Food, food production and harvest is on my mind this morning. I think I was dreaming of cookstoves, vegetable gardens and the like all night. What I can grow and harvest will make my Y2K stock go farther, and fresh stuff not only tastes better, but will help keep away nutrition-deficiency problems down the line in moderate to severe infrastructure failure.

I spent some time last year learning about wild edibles, and scoping out the yard and neighborhood for things that just grow, or perennials that are ornamental AND edible. Here's a site with nutritional information about wild edibles. Can you say forage?

Wild Edibles

Got dandelions? Violets? Nasturtiam?

-- Donna Barthuley (moment@pacbell.net), March 10, 1999

Answers

Ack...thought I coded that link right. One more time:

Wild Edibles

http://www.edibleplants.com/wepnut_frames.htm

-- Donna Barthuley (moment@pacbell.net), March 10, 1999.

I did, I did, I did turn it off!!!!!! Grrrrrrrrrr...More coffee.

-- Donna Barthuley (moment@pacbell.net), March 10, 1999.

When you pick dandelion greens, are the stems included? (Remember--it's winter--and I can't even remember how big the leaves are? I've always looked at dandelions as an annoyance!) FYI the Lebanese have a WONDERFUL recipe ('Wish I knew how to make it) that includes chicory, dandelion greens, onion and I don't know what else, except it tastes like heaven.

-- FM (vidprof@aol.com), March 10, 1999.

Seems silly to add this but, if you are going to harvest wild edibles from your own yard it would be vital to stop using chemical pesticides (weed killer) on those lovely dandelions and such. Harvesting from other inhabited places would be more risky.

-- Donna Barthuley (moment@pacbell.net), March 10, 1999.

With dandelions, it's leaves only...flowers are okay, I think, but I have to check.

-- Donna Barthuley (moment@pacbell.net), March 10, 1999.

(gazing out at the front yard dotted with the yellow darlings)

Here's a recipe I haven't tried....looks yummy. Of course dandelions added to any salad mix are very good, and contain more iron and vitamin A than any other vegetable.

Scalloped Dandelions

2 tbsp. bacon drippings (I'd use olive oil perhaps) 2 tbsp. flour 3/4 c. water 2 c. milk 1 tbsp. vinegar 3/4 tsp. salt 2 tsp. sugar 1 c. (firmly packed) dandelions, chopped 1/4 c. minced onion 2 hard-boiled eggs, sliced

Heat bacon drippings in skillet; blend in flour. Cook, stirring, until flour is lightly browned. Add water, milk, vinegar, salt and sugar; cook, stirring, until smooth and thickeded. Remove from heat; fold in dandelions, onion and eggs. Serve immediately. Yield: 6 servings.

-- Donna Barthuley (moment@pacbell.net), March 10, 1999.

Another recipe:

Sauted Dandelions

2 lb. fresh dandelion greens 1/4 c. olive oil 2 cloves of garlic, chopped Salt and pepper

Chop greens. Heat oil and garlic in saucepan. Add greens, salt and pepper. Cook for 12 minutes or until greens are tender. Serve very hot. Yield: 4 servings.

-- Donna Barthuley (moment@pacbell.net), March 10, 1999.

DANDELION WINE

2 gal. crock 3-5 qts. blossoms 5 qts water *** 3 lbs. sugar 1 organic orange 1 organic lemon *** 1 pkg, live yeast wholewheat bread toast

Pick the best looking flowers, leaving the green sepals, but get rid of the stalks. Back home, put them immediately into a large ceramic, glass or plastic vessel. Boil water; pour over flowers. Cover your crock for 3 days. On the fourth day strain blossoms from liquid. Cook liquid with sugar and rind of citrus (omit rind if not organic) for 30-60 min. Return to crock. Add citrus juice. When liquid has cooled to blood temp, soften yeast, spread on toast, and float toast in crock. Cover and let work for 2 days. Strain. Return liquid to crock for 1 more day to settle. Filter into very clean bottles and cork lightly.

-- Donna Barthuley (moment@pacbell.net), March 10, 1999.

A link: Health Benefits of Dandelions

Golly, I love search engines!

-- Donna Barthuley (moment@pacbell.net), March 10, 1999.

There is a book (large) purely about dandelions. I'll have to check with Mrs Driver for it and its author.

CR

-- Chuck, a night driver (reinzoo@en.com), March 10, 1999.

Donna, Thanks for the recipes and the chemical free suggestion. Our garden is organic, yard is almost organic. Neighbors have been unhappy with the bumper crop of dandelions - they don't want my seeds in their yards - I have yielded and treat to knock them back every about every 5 years. (Of course I'm unhappy with them because of the chemicals they spread in search of the perfect lawn and I don't want their chemical in my water...)

Should Y2K get real bad, those early greens will be mighty good. Combine with leaf lettuce, spinach, and other cool crops and you get some mighty good eating.

Got cold frames?

Saw article this weekend about row covers, within hoop house for year round gardening in Maine. Anyone have experience with similar setup using extra deep cold frame or a cold frame with buried foam board wall to help prevent frost from creeping in and insulate the walls? Anyone out there actually use hot frames? - I've read about them and can probably get plenty of manure...

Good Luck. jh

-- john hebert (jt_hebert@hotmail.com), March 10, 1999.

Why not save the dandelion seeds and plant them in a controlled environment next spring? You willbe using them before they fully mature so you will have to cull during the year and save some seed.

Just a note: When harvesting wild edibles (Yuell Gibbons style) stay away from 1. powerline right of ways: 2. Gas or water right of ways; 3. golf courses. All of these utilize 2,4,5T which may or may not be a severe carcinogen and neurotoxin depending on who you believe. I do know that friends had severe health problems with their horses when they grazed on right of ways. ie. kidney problems, liver dysfunction, lymph nodule enlargement etc. Changed the grazing areas and a year later all was well. (Might make my mother-in-law's coffee taste better though.)

-- Lobo (Hiding@woods.com), March 10, 1999.

Hunt up a book, whose working title was ::

On the trail of the YELLOW-FLOWERED EARTH NAIL

A DANDELION SAMPLER

A Cllection of Stories, Facts, Recipes and Instructions for Using the Common Dandelion Taraxacum officinale

by Peter A Gail, Ph. D.

Probably available from::

Goosefoot Acres Press PO BOX 18016 Cleveland Heights, Ohio 44118 (216) 932-2145

chuck

-- Chuck, a night driver (reinzoo@en.com), March 10, 1999.

There's dandelions and then there's dandelions...or is it dandilions...one is a memeber or the chicory family...I think Italian dandelions are what you see in the supermarket...they have really big leaves, and the others are the Taxicarum or whatever listed above.

The French have a name for dandelions, with a hint of thei rherbal value as a diruetic...it was called PISS-IN-LINT.

hurry! hurry!

Mary P.

-- Mary P. (CAgdma@home.com), March 10, 1999.