Foraging for wild violets: identification, edibility and sustainable harvesting

Identification difficulty: Beginner 

Wild violets are a beautiful, fleeting part of early spring. They grow low to the ground, dainty and unassuming, but bring a smile to every woodland walk. They are found in Europe and North America, and apparently in Australia as well.

Violets are also a tasty edible wildflower, with a unique flavor and aroma which has been valued for centuries. Violets were a vogue flavor in Victorian era, and after, up until the First World War. They were used in candy and baked goods; but trench warfare, and subsequent post-war expansion of roadways and urban areas across Europe, tore up many of the fields they were harvested from.

Perhaps its most famous use is in Creme de Violette, a liqueur made by infusing violets into a brandy or neutral spirit. Creme de Violette is beautiful and delicious, with deep purple color, delicate aroma, and impossible to replicate floral taste. For years it was nearly impossible to get a hold of (due to the scarcity of wild violets), but new crops are being harvested from the alps.

You too can experience the unique and elegant taste of violets, and without the expensive price tag, simply by taking a walk in the woods!

It's important to know that violets are native to our forests, not an introduced species. They are also essential for the heath of pollinators, like bees, so sustainable harvesting is a must! 

Deadnettle and Henbit: two edible, medicinal herbal weeds of early spring

Left: purple deadnettle, right: henbit

Deadnettle identification difficulty: Novice
Henbit identification difficulty: Beginner

These two weedy wildflowers of early spring are very similar. They both have dark green leaves, bright pink/purple flowers with long necks, and grow low go the ground, no higher than 6" or so. Both somewhat resemble nettles, but neither have a sting. They frequently grow together, and are often confused for one another, so I thought I'd do a combo post about them.

Caution: deadnettle should not be taken while pregnant or trying to become pregnant.

This is purple deadnettle, Lamium purpureum. It's also known as red deadnettle and purple archangel, and it has a closely related variety, called spotted deadnettle, Lamium maculatum, whose leaves have white spots or patches.

This is henbit, Lamium amplexicaule, sometimes called henbit deadnettle. I've also found it in a white-flowered variety, which I'm having a hard time getting info about, so I can't tell you the Latin name, but I've tried it, and it seems to be perfectly edible as well. Nearly all mints are edible, so it's a fairly safe family to try in small amounts, before you move on to whole meals

white henbit

Both are wild herbs in the mint family, but don't taste like mints. Lots of our herbs are actually mints, including basil, sage and oregano. Like many other herbs, deadnettle and have medicinal properties, and can be used as a food and flavoring. Because deadnettle and henbit are closer to the wild, many feel that their medical qualities are stronger.

Foraging: How to Find, Identify, Prepare and Eat Wild Cleavers Weeds

Cleavers (Latin name: Galium aparine) are extremely easy plants to ID, in fact, you probably know them already if you spend much time in the woods or the fields.  They grow throughout most of the U.S., certainly across the lower 48, and also across much of Canada and Mexico. They originate in Europe and Asia, and have been introduced to Australia. I am not sure about South American growth, but basically you can find them almost anywhere.

In addition to being easy to find, abundant, and having medicinal qualities, they taste pretty good. . . If you can get past the texture. That's a pretty big IF.   I'll share with you tips on how to find,  harvest, identify, and prepare cleavers in a way that will help you get past their weird textural issues.

Identification difficulty: Beginner

A note of caution: many people are allergic to cleavers. Use more caution than with most wild plants: please sample only a very small amount at first, and it's worth it to take some time to do a skin test. Also, cleavers may work to stimulate uterine contractions in women, so don't eat them if you are pregnant, may become pregnant or nursing. Finally, people on high blood pressure and/or blood thinning medications should avoid cleavers. More on all this below.

Foraging: Identifying Wild Edible Chickweed

Many people describe chickweed (Stellaria media) as their favorite wild edible green of spring. Many gardeners consider it a difficult-to-remove, annoying weed. Those gardeners just haven't tried it yet!

The foodie world is starting to follow along with the former group, and chickweed is showing up on menus of restaurants that focus on seasonal and/or local organic produce. Chickweed is also starting to show up in places like farmers markets and in the form of herbal supplements and teas at Whole Foods.

There's really everything to like about chickweed: it has a mild, fresh sweetness which some people compare to young corn or iceberg or boston lettuce, it grows in super abundance, easy to harvest and quick to grow back in the early spring when little else is growing, fairly easy to identify AND it even looks pretty!

Technically, chickweed isn't native to the Americas, so it's also an invasive species. Of course, it's been here for generations, so any ecological damage has already been done, but if you're into invasivore eating (eating invasive species) that's something to consider as well.

So let's get started on how to find, identify, harvest, prepare and eat this tasty little weed!

Identification difficulty: Beginner

Foraging: Identifying and Eating Purslane (avoid poisonous spurge!)

Purslane: abundant, tasty, very nutritious, and pretty easy to identify--with just a couple pointers!

Identification difficulty: Novice

Purslane, (latin name: Portulaca oleracea), is a wonderful, edible "weed". It's tasty, versatile, highly nutritious, easy to find, grows everywhere and is relatively easy to identify. It's not native to North America, and so is generally considered to be an invasive weed. For those of you with an interest in sustainable eating, choosing invasive species for your meals is one of the most sustainable, locavore options. There's even a word for it: invasivore!

Purslane does have one dangerous look-a-like: the potentially deadly spurges. (Euphorbia varieties). I find that they really don't look that much alike, and there is one tried and true way to tell them apart--making purslane a good plant for even a novice forager. 

With that in mind, I'd like to tell you everything I know about purslane, including how to identify it, how to not confuse it with spurge, flavor profile and some basic cooking tips. 

Purslane quick history

Purslane has spread throughout all of the Old World, (Europe, North Africa, and Asia). I have heard conflicting accounts wether it originated in India, the Middle East, or the Far East. It't eaten fairly frequently through out it's range, especially in the Indian subcontinent. With European imperialism, purslane spread to Australia and North and South America, and it's eaten there too (especially Mexico)--just strangely not in the U.S. or Canada in the modern day. It was apparently eaten in parts of the US as recently as WWII.

Purslane can be found most anywhere, as can adapt itself to a variety of climates, from arid to damp, hot to cold, and sun to shade. (Not including Antartica and other uninhabitable places, like parts of Canada and Russia. :P  Just kidding!). It's a succulent, and can adapt itself to environments that experience the extremes of seasonal monsoons and months-long droughts.