It all started while Pal and I were on a short stroll down Pompey Hollow Road, where our great friends erin and Carlton live. We were walking along, chatting about plants here and there, when Pal hopped across a ditch and pulled a couple of young cattail shoots from the wetlands, claiming there were snacks hidden within. We scurried home, rinsed the cattails off and peeled down the outside layers to the truly tender center, likening the taste and texture to preserved artichoke. I then dove into Euell’s fine book, what has become my foraging bible, and learned that we would not, in fact, perish from this unfamiliar food. So off were erin and I, peddling our bikes to the prize, hoping to be able to provide snacktime for all. However, sometimes the novice requires a little guidance- and we had to convince Pal to teach us the ways of the foraging world.

After his tutorial and hands-on practice, Pal left erin and I on our own to gather what we could of the cattail shoots. We proudly ended up with a couple of bags full- or a sink full- of these young cattails. We also brought home our fair share of calamus, or sweet flag, but that’s a story for another day. We were joyfully covered in mud and both passed our tick inspections- a success all around!

The cattails were trimmed down to the whites.

Then, washed and hand-peeled to find the yellowish centers, or the hearts.

And this was the end result- enough cattail hearts to share with the group, as a side to tasty reubens. We chose to blanch the hearts, in order to ward off any nastiness that may have run downstream from the neighboring horse farm; however, the blanched hearts lost much of their texture and flavor. Next time I will be enjoying raw hearts- perhaps in a spinach-cattail shoot dip. I also suspect that if we wait until later in the spring, our gathered shoots will be much more fruitful.

**Music recommendation: A recent favorite is Taken By Trees’ rendition of ‘My Girls’. I love it!!

It has pockets for a journal, cards and envelopes, and misc. (stamps, notes, stickers). The pouch folds up and is held together with an elastic band. I think it’s super cool and I can’t wait to make one for myself one day. Next time I’d like to add a pen slot and perhaps patchwork the outside cover.  I’d like to also make my own journal  and cards to put inside. Two skills I’ve been wanting to learn: book-binding and paper-making. Anyone want to give me a lesson or join me in a crafting adventure? Once pal and I are in a stable home, there will be craft parties. I’ve been dreaming of an outdoor paper-making party, incorporating herbs, flowers and other plants. Of course, this party would be the perfect opportunity for a potluck picnic. Oooh, can’t wait!

I’m making a goal to have a beer picnic this weekend. Maybe you should too!

Black Bean and Ale Chili with Ramp Dippers, Baguette, Alfalfa Sprouts

Ramp and Ricotta Pizza

Ramp and Goat Cheese Ravioli

(with help from Tessa and Torrey!)

Ramp-Arugula Pesto with Brown Rice, Golden Beet Salad, and Raw Broccoli Salad

Pesto (unmeasured): ramp greens, arugula, olive oil, walnuts, parmesan, salt, pepper

Pickled Ramps

Pal and I found this lamp (among others that I don’t believe we captured) at the Evening Star Cafe in Alexandria, Virginia. If you go the the website and click on ‘events’ the slide show will give you a great picture of an erector set chandelier. Too cool! I love this idea and can’t wait to make something similar for our home. A quick e-bay search provided some fairly affordable prices for lots of erector set pieces. Let the fun begin! This little lamp leads my imagination to creating home goods with other types of vintage toys. Can you say Fisher Price Little People?

You should really know the wonder of goose eggs, which equal 2-3 chicken eggs. Delightful! To tell you the truth, I think the geese are fairly bitchy. As an animal, I much prefer chickens; however these goose eggs are powerhouse supreme.

After whipping up the crepes, we schmeared on some tasty cashew cheese, and piled up the sauteed arugula and roasted red peppers. I can’t wait to make more crepes. The ramps continue to call my name…

First, we had to secure starter tea and culture, also known as a “mother” or SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast), which came as a prize from one of pal’s cool co-workers. If you want a SCOBY, I suggest checking Freecycle, or asking me, because I have several. We’ve fermented maybe four batches now, and I gotta say, the kombucha keeps getting better every time.

(mother or SCOBY)

The process takes a little while, but is really quite easy. Make sure you have a gallon-sized, glass vessel for fermenting and clean everything, including containers, utensils, hands and towels.

Brew a gallon of black or green tea (SCOBY likes caffeine), add 1 1/4 c. sugar and let cool.

Pour cooled tea into glass vessel (we have a sun-tea jar and a punch bowl from thrifting) and add SCOBY and starter tea.

Cover with clean cloth and put in a warm, dark place for awhile (one, two, three weeks).

And, ta-da! Deliciousness is be ready for your exploration. We love our kombucha in mimosa form, with orange juice and pomegranate carbonated water. Corey drinks his kombucha daily with apple cider. I’ve also heard it’s good with gin and juice, but I haven’t tried that yet.

Each time you ferment another batch of kombucha, the mother grows a baby, which is actually a replica of the mother. Joy! We’ve used our additional baby mothers to allow us to stagger fermentation, for a constant flow of paltime kombucha. You can store your baby mothers in the fridge, covered in kombucha, waiting for the next batch, or a prospective fermenter friend.

For more info, check out this wonderfully thorough post from Bonzai Aphrodite (an amazing blog!).

And in music, because I can’t stop obsessing over newly-found songs– I’m loving Local Natives and today, just learned of Broken Bells, the collaboration of Danger Mouse and James Mercer.

Happy: Despite all crappies, we continue to shape our domestic skills in a way that maintains our livelihood.

Last night, it was a simple backyard forage. After an afternoon of making kombucha, sewing and fixing the car, we set out for a foraging hike. An unfruitful walk about the woods brought us back to our own backyard, where we discovered this amazing little ramp patch.

Ramps, also known as wild leeks, are a relatively new friend to us. They originated in the Appalachian Mountain region- our old home. We heard of a many ramp festival while living in West Virginia, but unfortunately, never made it to one. Then, one warm, spring evening, about a year ago, our friend Lizz came over for a potluck dinner and brought a bucketful of ramps paired with her homemade gazpacho. So delicious! For one reason or another, our foraging in West Virginia was very limited, but now, with Stalking the Wild Asparagus in hand, we’re ready to be Ramp Champs, and more. Thank you to my friend Laura, for spreading the word that ramps do grow in Vermont and are now ready for pickin’. Hopefully this is just the beginning of a prosperous foraging season.

For round one of ramp meals, we made a tasty little pasta. We sauteed the washed bulbs and greens in oil, white wine, water and crushed red pepper until it melted in our mouths.

(before)

(after about 20 minutes)

Then we mixed the cooked ramps with angel hair pasta and steamed broccoli. It doesn’t get any easier than that.

*Music tidbit: I try to introduce all of my friends to my favorite Iowan musician, William Elliott Whitmore. Last night, he was the perfect match to our foraging adventures.