For the first time this year, I’ll be offering an exclusive forage followed by all things ramp tasting on May 2 in Framingham. The season’s first forage and wild food picnic on May 23 in Lynn will also feature a heavy dose of ramp dishes.
Early spring features numerous delicious wild greens and herbs like garlic mustard, spring onions, alehoof, mugwort, sorrel, and box elder. Tasty tubers are also prime for picking, from day lilies and burdock to Jerusalem artichokes. And the first edible flowers like dandelion, violets and magnolia brighten landscapes and dinner plates.
Summer has kicked off with a bang! Last month’s record-breaking heat coaxed out the first fungi of the season including Chicken of the Woods, Berkeley’s Polypore (pictured right), and Black Staining Polypore. This week’s steady rain forecast opens up the potential for a solid Black Trumpet and Chanterelle harvest.
Elderflower is just starting to bloom around the Boston area. A staple to most mixologists and bartenders, elderflower infuses a deliciously bright, subtly sweet and floral punch when added to cocktails.
June welcomes more delightfully edible flowers like daylily, milkweed, linden, beach roses, along with the first fruits of the season in mulberry and juneberry. For the first time I will be offering a salt marsh forage in late June up on the seacoast of NH where we will explore all of the succulent, salty treasures from marsh samphire and sea beans to beach roses and orache.
The spring foraging season is officially in full swing! With the unseasonably warm temperatures and consistent rain, many wild edibles are popping up a few weeks earlier than normal. May is one of my favorite months to forage due to it’s wide variety of edible treasures.
Love capers? Unopened dandelion buds make a great substitute for the real thing! Pick buds that are tightly closed and closest to the ground. Avoid those whose stems have already started to form, they won’t taste as good.
Spring has finally sprung – at least clock-wise – and I could not be more excited! Last week, I took a quick trip to Charleston, South Carolina. The south welcomed me with it’s magnolia trees and red buds in bloom
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.
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.