Spring is the time of the greatest collection of energies on a farm. The long death of winter creates massive amounts of anticipation for the renewal season, and the marking of fresh foods to be found abroad. Seed planting and harvesting the fall sown kale and spinach really gets a homesteaders palate whetted for the wild foods bounties laying just beyond the garden fence. 

The first one I see is inevitably the dandelions. While this sends a great deal of people scrambling for digging contraptions or flailing to get to the spray bottle of ACV, I get to picking. Firstly, there is not a single animal on my farm that doesn't LOVE dandelions. Especially the new shoots, and the younger, the better. I pick them for my rabbits, pigs, turkeys and chickens, then I let the goats out on their tethers (always supervised, of course) and watch them clean every last yellow spot in their reach before even contemplating the grasses that also fill the yard. I also enjoy the young dandelion greens, but I prefer them in a mixed green salad. And then there's the accounts of nearly mythical dandelion wine. I make a lot of wine every year, and I love to experiment, but I still haven't tried making a batch of this yellow miracle... I can't even fathom how potent it would be.

Next comes the asparagus around the Forgotten Forty, and marks my favorite time of the season, hands down. I take the evenings to hunt around fence lines and the edges of woods, in fields and along the dirt road in front of the farm. This time is particularly meditative for me, providing quiet time in the woods right in the middle of the busiest time of the year around here. I take my phone with me to snap pictures of sunsets and anything else of interest on the way, grab a pitcher with a little water in it to keep the stalks fresh, and hit the trails. I always keep a mesh bag with me just in case I should stumble across some Morels or Maitake mushrooms on the way. 

Often, I'll set up a meal around one item, and work my way over the property looking for other complimentary ingredients. Chives and ramps for just about any meal, the odd meal of nettles thrice boiled, eggs from the hen house to make a morel mushroom omelet breakfast the next day. With a little imagination (which deserves a good workout too) any meal can have wild elements, with just a little forethought and preparation. I've even had dinner parties that started with a wild food foray and ended with a glass of wild mulberry wine while recounting the sunset and the beautiful places we found this or that. Beautiful memories are crafted this way.

Seasonal forays are an incredible way to experience the world around you in an array of differing ways. Exercise, meditation, nature watching, and all the delightful tastes to be found along the way. Get your butts outside! It's SPRING!!!

"People simply fall in love with wild foods. Lord knows these wild things swept me away. Folks want to be seduced by their mystery, their freedom from the bonds of agriculture. Our human civilization, based on agriculture, has struggled for millennia to no longer depend on foraging in the wild. But here at the start of the twenty-first century, the old hunter-gatherer luring in all of us just won't let go."  – Connie Green (The Wild Table: Seasonal Foraged Food and Recipes) 

I'm really enjoying reading through this book right now. Every year I try to learn a little more about wild edible food that I can forage for, it's delicious and super healthy, and not to mention free.

We hunt for morels every spring and enjoy those thoroughly. I'd love to learn about more edible mushrooms in my area, from what I've been reading there are a few varieties I should be able to find. I'm looking for someone local that can teach me, as mushroom hunting from photos in a book can be difficult. I also harvest wild plants like plantain for salves along with dandelions, garlic mustard and wild violets for salads. We have a plentiful supply of wild blackberries and black raspberries close by that we freeze and enjoy all winter long.

Winter time is when I focus on learning about more wild foods that I can find in the woods around our home. I haven't decided what new wild foods I'm going to be searching for this year, any suggestions?

Do you eat any wild foods? Where do you learn about them?  

I can also be found at Chiot's Run where I blog daily about gardening, cooking, local eating, beekeeping, and all kinds of stuff. You can also find me at Ethel Gloves, Not Dabbling in Normal, Simple, Green, Frugal, Co-op, and you can follow me on Twitter.