Harvesting Memories With Your Kids!

My oldest edible wild plant hunting daughter!  This photo
of Abby was taken at a school play she took part in.   

It is that time of year when I head out with my kids in search of natures best wild edible plants.  Yesterday Abigail and I got some time alone together so we headed out with a couple of old ricotta cheese containers in search of whatever the woods would yield.  One of our main goals was to scope out one of our favorite blackberry spots to see how they are coming along.  Another week or two and they should be ripening.  There are literally thousands of unripe blackberries that will be waiting for us!

My Little Bear!

My middle daughter has been nicknamed "Little Bear" since she was three, due to an incident with a wild blackberry patch and a completely purple face she took home that day!  Man does she love those things!  Good fruit and good memories, and all for free!  Since there were no blackberries available yesterday we decided to search for some other late spring favorites.  We call them prickers, but they are properly named Common Greenbrier.

Common Greenbrier, Bullbrier, or "prickers"

These little beauties are one of the tastiest greens in the woods, and it doesn't get much more organic than this!  The picture to the right is what they look like.  We found plenty of these right alongside our favorite blackberry bushes and easily stuffed a container full of them.  I used them to top off a delicious salad tonight.  In an age when produce prices are shooting off the charts, it is really a breath of fresh air to take an enjoyable walk in the woods and come home with something you can eat for free.  This time of year these abound in the woods.  Simply find a greenbrier like you see in the picture, and snap off the tender shoot like you see in the photo.  These can be eaten raw, or cooked like spinach or asparagus.  My favorite is raw though.  We eat them like candy as we walk through the woods.  They are truly delicious, and are awesome as a tasty and beautiful garnish on your salad.

Tonight's Salad

To me though the best part about searching for these plants is the chance to connect with my kids in the quiet of nature.  They all think that picking and finding wild plants is pretty cool.  Abby told me yesterday while we hunted edibles "Dad your awesome".  I didn't have to buy her any fancy video game, or take her to any flashy amusement park to gain this unprompted comment.  As always I answered back "yeah, I'm all right", but inside I am beaming from ear to ear that my 11 year old thinks I am awesome. 

   

I think I'll call him Bugs!

As a bonus we ran into this little baby rabbit while we were out exploring.  I was literally about 5 feet from this guy, and I believe if I had a carrot I might have had him eating from my hand.  If you haven't been out searching for wild berries or plants with your kids I highly recommend you give it a shot.  They will love it and so will you!

Happy Hunting,

Wacky Dad