Wild Foraging

[mrs.puff]

Maybe you could ask the family if you could dig up some of the plants and move them? I bet they would let you. If you don't know how to contact them you could just send a postcard to the address and it will get forwarded to them.

 

[Tallman]

I cut a grocery sack full of stinging nettle today. In reading about it, I ran across a note in Carla Emery's book, "The Encyclopedia of Country Living" about Nettle Rennet. I don't make cheese, but she says that you combine 6 cups of very strong nettle tea with 4 cups of uniodized salt. Then use just enough to get the curdling action for your cheese-making.

I thought this might be helpful to some of you cheese makers.

 

[freemotion]

Oh, I forgot about that! I'll have to give it a try, since I have milk to experiment with.

From the smell of the nettles, I can't imagine what the cheese will taste like, though.... But I'll try just about anything once. Especially if it gives me an emergency ss skill. Thanks for the tip!

 

[Tallman]

It looks as though nettle is one of the most nutritional herbs that can be found.

http://www.prodigalgardens.info/Nutritional Analysis.htm

 

[freemotion]

Yes, I think building a strong appreciation for it will improve the taste! I plan on making an infusion tonight....an ounce by weight of dry nettles in a quart canning jar, pour boiling water over it, cover, and let sit overnight or for at least 4 hours. Strain and squeeze the herbs into the liquid, and refrigerate. That's what I heard on the cd with Susan Weed.

Apparently, drying the nettles actually weakens the cell walls and helps release more of the nutrients. The minerals are charged and go directly into your bloodstream, one scientific reason it is so valuable.

It is interesting to me that science can make statements as to the nutrient loss or retention of various preservation methods. It seems to me, though, that there is value in many different methods, and we do best if we eat not only a variety of foods, but a variety of methods, too. Raw, cooked, dried, fermented, etc.

 

[Tallman]

Apparently, drying the nettles actually weakens the cell walls and helps release more of the nutrients. The minerals are charged and go directly into your bloodstream, one scientific reason it is so valuable.

Any ideas on how to dry this weed? Can a person just wash and dry or do they need to be blanched a bit?

 

[freemotion]

I just put it in the dehydrator on low. I put the rest on a piece of cloth that I clothespinned to my clothes-drying rack and put it in the bathroom where the cat who is in love with it couldn't get to it.

I didn't even wash it. I figure it is about as organic and pure as it can be, what would I be washing off with nasty city water anyways?

I don't blanch any leafy things that I dehydrate, it never occurred to me.....they dry pretty quickly, so the enzymes don't have a chance to break the plant down.

I did pull the leaves off before the stems were dry, though, and it didn't bother my bare fingers. Any leaf clusters on the tips that seemed moist were pinched off and put back in with the rest of the leaves from the bathroom.

It is rainy here this week, so I didn't dare leave them to air dry, afraid they would mold. Plus they hurt if you touch them! Wanted to get them de-activated and in the jars asap.

I can't wait to go back to the patch and get the second growth from my pruning.

 

[Blackbird]

Carla Emery, God rest her soul. My mom said the day she died was one of the saddest days..

I'll have to try the nettle rennet idea when I make chevre again. If the same amount of rennet will have the same properties as the nettle rennet then I don't think there will be much of a taste.. rennet it self smells horrid, atleast the animal kind that I use. I'm pretty sure its mainly enzimes secreted from the stomach of a suckling calf, or the like, so you may find nettle rennet as a better solution..?

Mrs.puff, I know exactly what kind of plums you're talking about, we have four trees of them. I'll have to ask my mom what kind they are tomorrow.
At our old house my mom planted about 8 of them, after seven years they finally produced and they were very bountiful, but we had to move the same year.. the next year the people who bought the house cut them all down and poured cement over the area for their dog kennels :/

I'm drying my nettles by laying them on a screen thats hanging from the ceiling. I can't wait for it to warm up more so I can go out digging and searching and learning new plants!

The purslane is fascinating.. we always have tons in the garden that we're pulling out, the chickens and geese always seem to like it a bit, I can't wait for it to start growing.. I also noticed that is seems to be more common later in the season.

 

[freemotion]

Oh, I never took a sniff of the animal rennet! I chose that over vegetable because I figured it would "digest" the milk for me as well as make cheese. I am getting brave with the milk since I can drink it raw with no ill effects, so I will have to try the homemade vegetable rennet.

I'm gonna try the purslane again this year with a PR pork roast. It can be made with lime juice, so the sour purslane might just go perfectly with it.

 

[Tallman]

Mrs.puff, I know exactly what kind of plums you're talking about, we have four trees of them. I'll have to ask my mom what kind they are tomorrow.


I'm drying my nettles by laying them on a screen thats hanging from the ceiling. I can't wait for it to warm up more so I can go out digging and searching and learning new plants!

We have some wild plums which everyone has always called sand plums. It sounds like what is being described here.

I have dried other plants by putting them in a paper grocery sack that I tore some holes in and hung from the rafters of my shop. In doing this, one does not want to pack the sack full. I'm going to try it with some nettle. The only thing that concerns me is the stingers. I'm wondering if they will dry up to the point where the plants can be handled.