Queen Anne’s Lace, Daucus carota, was once cultivated in Europe as a vegetable and is a biennial plant. Like carrots, the roots and leaves of the first-year plant are edible. Flowers can be used raw in salads or fried. Seeds can be used for seasoning.
Tag Archives: Wild Plants
Blackberries in July
The blackberries are fruiting. It is far too early to harvest, but it looks like this year’s crop will be bountiful, unlike last year. Click on the image for a larger view.
Sage
While outside has been in the firm grip of winter, inside is showing signs of spring. Our sage has come into blossom. In Maine, sage is supposed to survive in the garden through winter, but we lost most of our crop during the ice storm at the end of 2013. Naomi saved one of the surviving plants in a pot. Click on the image for a larger view.
Sage has a refreshing sweet scent, which makes it a wonderful indoor plant. We used it in cooking and for tea. Among Native Americans, sage is considered sacred and one of the most important ceremonial herbs: it has power to balance the body, mind, and spirit.
Self-Heal Tea
Prunella vulgaris, commonly known as Self Heal or Heal All, is known in many cultures to have healing properties. The entire plant is edible and can be uses in soups, salads, and stews. Like with our Goldenrod, we make tea from the plant. Unlike the bitterness of Goldenrod, this tea has a mild flavor. Click on the image for a larger view
Goldenrod Seed Bread
Naomi loves baking bread. This bread uses okara and seeds from our goldenrod plants—we also use goldenrod to make tea. The recipe is simple. Continue reading
Under a Full Moon
Last Sunday I went to our field. The night was filled with the rhythm between silence and songs: an owl, frog, and whip-poor-will. The sweet scent of goldenrod mixed with the slightly acidic scent of a skunk—I whistled to discourage a meeting. Click on the image for a larger view.
Wild Plum
Each spring, our wild plum trees bloom in celebration of the arrival of the season. Usually, the insect population feasts on the fruit, leaving none for us. Yesterday, we found several of the plums that survived the summer. While not having the rich sweet flavor or the juiciness of the cultivated varieties, the plums are nonetheless a nice snack. They are small, about an inch or 2.5cm in length, and a little tart. Click on the image for a larger view.
Red Currant Harvest
Naomi and I made a wonderful discovery this week—we found two red currant trees in our forest. This is a great find and will add to our annual fruit harvest. If you like fruit with a tangy bite, these are great. These particular berries will most likely end up in out yoghurt for today’s breakfast. Click on the image for a larger view.
Black-Eyed Susan
Our lawn is in bloom. The black-eyed susan is the perfect summer flower—big, bright, and joyful. The ideal blossom to draw with a box of crayons. Click on the image for a larger view.
Lupine
Lupine, Lupinus, is a symbol of summer in Maine. The common blue variety can be seen along the roadsides throughout the state. It is an elegant plant—the tip extends upwards as the blossoms unfurl. The flowering head takes a wonderful color gradient as the blossoms darken with time. Click on the images for a larger view.
