Chickweed

All the edible plant guides talk about this leggy garden intruder, but they vary on their assessment of taste. Some state that it is not worth the effort of pulling off all the tiny leaves from the stringy stem, others say just eat the stem, still others say it is their favorite salad green.

So this weekend, when we found chickweed had fully infultrated Thag's mother's ivy patch, Thag and his brother helped her weed and collected a gallon ziplock bag full.

Looking at chickweed recipes found lots of variation and I decided to try the chickweed egg salad recipe I found on one of my favorite new websites: http://www.prodigalgardens.info/ . The egg salad was delicious, and the chickweed gave it a delightful herby flavor. I am excited to both try chickweed in new ways and to try more of the recipes found at the Prodigal Gardens site.

Ratings: Chickweed--4, Chickweed Egg Salad--5

We are often finding that an okay edible incorporated into the right recipe can leave us more satisfied than the edible alone, very much the way raw spinach on its own tastes alright but spanikopita is out of this world.

The Score: 45 down, 55 to go

Our fridge is full of baggies containing edible odds and ends we need to cook up. Our front porch hosts a few baskets containing edibles we find in the yard. On our trip to Connecticut this weekend, we weeded Thag's mother's ivy specifically to collect the edible weeds growing in it. We stopped the car to collect on the side of the road. We are busy with edibles and are still having trouble keeping up with all this season has to offer.

So...

31. Morel mushrooms--absolutely divine--5

32. Dryad's saddle mushrooms--pungent and chewy--Thag--4, Ooga--1

33. Cattail rhizome flour--labor intensive to process, but sweet and nutty in flavor--5

34. Mint--no description necessary--5

35. Jewel weed--slightly slimy and a bit limp after all the boiling, but mild in flavor--3

36. Sheep sorrel--sour and lemony--easy to use in a variety of recipes--4

37. Wood sorrel--lovely little heart shaped leaves, tastes very similar to sheep sorrel, easy to find--great salad green--4

38. Clover greens--easy to find, hide well in a salad, tough if old--3

39. Milk weed shoots--easy to gather, should be peeled, cook like green beans, get 'em young--4

40. Thistle stalk--use like celery--deep, yet subtle, in flavor--good in sauces--4

41. Black locust flowers--sweet and fragrant, utterly heavenly--5

42. Thistle petiole--use like thistle stalk, but more work intensive--3

43. Burdock petiole--a pain to process, requires two boilings, gentle flavor, easy to incorporate into any veggie dish like a stir fry--3

44. Sumac shoots--we don't think we did these right--supposed to be sweet and juicy--we found them slightly bitter--until further notice, 2

45. Chickweed greens--easy to find, nice lettucy flavor, can be cooked or eaten raw--4