Monday, September 19, 2022

Fabulous Time at the Foraging and Feasting Workshop at Frick Park


Yesterday at Frick Park we had a fabulous time at our Fall  Foraging and Feasting Workshop! Fourteen lovely people plus one adorable baby joined us as we took a walk around the park discussing edible and medicinal uses of common plants, then foraged wild greens, flowers, and herbs to add to our lunch. We made our own wild herbal butters (we used vegan butter) by mixing plants like wood sorrel, goldenrod flowers, smartweed flowers, ground ivy, Asiatic dayflowers, and herbs growing at the center: basil, chives, rosemary, thyme, mint (each participant got to choose their own combination!)


Then they cooked their own bread over a fire:




 


...while I added the wild greens and herbs to our delicious vegan White Bean Potato Lentil Soup:


I added goldenrod leaves, dayflower leaves, wood sorrel leaves, chives, rosemary, and the rest of the goldenrod flowers that we harvested for the butter. The beauty of a soup like this (or any soup which has "spinach" as an ingredient) is that instead of the spinach, you can add any wild greens that are in season. I'll include the recipe below.

It was such a fantastic day! Some of the plants (and mushrooms) we saw and discussed were:

Edible/Herbal Plants:
  • Wild Carrot/Queen Anne's Lace (Use caution! has poison look alikes including Poison Hemlock, Water Hemlock, and White Snakeroot)
  • Boneset (Use with the utmost of caution! Poison look-alike is White Snakeroot)
  • Goldenrod
  • Wood sorrel
  • Plantain (Plantago major)
  • Lambs Quarters
  • Purslane
  • Ground Ivy/Creeping Charlie
  • Broad-leaf dock leaves and seeds
  • Mugwort
  • Asiatic Dayflower
  • Smartweed
  • Deadnettle
  • Acorns
  • Black Walnut
Edible/Herbal Mushrooms included:
  • Turkey tail
  • Various boletes
  • Various polypores
  • Aborted entoloma
Poisonous/Non-edible/Allergen Plants Included:
  • White snakeroot (poison)
  • Pokeweed/Pokeberries (poison, though earliest shoots are edible in spring, properly prepared)
  • Ragweed (common allergen)
We identified and discussed various trees:
  • Black Walnut
  • Oaks, distinguishing white oaks from red/black
  • Tulip poplar
Herbs growing at center:
  • Thyme
  • Basil
  • Chocolate Mint
  • Rosemary
  • Chives

As you can see we had a busy day of discovery, fun, learning, and feasting!

Recipe for White Bean Potato Soup: (gluten-free, oil-free, vegan)

I will tell you the ingredients I used, but I was cooking for 20 people, so I won't share the amounts! You'll have to use your judgment when making the soup. It is a thick creamy soup though, so don't skimp on the beans and potatoes!

I used an instantpot and dried beans for this recipe, cooking the (unsoaked) beans first for about 45 minutes, then adding the rest of the ingredients and cooking for 15 more. I added the red lentils with the vegetables for the second cooking, since they do not take as long to cook as white beans and chickpeas. You can use canned beans, in any combination, even choosing to use all white beans. I'll share a secret: I only added the chickpeas and red lentils because I ran out of white beans. But the red lentils really added a lot to the soup, and took the flavor to the next level, so if you have them, I would recommend using them.

Ingredients:
  • white beans, I used dry, you can use canned
  • chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans), I used dry, you can use canned
  • red lentils (dry)
  • onion (I used red onion because it's what I had)
  • garlic
  • celery
  • carrot
  • Better Than Bouillon, seasoned vegetable base
  • Potatoes (I used yellow because it's what I had, you can use any kind)
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Seasonal wild greens, herbs, and flowers of your choosing! We used: goldenrod leaves and flowers, smartweed greens, Asiatic dayflower greens, wood sorrel, deadnettle, lambsquarters
Directions:

  1. In an instant pot/pressure cooker: cook white beans and chickpeas for 45 minutes on high pressure. If you don't have an instant pot, you can use canned beans or soak the beans overnight and cook on stove for half an hour before adding other ingredients.
  2. Add all other ingredients except wild greens with just enough water to cover. Cook 15 more minutes. If you don't have a pressure cooker, cook until potatoes and carrots are soft.
  3. When finished cooking, use a potato masher to mash enough of the beans and potatoes to make the soup nice and creamy.
  4. Add the wild greens, herbs, and flowers while soup is still hot. Cook at least 5 more minutes until greens are wilted.
  5. Season to taste.
  6. ENJOY!


Please join me on patreon where I will be adding slides and information of all the wild plants we saw over the next few weeks.

Hope you are enjoying the fall!

~ Melissa

Tuesday, May 11, 2021

Wild Ginger - Gorgeous Native Plant

Wild Ginger - Asarum canadense - is a gorgeous native wildflower which is in bloom right now in the Western Pennsylvania woods.

Each Wild Ginger plant has two heart or kidney shaped leaves, with a small maroon flower between the leaves, lying low to the ground.








As well as being a gorgeous spring plant and wildflower, Wild Ginger is edible and medicinal. Although it is unrelated botanically to its namesake, Ginger (Zingiber officinale), the settlers named this plant after it because of its similar taste and properties. The root can be eaten and has a ginger flavor. Some like to cook it in a little maple syrup to make candied ginger roots. 

The root can be used medicinally to settle one's stomach and treat colic. It can also bring on one's menses (similar to ginger/zingiber.)

Since it is a native plant, I leave it undisturbed.

If you're out looking for morel mushrooms, you'll likely come across a patch or two of wild ginger!




May Issue of Food Under Foot Magazine is Available!

 The gorgeous May issue of our Food Under Foot full-color, digital magazine is out!

You can get your copy by becoming a patron on our patreon page for as little as $3/month! Once you join, you will be able to download the magazine right from the site, as well as all the past magazines. You'll also have access to all the locked posts and videos. 

Please join us today, and get your copy of Food Under Foot magazine.

You can also buy the magazine directly from Kindle, if you'd prefer.

Thanks so much!

Melissa

Sunday, April 25, 2021

Bountiful Morel Harvest

 Last year I found a spattering of morel mushrooms, and this year I was thinking might be the same. I went to my spots, and found one or two, here and there. It's still early, and yet...you never really know with morels, and mushroom hunting in general. Had I lost the magic?

On Friday I went back to one of my spots and found three small morels. Oh well. I decided to go on a hike afterward. A slow hike, of course, all the while looking out for morels. I found one half-free, and then veered into the woods. 

Eventually I ran into a bird watching group, and as I had my binoculars with me, I joined them for a stretch. 

Then my trail turned uphill so we parted ways. I sat and had my breakfast, overlooking a beaver dam.

After breakfast I made my way up the hill, and back toward where I had parked. At this point I was three hours into my walk. But then, finally, I saw what I was looking for!



And another, and another, and another!


I finally came upon a new patch of large yellow morels: eighteen in total. I was elated!

I invited a friend over, and we figured out how start up my grill, which had been dormant all last year.

I marinated the morels in a mix of olive oil, tamari (gluten-free soy sauce), rice vinegar, crushed garlic, ginger powder, and liquid smoke. Then I threaded them onto a wooden skewer, making kabobs with cherry tomatoes, red onions, and zucchini.

They were delicious!

I hope you are having a successful year finding morels, or whatever it is you are looking for.

Stay healthy, stay safe. 

Love to you all,

Melissa

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Have you seen our Food Under Foot full-color digital magazine? The April issue is all about morels and spring mushrooms! You can get it by becoming a patron on our patreon page, or buy it directly from Amazon/Kindle.



Thursday, April 15, 2021

Two Walks on Saturday April 24 for Tree News

 

Looks like the Earth Day Walks are full, but there are two more chances to walk with me this month.

On Saturday, April 24, I am leading two foraging walks with Tree News, at Bandi Schaum on the South Side. More information and sign up can be found on their website.

Hope to see you!

~ Melissa

Thursday, April 1, 2021

April Issue of Food Under Foot Digital Magazine Available Now

cover for april, 2021 food under foot magazine

 The April, 2021 issue of our monthly, digital, full-color Food Under Foot magazine is available today! Visit our patreon site and become a member (any level) to access it. Once a member, you will also be able to access all past (and future) issues!

I hope you enjoy the issue! If you haven't checked us out on patreon, please do. Even if you aren't a member, there are posts and photos and podcasts and tons of stuff over there that are available to the public, not just members.

Have a happy spring, hope your mushroom hunts bring abundant joy this year!

April Walks Scheduled

I have two walks open to the public scheduled so far for this April:

April 10, 11 am at Bandi Schaum Park, in Pittsburgh's South Side
April 25, 11 am at Frick Environmental Center in Pittsburgh.

The walks are free, sponsored by Frick Park's Earth Day Celebration! However, there are limited spaces (COVID precaution), so please sign up today.

Sunday, February 7, 2021

Food Under Foot Podcast is Here!

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 Listen to the first episode of the Food Under Foot podcast! It's on soundcloud, but you can also find it on iTunes, where you can subscribe and get each new episode delivered to you automatically! Please do subscribe and rate if five stars...it will help others find it!

Also, you can support women in podcasting by becoming a patron of the Food Under Foot podcast over at patreon! Not only will you get the show notes to each podcast a day early, you will unlock patron-only blog posts and videos, as well as get the monthly full-color digital Food Under Foot magazine!! You really can't beat that, and I appreciate your support so much.

Enjoy the podcast

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photo from pixabay.com