It has finally decided to settle into springtime here in New England. The weather was nice, and I have been spotting many wild edibles on our property since the warmer weather has come. We live on 5 acres, and about 3/4 acre is cleared; the rest is heavily wooded. It makes for a veritable smorgasbord of greens, flowers, and berries!
**I should note here that I have been studying up on wild edibles, both online and in many various books I have in my library, for a few years now. The things I identify as edible are things I either grew up eating or are things I have confirmed in multiple sources as being edible, and am 100% positive they are safe. DO NOT go out and randomly eat plants you find just because they may look similar to what I post! Do your own research, use multiple sources, and if you have ANY doubts whatsoever - DO NOT EAT IT!!! Your health is worth more than any foraging finds!**
Now, as i was saying, Bella and I went for a leisurely walk around our yard (15 to 20 minutes or so), and brought back a tasty treasure of things to add to the romaine salad:
(T to B, L to R)
Wild Violet leaves,
Partridgeberries, Plantain, unripe Dandelion flower heads,
Wild Violets,
Dandelion leaves, Hen-bit, and Wild Onions.
The unripe dandelion flower heads did not go into the salad - I found several sources online that say you can brine and use them as capers. I plan on giving that a try and letting you know how it works! Everything else was washed, roughly chopped (except the violets - I candied them), and added to the salad bowl, and tossed with the store bought greens and some shredded cheddar.
It turned out great - even John, who skeptically eyed it and asked if I was SURE everything was safe to eat, enjoyed it and finished every bit of his.
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Just a tasty tidbit from Day 2:
In having the leftover salad for lunch the following day, I discovered that adding feta cheese and a blush wine vinaigrette to this is absolutely phenomenal.
