Day 56 - Wild Food and Old Food

It seems fitting to follow-up from the previous post on eating meat to this one, focused on eating plants.

For years, I have been so production based in my gardening, that I've let my love of foraging fall to the wayside.  There simply was no time to scavenge the woods, or even my property, to find a few edibles, most of which didn't fit neatly into my processing plans, not to mention the time it usually takes to clean wild foods.  But now the tide has turned, I've learned that I don't need to grow 60 lbs of dried beans every year, nor put up 20 qt. of tomatoes, nor 30 lbs frozen peas.  So now I have time to do things like build a new herb garden (or get Rick to) and to harvest the delicious salad greens growing right here on my property, no weeding or watering required.

Starting at the Egyptian Walking Onions (top center) and moving clockwise - sorrel, raspberry leaves, violet greens, mache gone wild, dandelion greens.

Salad made from above greens + Watermelon Radish from root cellar, fresh-sprouted mung beans, and the few groceries I buy - tropicals, like avocados and citrus

As mentioned above, for years, I have grown and produced way more food that Rick and I can possibly eat.  But as I said in my previous post about raising and eating meat, nothing goes to waste.  Food that I can't process and eat gets given away, either by hanging bags of veggies on people's doors, bringing baskets of veggies into school, or inviting the neighbors over to harvest beans for themselves.  This year will be no exception.  As the pandemic rages on, more and more people are finding themselves food insecure.  Early on in this crazy time, I decided that one way I can help is to grow food.  Never a bad idea and perhaps more important than ever.  I am encouraged to see others in a similar mindset.  Though I don't go out much, when I do, I feel like I'm seeing more raised beds being built than ever before!

And we are still benefitting from a bumper crop of eggplant in 2018.  In those years, I make quadruple batches of Moussaka and freeze them.  Vacuum sealed, they keep just fine for a busy spring day when I don't feel like cooking but still want to eat well.