Forager's Breakfast

We all know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Especially if you plan on a day spent trekking through forest and field. What better way to start the day than to fuel yourself with the very foods you are out to forage? For the same reason I like to eat venison while scouting for deer sign in the fall, I love a meal of freshly wildcrafted plants during the peak of their season. Here we have the obvious morel mushrooms, egg and fiddlehead ferns, fried in bear grease with a slice of toast with a blend of mayo and nettle pesto. A single leek compliments it all and a handful of dandelion greens gives this a nice bitter bite that feels very strengthening. I'm sure it is.

Wild Edibles Potluck & Presentation

May is one of the months I eat the best. Not only the best food, but with the best of people - folks who like to forage and fish as much as I do and join me on forays without hesitation. This May was a great year for fish, both mullet and steelhead and we took a lot to the Bellaire Smokehouse to have smoked. But it is also a banner year for fiddleheads since we found two more wild plots of Ostrich ferns just popping forth from their rich woodland soil. We found many other edible greens on our woodland outings so I decided to share the bounty by hosting a potluck & presentation at the Martha Wagbo Farm and Education Center. Some friends and I harvested 12 different common wild edibles which I discussed during our 1st event held in our newly renovated Outdoor Classroom. Here are some pictures:

Another Edible May Event with ISLAND!

WILD LEEK PRESERVATION

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

6:00pm until 8:00pm

Martha Wagbo Farm & Education Center

5745 N. M-66, East Jordan, Michigan 49727

There are many ways to preserve wild leeks. This workshop will cover how to sustainably harvest, then dry, freeze, pesto and pickle these members of the Allium or onion family that grow in our north woods. Each participant will take home one half pint jar of pickled leeks. This event is a partnership of ISLAND and The Martha Wagbo Farm and Education Center WEEDS foraging group (Wild Edibles for Ecological Dietary Sustainability). 

$8-$10 sliding scale

For more information call 231-622-5252 or email yvonne@artmeetsearth.org

PREREGISTRATION IS REQUIRED

And the online registration form:

http://goo.gl/6VYXy

Sprucing up

On the southwest part of the Martha Wagbo Farm & Education Center's 212 acres lies a plantation of Norway Spruce planted around 50 years ago. These large evergreens sway just behind my trailer and harbor the annual Raven nest. I even saw the babies this morning! Just as exciting is the upcoming fresh tips that sprout from their swooping dark green boughs. They are edible and choice! I love them in almost everything: from a simple seasoning on an appetizer like the sourdough rye toast w/ melted sheep cheese and tomatoes (above), to beer and even ice cream. Check out the latest issue of Edible Grande Traverse magazine (Spring 2013) for my article on the identification and use of spruce in cooking. 

http://www.ediblecommunities.com/grandetraverse/online-magazine/online-magazine/

May Edible Events...

March Maple Syrup Events!

 

Its that time of year again, time to get a-tappin' and folks are out in the sugarbush doing just that as I write. The Friends of the Wagbo Sugarbush started tapping on the 26th of February in a biting wind that was coming all the way from the frozen Lake Charlevoix. But sure enough, the sap was a-flowin' and above is the proof! Fresh sap from a fresh tap, the lifeblood of the forest. In keeping with this magical time of year, the Wagbo Farm organizes a number of events to get the community involved in these seasonal rhythms. Listed below, these should be a lot of fun and we hope you can make it to any or all events!

Evergreen Teas: for a walk in the Winter Woods

In the latest issue of Edible Grande Traverse Magazine, you can check out my latest food-related article on harvesting  and brewing native teas from our landscape:

http://www.ediblecommunities.com/grandetraverse/online-magazine/winter-2013/small-gifts.htm

In it you'll also find recipes for using evergreens in cooking, like grilling fish over smoldering boughs: 

Or making Juniper Sauerkraut to serve with wild game such as hasenpfeffer (the traditional German stewed rabbit or hare. The pic at the end still gets my mouthwatering.)

We've been doing a little bit of wild culinary exploration with teas harvested here at the farm. With the surplus of eggs Jen's been getting I figured we'd have to do something egg-related.  So here's our latest concoction: 

Maple-Pine Marbled Eggs

1. First, hard-boil eight eggs. Remember if they are fresh from the farm, as these were, they need to be pricked with a pin so they peel easy. 

2. Cool and save the water. Crack the egg all over with the back of a spoon, as seen in the photo below.

 

  3. To the reserved water add:

8 HB eggs

1 bag black tea

1/2 cup tamari

3 tbsp maple syrup

1 cinnamon stick

2 star anise pods

1 tsp cracked pepper

One good handful of white pine bark w/ needles

4. Bring all this to a boil then turn down heat to simmer for 2 hours. 

After this, we cooled an egg under cold water and cracked it open. Lovely, but not too much flavor if you weren't actively looking for it. Subtle, but good. 

 So I decided to leave them in the brew overnight. Here's how they turned out:

Much more flavorful. Very rich and woodsy. Couldn't really taste the cinnamon or anise, but the tea mixture shines through. There were pockets where the tea sat in between the egg and the shell, creating large patches of not-so-pretty brown. Next time I'll try a 3 hour post-simmer immersion. I ate mine with pickled Wild Leeks.

The Hunter's Lunch

Rifle Season for Whitetail Deer is about to commence here in Northern Lower Michigan and with it, the cold weather is setting in. Scouting for sign of deer and locating stealthy approaches to high-traffic grounds can work up an appetite. Its slow going when you use this time to also stalk small game for the evening's supper. Lucky are the hunters who have venison in their freezers before they actually get out to deer hunt. I am thankful to know several bow hunters who like to share their spoils. 

Trail Mix has never cut it for me. Hot soup in an old Stanley thermos is O K. But when I'm out in the field I'd like to be reminded of why I'm even out there in the cold, biting wind, muddy and wincing through the briars. I'm hear for meat, and when I take a break for something to eat, that is exactly what I want. This simple sandwich is amazing with mustard and mayo, but it is even better with the homemade (and wild!) pepper-root sauce. In my mind it is made even better knowing the pepper-root was harvested on the same land I am scouting.

Hunter's Sandwich

Venison steak

1 onion
Wild Pepper-root sauce - see previous post:
 (http://www.eataweed.blogspot.com/2012/11/wild-horseradish.html#more
  -or you can substitute horseradish for the pepper-root)
  olive oil
good crusty bread
Fresh cracked pepper
sea salt

Dice and brown the onion on low-to-medium heat. Meanwhile, using the back of a knife, tap 'slots' into the meat. Turning 90 degrees, repeat, making a criss-cross pattern. This helps tenderize the meat and allows the pepper to adhere better. Repeat on the opposite side and rub in the pepper. Remove the onion and turn up the heat until it is smoky hot and add the steak. Cook for 10 minutes and flip, cooking for another minute or two. Cut some slices of bread and liberally spread the sauce on both sides. Cut the steak into 1/4 inch strips and add it to the bread, topping with the onion. Wrap in butchers paper and aluminum foil.
 Finally, get out in the field and find some deer!

 I just noticed the arrow is pointing right to where I harvested the pepper-root!

 

Wild "Horseradish"

I used to think I didn't like horseradish. That was until my friend mixed some up with mashed potatoes, bear grease and chives and used that as a bed on which to serve some venison liver I brought over. Now I had a reason to experiment with a plant I have mostly avoided eating due to its remarkable resemblance to horseradish: Toothwort.

In praise of Small Game: Squirrel!

For many a rural child, the hunting of a squirrel is a rite-of-passage - an introduction into the world of death.

Unfortunately many of these squirrels fall  in vain from pre-pubescent boys who are testing the sights of their new Daisy Air Rifle. I was not immune to such bloodthirsty behavior, and although I truly regret taking animals lives without eating them, I recall sneaking through the forest in search of prey was the most entertaining activity that I did. The stalk, the concealment, the fleeting glance of movement in an old hickory, the perfect shot, the rush, the fall... but then came remorse.

It was wrong, but us wielders of BB-guns and pellet pistols knew the bird calls, we knew the difference a robin makes shuffling leaves as opposed to a gray squirrel. We knew where the mast producing trees were and always the best approach - which was different depending on the weather. Where other kids could tell you batting averages or T.V.'s prime time line-up, we could tell you tree identification and 'possum tracks vs. coon tracks. Most of our peers idolized Barry Sanders and spoke at length of the Mario Brothers. We were obsessed with Native tribes, Frontiersmen and Robin Hood. Our only real 'modern' hero was Indiana Jones. Oh, and Atreyu from The Neverending Story. And Wesley from The Princess Bride. I bet ya those guys could cook up a mean squirrel over the coals.