My youngest and I spent the day outside on Friday.  It was the first day in about a week that wasn't cold and rainy. 


We picked flowers and went splashing and walking in the woods. We tried the Garlic Mustard leaves and flowerbuds.  They're getting more potent in their mustard flavor, but still managable by my standards.  I picked a handful of tops in one hand, and carried my daughter back home in the other.

After lunch, it was naptime and I got a spare moment to create a beautiful green soup with a mixture of store-bought and freshly foraged ingredients.

This recipe, of course, can be made completely with spinach or other store-bought greens, and I have made it that way before too.  It's equally tastey! Mix in a little basil, which is traditionally associated with love and desire, and you have a nice soothing soup just for (rain-soaked) Beltane.

Garnish and serve!   Some garnish ideas:  Sweet violets or other edible flowers, hardboiled egg slices, carrot "curls".

Enjoy!!

This is going to essentially be a photo entry.  Our yard is green and suddenly full of sweet violets and flowering bittercress. 

I've been teaching the girls to eat flowers out of the yard.  It's been fun, and educational... and it keeps some of the bittercress from going to seed. 



These are some photos from the yard, and here's what I've been doing with the plants I've been harvesting:

In our house, we eat leftovers.  We repurpose things for new meals later in the week, we usually have leftovers for lunch, and as you can probably guess, I can't stand wasting anything.

Earlier this week I harvested Garlic Mustard and made Pesto and then a little later I made Easter egg dye out of beets.  And so, sitting in my refridgerator, next to the leftover hardboiled Easter eggs and ham I had a bowl full of vinegar-y chopped up beets, and a ziploc bag full of Garlic Mustard roots.


I, for one, LOVE pickles.   I like to eat them by themselves, or on seasonal green salads and they're really easy to make.

So, while the kids were out of the house today, I put together this "project in wide-mouthed pint jars".  And I can't wait to see how they turn out in a couple of days!



Boil together the Seasalt, vinegar, water, and sugar.  Make sure the ingredients are completely dissolved.  Pour the brine over the veggies in the jars.  Cap tightly and store in the refridgerator.  They should be ready to try in 2-3 days. 

Enjoy!

Here are the things I know about Garlic Mustard.  1)  It's prolific (ok fine, invasive to the point of being an environmental problem) 2) It's delicious and garlic-y in the spring and becomes more pungent (think horseradish) as the season goes on 3) the entire plant is edible and the roots can be used as a substitute for horseradish 4) it's one of the first plants to green up in the springtime around here and it has pretty (edible) flowers later on in the season.


We went for a walk the other day.  Things are still pretty dormant, but the Onion Grass  (wild chives) and Garlic Mustard are growing like mad.  I brought my eldest daughter to help me harvest.  I pulled the Garlic Mustard (root and all) and she picked me a bunch of Onion Grass. 

There was quite a bit... so I made a recipe that used quite a bit.

First I washed and seperated everything.  Then I cut the roots off of the Garlic Mustard, leaving the rosettes intact.


I pickled the roots later in the week.

The leaves, I turned into pesto along with some of the Onion Grass and a few other ingredients that I had on hand... and it turned out lovely!

• 3 cups garlic mustard greens, chopped and packed.
• 6 ounces sunflower seeds (or pinenuts or walnuts)
• 4 tablespoons fresh Onion Grass (or chives), chopped
• 6 ounces virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• add water to desired consistency

If you enjoy the pungent flavor of fresh garlic, simply toss all of the ingredients into a blender and thoroughly blend until you reach your desired consistency.  For a less pungent flavor (for kids, and people like myself) , first saute your garlic mustard greens and onion grass in 2 additional tbsp of olive oil.  Salt to taste, and then add to blender with the rest of the ingredients.








Enjoy!  Over pasta, on potatoes, on veggies, mixed into salad dressing, on eggs...  and freezes well too!