Beach plums are one of my very favorite wild fruits for their sticky sweet and slightly tart flavor. While much smaller than cultivated plums, they grow along coastal communities and like sandy soil.
They are at prime picking right now and make excellent jams, syrups and shrubs.
I have a number of grape-centric creations going in the kitchen, starting with the classic grape jelly. Normally, I despise grape jelly. The texture is off-putting and the flavor is too sweet. But introduce wild grapes into the mix and the results are other worldly.
My newest Mediterranean inspired wild mushroom dish is packed with umami deliciousness. The woods were teeming with giant blooms of bicolored boletes, a number of edulis species and a few chaneterelles. After a few glorious hours harvesting, my bags were full.
Berkeley’s polypore don’t get enough love in my humble opinion. While they can grow to a massive size, they are at their best when very young and tender. Here is a simple recipe to enjoy your harvest!
August has come and gone in the blink of an eye. The intense heat and humidity that kicked off the month has given way to cooler night temperatures and thunderstorms – a perfect combination for fall fungi hunting.
Chicken of the woods, chanterelles, black trumpets and milky caps are beginning to carpet the forest floor with each rain. And, ornamental flowers like day lily and hosta offer many options for the hot and lazy forager – from raw salad toppers and garnishes to quick pickles, sodas and stuffed-with-cheese delights.
It’s officially berry season! Here in New England, we are lucky enough to have a wide variety of tasty, edible wild berries and fruits. First to join the party is one of my personal favorites – mulberry. There are two primary kinds of mulberry – red and white, along with loads of wild hybridized variations.
June starts the foraging migration, when we move out of open fields and begin focusing on hedgerows, wood edges, salt marches and forest edibles. My public events this month offer a number of different foraging experiences.
May offers an incredible bounty of beautiful, sweet and delicious edible flowers – both wild and ornamental. While the magnificent magnolias have mainly passed, we are being greeted with new flowers that offer a wide variety of options for enjoyment.
With mother’s day around the corner, it is the perfect time to go outside and explore nature’s bounty! Continuing on with monthly themes, my May public foraging events will highlight the numerous wild plants, flowers, trees and roots that are perfect for pickling! Each walk will conclude with a tasting of some of my most recent recipes including quick pickled magnolia flowers, dandelion capers and pickled spring onions with ramps, and a discussion on how to make your own at home.