Wild Dandelion Greens Pesto

Dandelion season is upon us!

One of our favourite wild plants, dandelion is readily available (growing nearly everywhere) and generally not at risk of being overharvested.  It's a great wild plant to start with if you are new to foraging for wild edibles, as all parts of it are edible (root, leaf and flower), it's highly nutritious, versatile and delicious.  The common dandelion is easy to identify.  Just make sure not to harvest in sprayed areas or near roadways so that the plants you pick are not toxic.

We love the dandelion flower blossoms in salads, baked goods (they make great additions to cookies and muffins), and dandelion drinks such as dandelion-lemonade, or dandelion blossom shrub (a mixed drink made with the blossoms first infused in organic raw apple cider vinegar).  Use only the yellow parts of the blossom, and cut away the green stems as these will impart bitter flavours (also stay away from the milky white sap in the stem - it has been traditionally used for curing warts, but is not desireable for eating).

Dandelion roots make a wonderful hot beverage.  Mix them with raw cacao nibs, cinnamon, vanilla, and your choice of milk, and you have yourself a delicious warming dandelion mocha chai.  Roots are best dug when they are young in the spring, but once the flower buds start to form leave the roots in the ground.  Roots are then also harvested in the fall, after the flowers die back.

Dandelion greens are amazing additions to smoothies, egg dishes, soups, salads (the young leaves are not quite so bitter), steamed greens, infused as medicinal tea, and - our absolute favourite for the greens - wild pesto.  We make pestos of all sorts, eating our "medicine" is always a nice way to go so that medicinal healing herbs and foods become commonplace in our kitchens and everyday table.  Any wild edible green will do for pesto (for example, we love including chickweed, dandelion greens, nettle tops, purslane, wild garlic, wood sorrel).  As well, culinary herbs such as garden sorrel, basils, mints, fennel, oregano, parsley, chives, garlic greens and scapes, and other leafy greens such as spinach or kale.  Feel free to substitute according to your taste and what is seasonally available, using this basic recipe below:

Wild Greens Dandelion Pesto

Ingredients:
2 cups sunflower seeds or hemp seeds (or nuts if you prefer)
1/4 cup olive oil (or more to taste)
2 tsp sea salt
1 large handful dandelion greens, freshly picked (or other wild green edibles)
1 large handful sorrel leaves, freshly picked (or add 1 Tbsp lemon juice in it's place)
fresh oregano, chives and parsley - a few sprigs each
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
water as needed (to get the consistency you like for your pesto)

Method:
1) Place all ingredients into a food processor and blend well.
2) Add more olive oil or water to get a smooth consistency.
3) Add more salt, to taste.
4) Serve with wholegrain or glutenfree crackers, mixed into grain dishes, blended into pasta, as a dip for fresh veggies, or in a grilled cheese sandwich.  Pesto is so versatile!

Wild Plant Medicine Workshop 1 - focus on Nettle

I absolutely love nettle.  I think it's one of my favourite "wild" medicinals, with such a versatile range of applications and uses.   And since it is at it's peak right now, we offered our first workshop in the "wild plant medicine (in the city)" series on the topic of Nettle! 

Not only is it delicious, packed with nutrition (iron, calcium, vit A and C, 25% protein by weight), but healing to many aspects of our body (men, women, children, elders alike).  It is an alterative, working to bring our body back into healthy balance, meeting us where we need.  It helps stimulate all systems of elimination in the body, this removing toxins and wastes and realigning our bodies toward healthy wholeness.  It is helpful for allergies, arthritis, rheumatism, recovering from illness, beneficial for nursing mothers, and generally toning to both the male and female reproductive systems.  It does not have counter-indications with other herbs/medicines, and can be used freely and safely.  Primarily the leaves are used, harvested before they start to flower.  It can be tinctured, dried for tea or used fresh for tea and cooking (the drying, steaming or cooking removes the sting from the leaves).  See a few of our favourite nettle recipes below - taking our "medicine" as food is always a great way to go!

Nettle has a long history of co-habitation with humans.  Wherever old human settlements are in the northern boreal regions of the globe (Europe, Asia, North America) likely you will find nettle.  It is said that nettle has often been found growing over old burial grounds, bringing to mind that this special plant is protecting sacred ground - it's stinging properties mean that humans will not easily trample through a nettle patch.

Nettle is also beneficial for many species of animals - several kinds of butterfly larva only eat nettle, and also nettle is a useful food source for ground birds, reptiles and rodents in riparian areas.

So, don't think of this wonderful wild plant as just a "weed" - bring some nettle into your life, ethically harvesting* where it is growing along streams and shady moist riverbanks and wooded areas, or even planting a small patch in a contained area of your back woods/garden (be warned, nettle spreads rapidly by underground roots and rhizomes so do keep it contained by trenching the area or planting in a container).  Remember, it's called "stinging nettle" for a good reason - harvest with caution, wearing long sleeves, pants and gloves as it can cause severe contact dermatitis (red stinging itching welts) from the formic acid it releases into exposed skin through it's stinging hairs. 

* ethical wild harvesting - meaning to harvest carefully and respectfully, leaving no trace that you have been harvesting a wild plant (take no more than 1/4 of a patch, do not harvest entire plants, cover soil back to leave ground undisturbed, and leave healthy plants to go to seed and grow in the coming years)
* and when harvesting in the wild, be sure to know FOR SURE that you have properly identified the plant (use a good ID book with clear photos or sketches of plants in various times of season, or go with an experiences wild harvester who knows how to safely harvest and identify - there are some look-alike plants that can be toxic)

Here is an delicious example where nettle makes a creamy soup in place of any dark leafy green (spinach, chard, kale).  It was paired with sorrel in this lemony green soup above.

And in our workshop we made a nettle-based "medicinal" pesto - deep green, garlic-y, and delicious!

Nettle-Walnut Pesto (cheesy version)

8 cups nettle leaves (top 6 inches, removed from stalk)
2 cups other wild green edibles (we used dandelion and plantain leaves, but you could use traditional pesto garden herbs like basil or parlsey)
1 cup nuts (e.g. walnuts, pine nuts, brazil nuts, almonds)
1 cup seeds (e.g. sunflower, pumpkin, hemp)
2 cups olive oil (more or less, to get consistency you want)
1 cup parmesan, grated
1/2 cup Asiago, grated
10 clove of garlic
3 tsp sea salt

Nettle-Seed Pesto (vegan version)

8 cups nettle leaves
2 cups other wild green edibles
2 cups seeds (e.g. pumpkin, sunflower, hemp or combination of these - add in nuts if you like in place of seeds)
1 cup nutritional yeast
1-2 cups olive oil (to get consistency you want)
10 cloves garlic
3 tsp sea salt

Method:
1) Blend greens with seeds and some oil in small batches in a food processor.
2) Then add cheese/nutritional yeast, garlic and sea salt and blend well.
3) Add more olive oil if necessary to get the consistency you want.  Do not thin with water as it will create a paste, not a thick pesto sauce.
4) Taste, adjust flavours - remember the pesto will mellow and blend flavours as it sits.
5) Scoop into jars and store in fridge (for about 2 weeks) or freezer for longer term.
6) Serve with crackers, zucchini chips, as a dip for fresh veggies, mixed into pasta, on bread, mixed into mayo for a delicious veggie burger experience, and so many other great uses for pesto! 

Coming up next month in the "wild plant medicine (in the city)" series: 
Plantain - and making healing oils, salves, and bug lotions with plantain

Wild Harvest - Violet Syrup

Finally spring has fully arrived, and the first violets are in full bloom.  There were enough this week for our daughter and friend to harvest a nice basket full from our yard and a nearby field, and we made violet syrup together.  It took us about half an hour to pick the 4 cups violets we needed for this recipe.  Violet syrup is a beautiful pink colour and can be used to make delicious healthful drinks (see below).  Violets are high in Vitamin C, and are traditionally said to calm and uplift the spirits - thus also known by the common name "heartsease".  They are a gorgeous deep purple, with small heart-shaped leaves which are also edible.  To learn more about wild edibles of spring consider taking one of our Wild Edibles Workshops (April 30 and May 28) here at Little City Farm.

While we were out picking, the girls and I talked about three rules for ethical wild harvesting that are good to remember:

a) know your plants - properly identify the plant before harvesting and using (using a reputable plant ID book, or going with a knowledgeable person), know which parts to use, what time of season to harvest, and how to properly prepare the plant as some wild edibles should not be eaten raw

b) harvest respectfully, carefully and sparingly - only harvest about 1/4-1/3 of the plant collections you find so there are always enough left for other harvesters, as well as to go to seed and continue a strong plant for next season - it should basically not look like you have done any harvesting at all after you are done

c) choose plants from a safe and healthy location - avoid harvests near roadways, dog walking areas, and of course any areas where pesticides may have been sprayed

How to make Violet Syrup
You will need:
4 cups fresh violet flowers (not washed)
4 cups water that has just boiled
2-4 cups sugar (or honey)
8 Tbsp lemon juice

1) Place fresh violet flowers into a glass jar or measuring cup.  Cover with water that has just boiled, and place a lid or plate on top.  Steep this infusion for 24 hours (covered).

2) After 24 hours, strain the infusion.  Compost flowers, reserve the infused water.

3) Put infusion into a stainless steel pot, add sugar and lemon and bring to a boil.  Then turn down heat and simmer until sugar (or honey) is dissolved and syrup starts to thicken.  Stir constantly until syrup coats the back of the wooden spoon.  This can take from 15-30 min depending on how thick you want your syrup to be.

4) Bottle in glass jars, cap and store in the fridge.  Keeps 3 months in fridge.

5) To use:  add about 1/4 cup syrup to a glass, top with sparkling water and add fruit or ice cubes.  This is a delicious sweet and refreshing tonic to lighten your heart and put a spring in your step.

Spring on the homestead

There are signs of spring everywhere we look!  We've been out hunting for greens, buds and shoots - in the garden and around town.  We see:

~ wild edibles: like dandelion, nettles, and ramps starting to peek out tiny green tips from the undergrowth;
~ in the garden: shoots of garlic, green walking onions, sorrel, and herbs like mint, lemonbalm, motherwort;
~ on the trees: buds of service berries are gorgeously pink against the dark branches;
~ in the cold frame: our spring crop of micro kale, chard, spinach, mizuna, arugula and lettuce leaves.

What is greening up in your yard?  What are you harvesting?  What are you planting?

Wild edible spring flowers - wild violets!

There have been lots of spring showers (and snow, and sleet) lately - but the spring flowers have finally arrived.  We've been picking lots of wild edibles to add to our salad mixes from the greenhouse - dandelion greens, fresh nettles, wild garlic, and these delicate violets. 

Here is a great article from the website of renowned herbalist Susun Weed about the medicinal and health benefits of eating wild violets.  The flowers and young greens are edible, and are a great blood purifier for a spring body detox.  They stimulate the immune system and the lymph glands to help the body get rid of toxins.  Wild violets are loaded with minerals, vitamins A and C, and add beautiful bold colour into salads.

We'll be hosting one more Wild Spring Edibles Workshop here on May 16 for those who are interested in learning more about gleaning the nutrient-dense delicious wild foods that are all around us!