politely asked them to stay in their space on the side of the house. I even dug down into the soil and planted sandstone pieces to deter them from running. They out smarted me.
As aggravating as this can be, I do have a steady supply of spring nettles that I do not feel guilty about pulling. I snip the leaves to eat and plant the runners along the yard's edge hoping for yet more nettles to eat and make medicine with.
My bowl of nettle tops and leaves.
A close up of 2 nettle tops ready for dinner.
Nettles in the pan, a gentle saute' in butter is all that is needed.
The stems that I gently cooked first; why waste the nutrients?
Cooked nettles waiting for me to consciously devour them.
The finished salad with nettles scattered across the top.
I have made mention of my Spring difficulties around food. All winter I graciously and gratefully eat local cabbage, root veggies, and squash. I save my frozen local summer veggies to tide me over when I can no longer stand the thought of a root veggie and cabbage slaw. Yes, it does happen. (My winter leftovers are waiting to be made into sauerkraut when I can dig enough wild leeks to enhance this kraut batch.)
I yearn for local food: asparagus, greens, fiddle heads, peas, strawberries...
To survive until the local food is bountiful once again, I buy food from California. There, I confessed. The above salad is Romaine lettuce, celery, carrots, and juicy red peppers from California. I also buy non-local fruits: mango, banana, kiwi, citrus, and canned organic pineapple. I am desperate for neatly gift packaged sunshine to tide me over to the local food scene. A ripe mango has a serious amount of sun waiting to burst out of its skin. I bow my head in gratitude to the people, the trees, and the soil that brings me these gems to keep me happy.
I plopped the above salad down in front of my kids, minus the nettles of course. They would have flipped had I expected them to eat Nettles! (They did each have a small spoonful that they chucked into their mouths and barely chewed before swallowing. Someday they will appreciate the things I have exposed them to...) Here was my salad response:
"Finally, a real salad. No more nasty cabbage - root veggie slaw! Yay!"
Poor kids, they suffer so.
"Wow, Mom broke down and bought something that didn't grow within 20 miles of our home."
When do they learn to not harass the person keeping them in food?
Tip for the day: Get outside. Snip some nettles. Hey, dig some wild leeks and saute' them together, ever so gently. Enjoy the taste sensation, the local wild food, and the spring nourishment for your body. Oh yeah, don't bother sharing with the kids!
To create your own female energy spring fling:
Join the Female ♀ Moon Cycle Wisdom Training
Tuition, this year, stays at $72 Bucks in honor of My Mom,
an awesome female, & her Birthday (April 17th)!
Wild Leeks
4/25/14 The Leeks are Back! YAY!
Seeing them in the woods, after a long winter, nourishes my soul!
Digging them, with the prospect of taking home for dinner, nourishes my body.
Knowing that peas, asparagus, dandelion greens, stinging nettles, spinach, and strawberries are just around the corner nourishes my mind.
No more snow, correct?
More leeks dug 4/26...
Fine chopped for my last batch of sauerkraut for the season...
Packed down into the kraut crock... 14 days and voila' wild leek infused sauerkraut! Want to sample? I will dig it out of the crock around the 12 of May.
Winter Food Blues
It is that time of year... I am sick of winter root veggies, squash, and cabbage. I know, on the tail end of it, there IS good things coming. I get impatient. I long for the green things sprouting out of our local soil. To survive until the local farmers and my garden has some stuff to offer up, I play around with food. (Truthfully, I play around with food all the time.)
I am waiting, very impatiently, for the wild leeks.
I do have tiny stinging nettle tops poking up in my garden. I have popped off a couple of nettle tops and indulged in the raw green-ness of it. They are so young that they leave no sting behind on the tongue or in the throat.
Dandelion greens are out there too. All survival food to nourish my cells and my soul!
So a dear friend turned me on to Balela, a Mediterranean salad. Immediately I thought: "What a fun idea and release from winter food."
David's recipe, displayed above:
Ingredients: all ingredients are organic
- 1 15-oz can black beans
- 1 15-oz can garbanzo beans
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
- 2 stocks green onion, chopped
- 1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar (white or apple vinegar should suffice)
- two organic tomatoes chopped into bite-sized pieces
- 2 tbsp chopped parsley
- 1 tbsp chopped mint
- unrefined sea salt & pepper to taste
My improvised Balela, using what I had on hand:
Ingredients: again, all organic
- 1 15-oz can kidney beans (no black beans in my cupboard)
- 1 15-oz can garbanzo beans
- 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup organic lemon juice, Lakewood Organic from the Potsdam Coop
- Chopped chives from my herb garden
- 1 1/2 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar from Martin's Farm Stand
- about 25 frozen cherry tomatoes from The Kent Family Growers winter CSA, thawed and chopped in 1/2
- 2 tbsp chopped oregano from my herb garden (no parsley yet!)
- 1 tbsp lemon thyme from my herb garden (no peppermint, deer ate it!)
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- red pepper flakes to taste
- unrefined sea salt & pepper to taste
Just before I indulged, I placed pine nuts on top and some sheep milk feta. Very YUMMY!
I know David is eating and enjoying Balela, as well, in LaFayette!
Stay tuned for tomorrow's Winter Food Blues Recipe... how I Spring up the root veggie kraut to make my taste buds sing (instead of them whining about more winter food and thinking the green stuff will never grow!).
Hang in there... local, spring food is right around the corner!