#backyard foraging

[a-realclassact]

Highly recommend stinging nettles for cooking. Went to weed my garden today and was able to harvest enough to throw into a pasta dish. You get them early (with gloves) and blanch the leaves. Drink the water as tea. Use like you would sautéed spinach. They are super good for you! 💚

[howtobangyourmonster]

Turns out the stump in my backyard hosts oyster mushrooms! We had a big rainfall and this flush popped up overnight. I stir fried half, I’m gonna bread and fry the other half, and I saved the big top cap I used for the spore print to cook and eat like a burger because it’s bigger than my hand.

I had been wondering if I could possibly seed that stump with mycelium to grow mushrooms and turns out it was way ahead of me.

[redvinylkitty]

Do you want to come gather violets with me? | VLOG HERE | ❤️💜❤️

--Please do not delete my caption--

[renaissanceofherbs]

Dandelions are NOT just a weed(I hate that word, honestly). The leaves make a great green to add to a salad. All parts of the plant can be dried and used for tea(though you must be wary of roots grown in less-than-optimal soil). Dandelions are known for being high in nutrients, helping with cardiovascular health, and impoving your over-all immune health.

[durotoswrites]

Maple tapping season is well underway, and we’re hoping to produce even more liquid gold than last year.

Here’s a bit of the final product from last year, but we still have a few gallon jugs of tree sap in the fridge ready to continue boiling down!  It’s been leaving the house smelling like a bakery, and I’m so excited to see how much syrup we get this year!

My husband and I have been excited to try different recipes with the syrup, including spiced mead and maple candy!

We’re planning to make bigger steps towards producing our own food.  I’ll keep y’all updated on the goodies we make and the plants we find and veggies we grow!

[elminx]

Just May Day Things

Yesterday's Flower Inspired Menu:

Chevre with chives, ground ivy, and tulips served with crackers and a veggie plate Dandelion gnocchi served with a garlic mustard cream sauce Cheeseburgers (Why? Not sure but Dora insisted on making them) Forsythia poke cake* With a choice of Strawberry wine spritzers or Violet Gin Sours It was a small gathering this year, just the base coven and our SOs. Each of us helped in the gathering of flowers, making of the food, or crafting of the May Pole and Flower crowns. Just seven people getting a bit sun addled (it was 70 which is far warmer than it's been up here in the somewhat frozen north and our bodies aren't used to it yet) picking flowers on the most perfect day of the year. We worked hard for our meal harvesting flowers which resulted in only a few photos of our festivities.

*The forsythia cake was made in my Nana's old cake pan from the 50s that I inherited from her. It still has her signature on it from when she used to bring it to events with her girlfriends (I'm always careful not to soap that area to keep the sticker). She loved May Day and taught me to celebrate it as a child and would have loved so much to eat flowers. I wish that I'd known how many flowers were edible while she was still alive.

[deathandmushrooms]

Shaggy Ink Cap - Coprinus comatus

I spotted these from my window, knew time was of the essence because Shaggy Manes deliquesce into black goo (hence, "ink cap") within a day and I didn't know how old they were. Also, my ADHD gives me a warped sense of time so I panicked, gathered them, swept them into the kitchen, sauteed them with butter, shallots, thyme, and pinot grigio; spread some soft cheese on bread, cracked some pepper, zested a lemon, and made panic toast.

Full disclosure: my dog (who is also white and shaggy but does but deliquesce, bless her heart) booped the mushroom, knocked the wig clear off the lawyer, and I feebly propped it back on before taking that first picture.

I had a moment as I was deglazing the pan with pinot grigio: "Wait...aren't ink caps toxic with alcohol?" (Double-panic toast!) But shaggy manes don't have that particular effect, apparently (or only rarely), and I always cook it off pretty thoroughly.

[hqcreations]

Backyard Foraging: Black Raspberry

Rubus occidentalis, Rosaceae family

Native to eastern North America, this delicious wild bramble is our first treat of early summer. I got patches of these everywhere competing for land with the wineberries, but other than an occasional cutback, I’m so happy to do nothing to keep these in my yard. 

P.S. On this particular day, a virginia creeper sphinx moth decided to join my foraging trip.