Admittedly, I am no gourmet chef, although I do a reasonable job of cooking for my family. I do enjoy watching "Gourmet Adventures with Ruth" on Public Television, however, and often encounter recipes there which I can modify with less expensive ingredients. A recently aired episode about Blackberry Farm in Tennessee really captured my interest, because one of the dishes they served their guests was Sauteed Wild Spinach.
Why, you ask? (I'm pretty sure I heard that from someone!) Because I was 90% certain that Wild Spinach was growing wild in my own garden . . . and what could be more exciting than harvesting food I didn't have to plant? (Okay, maybe in your world there are lots of things more exciting than that, but, "free" is a big deal in my world!)
My only hesitation about harvesting this "wild green" from the garden was that I wanted to make absolutely sure I had positively identified the plant before I ate it. I wasn't really interested in having my epitaph read: "Here lies that crazy lady who died eating weeds". But most of the photos in my wild plant books were inadequate for proper identification.
To the rescue, however, came my friend with his I-Phone. He went on line, found a photo of wild spinach, held it next to the plant, and Voila! Positive Identification! We both then sampled leaves from the plant and agreed that, by golly, they do taste like spinach!
The leaves and stems of Wild Spinach, also called "Lamb's Quarters" or "Goosefoot'", are best when the plants are young -- less than a foot tall -- and can be used any way you would use fresh garden spinach or swiss chard. Once you make positive identification of the plant, you will probably notice it growing in lots of different places.
Since childhood, I have always loved to pick wild blackberries, and am now thrilled to have them growing on our property. When they ripen, I gather as many as I can, and the patches I cannot reach leave many berries behind for the birds.
There are obviously many other wild foods which are good to eat, but I have found few as easy to harvest and prepare as the Wild Spinach and Wild Blackberries which add to the abundance of our garden. As my husband and I frequently say, "Free is the best price of all!"
--Susan Rodebush © 2010
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