Backyard foraging

[summilux]

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Your backyard has food that you might not know was really food. We back onto a wooded park, so we have plenty of shade. That means hostas, ferns and solomon seal. These are all edible. Our first harvest this year are fiddleheads: ferns before they become firms. I reliably remove about one third of the heads from each fern crown every year without ill effect.

They are fantastic sauteed in butter with a bit of salt. Also good are quick fiddlehead refrigerator pickles:

-Blanche in boiling water for about a minute
-Add to a jar with a 50-50 mix of white vinegar and water. The half liter jar below took about 2/3 cup of liquid in total. Add a pinch of salt and a double pinch of sugar.
-Leave at room temperature for a day and then refrigerate
-Wait for a week but they keep for at least a month

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[Too Tall]

This is a wonderful topic, I'd want to hear more about Hostas and Solomon's seal. Fiddleheads are a favorite treat for sure and thanks for the quick pickle recipe.

[thollandpe]

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They are fantastic sauteed in butter with a bit of salt.

Yum! I like to do the quick blanch in water or steam before frying too, for that perfect firmness. You can also steam and refrigerate, then serve with a balsamic vinaigrette and chopped or slivered red onion, like asparagus.

Have not spied any morels here yet. The other springtime fave, ramps, are in full swing.

Bon appétit!

[Too Tall]

Speaking of Ramps, a Maryland favorite, I've been buying Kimchee made with Ramps! Talk about a kick!!!

[j44ke]

found these just a couple hours ago

[Tom]

Am I jealous? Yes, yes I am. Remind me to remind you to look for chantrelles come August. Your pictures with white pines always makes me think of where my brother's Swiss in-laws found them when they came to visit.

[summilux]

Jorn, I am so jealous.

[summilux]

Hosta shoot kimchi

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I choose shoots 1-2 inches in length that are tight. I am told that as they get leafier, some people are vulnerable to get the runs. They are nice when fried up in butter, tasting somewhat like asparagus, but I love kimchi. Just keep in mind that kimchi is really flexible. Don't get hung up on the details. This recipe is based on one at https://foragerchef.com/hosta-shoot-kimchi/, so thanks to that site for inspiration.

300g Hosta shoots
40g Chinese Chives (can substitute with greens from green onions)
100g shredded daikon (can substitute with carrots)

Wash hosta shoots and chives. Drain.
Add 15 g (about 2 teaspoons) salt to shoots, chives and daikon. Let it all sit for about an hour

Add to the veggies:
1 heaping teaspoon of sugar
1 Tablespoon of Saugeot (Korean dried salted shrimp). Can substitute with 2 Tablespoons of Vietnamese fish sauce but it won’t be as nice
1 heaping teaspoon of rice flour. AP flour works fine as well
20g of Korean Chile flakes (gochugrau).
3 minced garlic cloves chopped
Fresh ginger chopped. About the same volume as the garlic

Mix and cover loosely
Let sit at room temperature for 2-5 days
Give it a sniff test every day. You are waiting for fermentation to provide a slightly sour and slightly funky taste. You be the judge when you feel like putting it in the fridge.

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[j44ke]

The morels were growing atop the root system of a +36" diameter ash tree that is - after many years - dying. I don't want to be standing next to that tree when it goes down, but I think mostly it is just going to go to pieces and not go over all in one tree shaped bomb. Selfishly I hope we get morels for a while out of this as the roots start to decay. I cut each morel with 1/2" above ground hoping I was leaving chemistry enough that we'll get continued supply.

At a Korean restaurant in NYC, we were served this soup that was awfully good. Had a green leafy base to it. I asked what it was and the waitress said mugwort. That's one of the invasive species we are trying to eradicate from our property. We were at a friend's house and they made a nice spicy garlicky pesto. I thought maybe it was ramp pesto. Nope. Garlic mustard. Another invasive. Our neighbor down the road keeps trying to get me to eat early knotweed shoots, but I don't want that stuff anywhere near my property, even if it is inside me. But it is his favorite part of spring.

Eat your weeds I guess.

[echappist]

Hosta shoot kimchi

76817637354__59DC87DD-116D-45C7-AABC-EE9B594AEDE2.jpg

I choose shoots 1-2 inches in length that are tight. I am told that as they get leafier, some people are vulnerable to get the runs. They are nice when fried up in butter, tasting somewhat like asparagus, but I love kimchi. Just keep in mind that kimchi is really flexible. Don't get hung up on the details. This recipe is based on one at https://foragerchef.com/hosta-shoot-kimchi/, so thanks to that site for inspiration.

300g Hosta shoots
40g Chinese Chives (can substitute with greens from green onions)
100g shredded daikon (can substitute with carrots)

Wash hosta shoots and chives. Drain.
Add 15 g (about 2 teaspoons) salt to shoots, chives and daikon. Let it all sit for about an hour

Add to the veggies:
1 heaping teaspoon of sugar
1 Tablespoon of Saugeot (Korean dried salted shrimp). Can substitute with 2 Tablespoons of Vietnamese fish sauce but it won’t be as nice
1 heaping teaspoon of rice flour. AP flour works fine as well
20g of Korean Chile flakes (gochugrau).
3 minced garlic cloves chopped
Fresh ginger chopped. About the same volume as the garlic

Mix and cover loosely
Let sit at room temperature for 2-5 days
Give it a sniff test every day. You are waiting for fermentation to provide a slightly sour and slightly funky taste. You be the judge when you feel like putting it in the fridge.

76818054218__0EBCD2A4-D93C-4429-A574-8CE108A80C55.jpg

hot damn, didn't know that hosta shoots are edible. Look like asparagus to me.

We actually have many hosta plants in the yard. Umm...

[thollandpe]

Hosta shoot kimchi

Oh yeah, April here is hosta shoot month thanks to my previous owner. And my doggos who keep the deer outside the perimeter. Gonna try that.

The morels were growing atop the root system of a +36" diameter ash tree that is - after many years - dying. I don't want to be standing next to that tree when it goes down, but I think mostly it is just going to go to pieces and not go over all in one tree shaped bomb. Selfishly I hope we get morels for a while out of this as the roots start to decay. I cut each morel with 1/2" above ground hoping I was leaving chemistry enough that we'll get continued supply.

Sadly I built something over where last year's morels grew on decayed wood. But there are more and I will find them. We have a lot of standing deadwood, oaks and beeches and maples, they're like atomic Tinder for woodpecker meetups—downy, red-bellied, pileated, and of course the ever-present nuthatches love them. The dead tees are tall, but have withstood all the big blows since the invasive caterpillars turned them into bird-feeding zombies. When they do shed, I can drag away the branches and they're already seasoned for burning.

Eat your weeds I guess.

This invasive crab is all over the New England shoreline. I thought I was clever when I turned this into a nice chubby tautog for dinner, but then I saw someone else is turning them into this:



Eat the invaders!

[Too Tall]

Thanks for the Hosta recipe. This place rules. #eatyourweeds
FWIIW Later this summer I'll snap pics. of a reliable Chanterelle and a massive Turkey Tail patch I've been raiding for a couple yrs.

[summilux]

Now is the time to keep your eyes peeled for Dryads Saddle. Look at dead tree stumps. There aren't any poisonous lookalikes so you can harvest without fear. Take a sniff, it should smell like watermelon rind. It's not the tastiest of mushrooms and there will be a lot of bugs in them, but stir fried Cantonese or Sichuan style, they are pretty good.

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[COVRTDESIGN]

I only have facebook still for two things. Marketplace and to find local foraging groups around the area, especially now that I am back East. There are some incredibly smart people that have pages on Facebook, meet up, and go learn.

If you haven't heard of René Redzepi, he is a Nordic chef with a 3 michelin star restaurant that only forages local ingredients. I think you would enjoy seeing what he can do!

[j44ke]

spring classics - seems like the morels are waning but the ramps are peak

[summilux]

Jealous again with your harvest. The municipal park we back onto is full of ramps but it's illegal to take them sadly I don't. It makes me cringe a bit when I walk the dog.

[Too Tall]

Jealous again with your harvest. The municipal park we back onto is full of ramps but it's illegal to take them sadly I don't. It makes me cringe a bit when I walk the dog.

Pffft. My generation calls this "liberation". I'd encourage you to free the captive ramps. Release their spirits to the hot pan, liberate them.

[j44ke]

Ramps are transplantable. You need to either do them when they are first starting in spring or after they've receded in the fall. In either case, remove ramps and their surrounding soil as a group of several (half dozen) bulbs, avoiding damage to bulb, stems or roots and place them as you removed them in a hole with their soil. The soil will improve your chances by reducing any transplant shock and lessening root damage. Ramps like moist, but not wet, well-draining soil in an area with increasing shade as tree leaves emerge after early spring sunlight - like a deciduous woodland with birch, hickory, birch, aspen hornbeam, etc. Extra points if your transplant allows for their original orientation in the sun.

Of course, you want to get your ramp transplants from somewhere you won't get in trouble.

You can also try seeds: https://www.prairiemoon.com/allium-tricoccum-wild-leek

[summilux]

Pffft. My generation calls this "liberation". I'd encourage you to free the captive ramps. Release their spirits to the hot pan, liberate them.

I wish it were so easy. The people here are very protective of their park. Rightfully so. And they're dog-walking neighbours so I'm known to all of them. I did get into a fun discussion once when I was harvesting some Honey Brown mushrooms. The bylaw says that you shouldn't remove plants and trees from the park. But of course mushrooms are neither. They're fungi! I dug up a few ramps two years ago to plant them in our garden. They're growing. Maybe next year harvest.