New Blog Host

I’ve moved my blog to another host – check it out:

www.wildedibletexas.com

Upcoming Class

I will be teaching the foraging part of this upcoming workshop with Jesse Griffiths of Dai Due. Check it out!

The New School of Traditional Cookery,
Spring Session: Wild Food

May 25 – 27. Madrono Ranch, Medina, Texas

The month of May, during the transition from Spring to Summer, is an optimal time for obtaining food from our surroundings.  This class teaches the sourcing and utilization skills in three realms of the food world: fish, plant and animal.  For the fishing component, basic skills needed for fishing – with plentiful food fish like sunfish and catfish in mind – will be covered, including tackle selection, location, techniques and presentations of bait and lures, and cleaning and storing your catch.  The methods covered will be applicable to many places in Central Texas and are geared at effective, efficient ways of catching delicious, local, freshwater fish for the table.  The plant section of the class is taught by noted local forager Amy Crowell, and will cover the safe identification of edible plants that occur in our region, as well as storage and cooking.  A foraging walk around the ranch will provide hands-on opportunities for students to gather wild edibles, from greens to blackberries to wild onions.  Basic pickling and canning summer vegetables, a topic that will be very appropriate soon after the class, will also be covered.  The animal component will discuss the curing and preservation of feral hogs, an invasive and delicious food source that is widely available.  Madroño Ranch, a beautiful 1,500 acre property in the heart of the Hill Country, is an ideal location for this class for many reasons: it is managed in a progressive, healthful mindset, it is geographically and topographically distinct (spring-fed creeks crisscross the property) and it is home to a bounty of wildlife.  The class includes:

• Discussion on fishing techniques, tackle, knots and presentations, as well as hands-on fishing in a lake and spring-fed creek on site.  Proper care of fish, cleaning and filleting are also included.

• Instruction on foraging wild plants and fruit, and guided walks through the property in search of edibles conducted by Amy Crowell.

• Instruction on curing and preserving feral hogs.  Dry sausages, pancetta and hams will be discussed.

• Comfortable lodging for two nights and three days in houses on the Ranch.

• All meals prepared with local ingredients and served by Dai Due camp chef Morgan Angelone.  Expect bison and eggs from the ranch and lots of wild food, along with Farmers’ Market vegetables.

• A complete fish, wild plant, summer vegetable preservation, feral hog curing and cooking class with recipe book, sources and suggested reading.

• A Wild Food Supper Club served at a communal table with the guests, ranch hosts and guides on Saturday evening.

Class runs from 11am Friday to 12pm on Sunday.

 

$950 per person.

To Apply: 

 

Please contact us via email (info@daidueaustin.com) and we will send an application – a brief questionnaire.  Our schools are structured to include an appropriate mix of students from differing backgrounds, so admission is not guaranteed.

 

Scholarships

Spaces at each school will be reserved for scholarship applicants, at a greatly discounted rate so that the curriculum is available to everyone.  To apply for the scholarship seats, please contact us via email and fill out the statement of financial need.

Sow Thistle

(Sonchus oleraceus)

Come find  out how to identify, harvest and eat sow thistles and other wild edibles at my upcoming plant walk on Saturday, February 25th! See the classes page for registration details.

Wild Pies

My latest projects. Or ways to ward off the winter blues.

Sow Thistle Tarts (Sonchus asper)

Wild Blackberry + Apple Hand Pies (Rubus spp. –  wild blackberries from freezer)

Winter Foraging Class

I am seeing so many tasty greens that I am inspired to host a winter foraging class out near Wimberley. Check out my classes page for details. Also, I’m happy to recommend places to stay and eat in Wimberley if you decide to make a day or weekend out of it.

Peppergrass

Lepidium virginicum

I’ve noticed several wild winter/spring greens popping up again after the rains. It’s hard to categorize many wild edibles into a season since they’ll take advantage of almost any hospitable weather event and will sprout, bloom and go to seed. They’re expert survivalists! This peppergrass popped up in our yard recently and is a tasty addition to our salads. Eat the leaves, tender stems and seed pods or silques raw or cooked. Also know as the poor man’s pepper, this plant tastes wonderfully spicy fresh or dried.

Prickly Pear Fruit and Mexican Plums

Photo by: Andy Sams

It’s time to harvest and process the gorgeous magenta-colored fruits of the prickly pear cactus and the hot pink wild plums. Over the years, I’ve noticed a lot of people don’t bother with the prickly pear tunas because it seems like a lot of work. Here’s a little secret: if you’re simply interested in using the fruits to make juice, don’t worry about removing the thorns and glochids before you process them. All you need to do is pick the fruits with tongs, throw them into your bucket or bag, and then dump them, thorns, skins and all, into a big pot on your stove. Add enough water to cover the fruits and bring to a boil. Simmer the fruit for 15 to 25 minutes, and then turn off the heat. Mash the fruit with a potato masher and then pour the mixture through a jelly bag. You’ll have some gorgeous prickly pear juice ready to sweeten (if desired) and use in a variety of dishes. To make things even easier, though possibly a bit more rustic, just toss the fruits into a blender or food processor with some water, pulse for a few seconds, and then pour through a jelly bag. Boiling the fruits before juicing them might help to release a bit more juice, but it isn’t necessary.

One of the easiest ways to use the Mexican plum is by pulping them, and then using the pulp to make breads, muffins, sauces, wines or anything else you can think of out of plum pulp. Simply wash the plums, throw them into a food mill or cone sieve and mash out the pulp. Once you’ve pushed as much of the pulp through as possible, there will still be some pulp stuck to the pits and skin. You can throw it all into a saucepan, add a little water and simmer for several minutes to make plum juice for plum jelly.

Black Walnuts

Start looking for these green husked treats (I’m talking to you, East Texans!) For a quick rundown on how to process them, check out this link. Also, Samuel Thayer has a fabulous, detailed chapter on black walnuts in his book, Nature’s Garden: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants.

Foraging banned in New York City

a little note about the following statement: I was visiting some friends in New York City when this article came out. I felt I had to respond mainly because I was there – I realize there are masses of people and very little green space. I know that the size of the population is an issue and that allowing foraging in the parks there causes (and would cause) major problems. However, the following was my initial, knee-jerk reaction and I still believe it would be an amazing project if the city’s parks department would implement some foraging regulations. New York City sets a lot of standards for the rest of the country (another discussion entirely) and I think this ban will have repercussions for foragers and foraging everywhere. It’s an interesting issue. Thanks for your comments!

I tend to steer clear of politics. Of course, I vote. But I’m not one for taking sides. Or at least arguing about them. I’ve always believed in love- and respect- and tolerate-thy-neighbor type values and living by example. I stick with what I know and I try to keep things simple. So, I do a lot of things because I believe they are good and right. Foraging is one thing I do. And apparently, a lot of other folks are doing it too. So many, in fact, that officials are no longer allowing it in New York City parks. Check out this article about it. Now, I suppose, it’s time to express my thoughts on this subject that is, at least in some places, politicized. After all, I also believe in the idea that the personal is political and foraging for food is a personal project of mine that I enjoy sharing with others. So, here’s what I think about all this:

Throughout the years, I’ve noticed a lot of foragers and teachers (me included) simply ignore or brush over any laws that permit (or more commonly don’t permit) foraging in public places. We all have our own beliefs about these things and I’d imagine we’d get several different justifying answers from foragers across the country about why it’s OK to forage on public lands. We’d get just as many answers from conservationists and park managers telling us why it isn’t OK. I respect the opinions, but I believe that foragers have the right to use public lands just like hikers, soccer players and fishers. We are a sub-group of users and should be allowed into the space just like everyone else.

As animals, we have the right to gather foods just like any other wildlife. As humans, we have the ability to think and reason and, therefore, the responsibility to harvest wild foods sustainably. Of course, harvesting sustainably and taking our share is subjective and in hungry, greedy times, might need to be defined and then regulated. Local governments don’t seem to have any problem making up rules and then enforcing them.

It seems that the NYC parks department is trying to prevent the tragedy of the commons, IN the commons. How odd. Why not educate folks and permit certain activities rather than banning it altogether? They let soccer players come onto public land and play soccer in designated areas. In some parks, they let fishers fish if they have a license. So why not get creative about regulating foraging and actually allow people to do it, within reason?

One forager in the article makes the point that by foraging responsibly, we actually encourage plant growth and reproduction. And foraging certainly teaches people about local ecology and the benefits of open, green space. Why not allow foraging of certain things during certain seasons? And limit the amount that is harvested? And offer workshops on how to responsibly harvest things? And distribute foraging licenses? Maybe it’s easier to ban something than to make rules and enforce them? Staff would have to be hired for that. I realize that parks departments are generally under-staffed and can barely keep up with managing the parks they do have, but I think everyone agrees that we need green and open space if for nothing else, to produce the food we eat. It so happens that nature produces a lot of food to eat and we, I believe, should have access to at least some of it! We, the folks that don’t own land, should be able to use the commons for eating just as someone uses the commons for hiking or playing soccer or fishing. Why would we be banned from doing something as universal and essential as eating? Of course, hikers stay on the trail, soccer players stick to their fields so why couldn’t foragers stay in their foraging grounds and be monitored to make sure they only take their share?

I think banning it is not the answer. If foraging truly is an issue like the NYC parks department claims, regulating it might be the way to go.

Texas Persimmons

One of the tastiest wild foods!

Can’t you tell?

Use the molasses-like pulp in just about anything!

(Or suck the succulent pulp out of the indigo-black skins and off the seeds. Yum.)