Winter Splendor!

Dahlia

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@Dahlia im sorry my comment about the dandelion caused such disruption on your thread!

getting back on script, around here the rose hips are preferred after a frost or two, which makes them soft and a lot sweeter. Pre-frost they’re pretty chewey. As i walk down to the rabbit barn each day to do chores, i pass several bushes and even late in the winter the hips that still hang on taste great.
Im always happy to see someone living outside the bounds of normalcy with they’re eating habits! There’s so much out there you can eat besides the peas and carrots you grow in the garden. I’m was really surprised to learn how to use the many things we either walk by or mow over simply because we didn’t know.

i wonder if a wild crafting forum section would get any traction around here? It’s still gardening; in fact wild crafting comes closer to our namesake than anything else. ‘The Easy Garden”?
There are so many wild plants I want to try! My son's girlfriend knows a ton about wild plants and has taught him a thing or two about it. He told me that last month he tried voilets, maple leaf, wild ginger, and clover! I was so impressed! 👍
 

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There are so many wild plants I want to try! My son's girlfriend knows a ton about wild plants and has taught him a thing or two about it. He told me that last month he tried voilets, maple leaf, wild ginger, and clover! I was so impressed! 👍
A wild crafting thread sounds fun! I eat most of my wild veggies in the spring and summers, but I do luck out occasionally in fall and winter and find some! They are SO packed with nutrients it is unreal!
 

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DW & I used to harvest wild greens in late Spring, well before anything (other than scallions) was ready in the garden. I'm curious how you used the rose hips, @Dahlia , they seem too tough to use in a salad. All I've ever done with them is add them to tea.
The rose hips were used in tea and I made a winter salad with the wild greens.
 

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A long but good read if anyone’s interested. Down away’s you’ll find “and if your addicted to the caffeine in coffee, you may find dandelion tea a good substitute”. I’m not addicted to coffee, we just wanted to try it as we do a lot of other stuff that grows in the yard. This would be a good time of year to prove or disprove my stimulant comments if your climate would allow you to harvest some. Just like trees, all the “good stuff is down in the roots right now”. 😳
Yes! In winter, for example, the rhizomes of cat tails are ready to harvest.
 

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Chickeeed also makes good salad. It’s a great lettuce substitute and is good on tacos!
When I first moved to the PNW from CA we bought a house in town that had a garden in the backyard. We cleared it of all of the "weeds" and got the soil all ready to plant a new garden. Only later did I learn that those "weeds" were chickweed! We filled up a huge bag with it and tossed it! Two years later I learned about chickweed and kicked myself for having thrown it out!!! I agree that it is an amazing substitute for lettuce! Especially when it's young. Oh boy! It's great!
 

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I keep LOOKING at my rose's rose hips. Walk buy and don't harvest.
How do you prep them?
I am not ready to change my mind about weeding chickeweed to EATING it.
When chickweed is young and tender, try a bite with your sandwich sometime. You will be surprised! For the tea made with rose hips, I just cut them in half, discarded the seeds and dried them. Then I put 2 tbsp into a cup of boiling water. Turn the heat as low as you can and simmer for 15 minutes. Strain the rosehips off. Then I added a green tea bag to the homemade rosehip tea.
 

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I keep LOOKING at my rose's rose hips. Walk buy and don't harvest.
How do you prep them?
I am not ready to change my mind about weeding chickeweed to EATING it.
Another thing I do with the rosehips is eat a couple fresh (after removing the seeds) simply for their high vitamin c content. They aren't yummy, but they are healthy. I figure it's better than taking some store bought vitamin c!
 

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