Roots Herbal Apothecary
Point Arena’s Plant-Medicine-and-More Shop
by Lisa Ludwigsen
Humans have always relied on plants to nourish and heal us. The ancient art and science of healing with plants, called phytotherapy, traces back to the beginning of human civilization. From ancient Egypt to traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurvedic medicine in India, plants were the primary tools for health and healing.
Over time, European folk medicine also developed a rich tradition of herbal knowledge, passed on through formulas shared by apothecaries and local healers. In the 1800s the modern pharmaceutical industry was born when advances in chemistry began isolating individual constituents in plants, shifting the focus away from whole plant medicine. A great example is the salicylic acid derived from willow bark that serves as the main ingredient in today’s aspirin.
Most of us have lost that connection to plant medicine beyond making a cup of chamomile tea to relax. Luckily, there are still people with strong relationships to plants who hold and share the knowledge of how to engage with them.
You’ll find one of those knowledgeable and generous people in Jacqueline Strock, the owner of Roots Herbal Apothecary, located on Main Street in the tiny town of Point Arena. Jacqueline has been in business over 20 years, building a loyal following from the locals and tourists who visit her shop. The apothecary is at once a step back in time and an inspiring introduction to a modern-day apothecary. “People always think my customers are mostly tourists,” said Strock. “In fact, 90% are locals along with a good group of tourists who have been here before and make a point of stopping in.” She added with a chuckle, “I get all the cool tourists.”
Strock founded the store almost by accident. “I attended herb school in Boulder and then moved to Mendocino County with my husband,” she recalled. “I thought I would be a farmer but realized it wasn’t for me. When we bought some land near Point Arena, I opened the apothecary.”
After 21 years running the store, Jacqueline still loves what she does and is especially pleased with the community. “People tell me they feel better when they leave the store than they did coming in. That makes me very happy.”
“My store is really rootsy,” shared Strock. She sells her own line of salves, lip balm, hair oil, and tea blends. She also stocks bulk herbs for folks to make their own teas and herbal products. “I don’t offer formal consultations but I’m always happy to provide guidance and answer questions.”
Besides the herbal products like teas, tinctures, and salves, the shop carries crafts and gifts, many sourced from women-owned businesses. Wares include jewelry, soaps, kitchen goods, books, and more. These often pop up on the store’s Instagram account, @rootsherbalapothecary. Kitchen and garden posts can share a recipe, talk about an herb, or explain the benefits of a particular wild-harvested plant.
Empowering others to explore the world of plant medicine and create their own brings Jacqueline genuine joy. “I like to light a spark and inspire people to do this themselves,” she said. And while she is often too busy with the store to set up her own workshops, she is delighted to be invited to other events to share what she knows. She can bring projects and instruction to a kids’ summer camp, a harvest festival, or any other gathering of plant-minded people.
In a world racing to get nowhere, it is comforting to find a spot where a person can check in, find a friendly face, and perhaps learn a bit about plant medicine. There is a world of plants and their remedies available for you to discover, and Jacqueline can help you do that.
Roots Herbal Apothecary
240 Main St, Point Arena
(707) 882-2699 | rootsherbalapothecary.org
Open Mon - Fri 10am - 5pm, Sat 12pm - 5pm
Photos courtesy of Roots Herbal Apothecary
Fish, Forage, & Feast
A Cookbook From the Host of ‘Outdoor Chef Life’
by Momo Chang
This article was originally published by Civil Eats.
In a Pacific tidepool in Northern California, Taku Kondo squats down, seawater sloshing around his ankles, and examines the rocks below the water. Kondo, a fisherman and forager, uses a knife to detach a purple sea urchin from a large rock. He cuts open the spiky shell, splits the urchin, and discovers a perfect sliver of orange roe, or uni—worth at least $80 a pound. “Let’s try it,” he says to the camera, then slurps up the roe. A smile spreads across his face. Success.
This was Kondo’s first YouTube video, “Camping + Coastal Foraging for Uni,” uploaded in May 2018. It’s hard to know whether Kondo foresaw what other successes awaited him and his channel, “Outdoor Chef Life.”
Today, though, the former sushi chef, 33, has guided millions of viewers on his journeys, whether he’s throwing a fishing line from a rocky coast or pedaling a hands-free kayak to catch king salmon. He’s clearly built a business from what he loves. In most of his videos, Kondo spends nearly a whole day catching seafood—digging for clams, foraging sea urchins, catching crabs—then setting up an outdoor kitchen. There, he’ll create meals like crab ramen or fried-fish sandwiches, dressed with pickles made from foraged kelp.
Now he’s releasing a cookbook, Coastal Harvest, which dives even deeper. Coastal Harvest, to be published March 25, is both a culmination of his years of YouTube videos and a beautifully photographed and illustrated cookbook, with detailed instructions for sushi, sashimi, whole-fish cooking, and more. The book starts with the basics—how to fillet fish, knife skills, and how to store fresh fish—and then takes the reader through the wild foods Kondo loves: fish, shellfish, wild mushrooms, and coastal plants. Most of the photographs were taken by his partner, Jocelyn Gonzalez, a forager and angler herself.
There’s no shortage of fishing YouTubers, but, as a chef, Kondo stands out. He spent a few years working his way up in restaurants in San Francisco, progressing from line cook to sushi chef at a popular omakase restaurant, before he left that life to become a full-time fisherman, forager, and YouTuber. In Coastal Harvest, Kondo demonstrates a deep knowledge of Asian cooking through recipes that work in the wild as well as at home.
In a conversation with Civil Eats, Kondo discussed how Japanese culture has shaped his views on food, the best ways to eat seafood, and the importance of local ingredients.
You seem to really like being in nature. Why is that so important to you?
I was born in Osaka. Growing up there, we went camping with my dad, usually in the summertime, and we would go fishing. That was our thing.
We did a lot of largemouth bass fishing, and we also fished off the piers for baitfish like mackerel and sardines. Just like a regular kid, I played video games too, but it wasn’t a huge part of my life. I always would rather be outside doing something else.
When you’re off the grid, especially camping and you have no reception, you’re focused on who you’re with and what you are doing—making food or fishing, or focused on stoking the fire. It’s really important for us, especially nowadays, to get away from some of the outside noise that we’re facing.
What made you want to become a sushi chef?
I always enjoyed cooking, but when I moved to San Francisco for college, I wanted to have good food but couldn’t afford to eat at restaurants. So I was cooking for myself pretty much every single meal. And I thought I was getting good at knife skills.
Sushi chefs are so skilled with the knife; it’s so surgical and precise. I wanted to see if I was up to the level of a professional. I started working at a Japanese restaurant just to see if I could hang with the pros.
I was quickly humbled. On my first day, they asked me to bring in my own knives, and I [brought] my $3 Daiso knife with a little plastic handle. That’s what I used at home. I thought, I can cut pretty well with this! They let me borrow their knives. From there, the learning began.
How did you end up making YouTube videos?
In college, I didn’t have a TV. All I had was a laptop. So I just watched YouTube videos and a lot of fishing content. But a lot of the cooking was just an afterthought.
That’s when I decided, you know what, maybe people will like videos if you do the fishing and catching, but also put more attention to detail on the cooking. That’s what I had been doing anyway when I went camping. So the first half of the videos would be the catching of the fish or sea urchin or clams or mussels. And then the second half would be focused on cooking, and at a much higher level than anybody else was doing it.
I was helping a friend open an omakase sushi restaurant in San Francisco when I started making YouTube videos. When I had, like, 20 subscribers, I told my boss, ‘Alright, boss, 200,000 subscribers and I’m out of here.’ And he was like, ‘OK, sure, buddy, good luck.’ About a year and a half later, I was up to 160,000 subscribers.
I loved working at the restaurant as a sushi chef; there were just three chefs. We were interacting with the customers, and that’s where I refined my skills. What was missing for me: Even though I loved cooking, I loved being outdoors, too. In that restaurant environment, you’re always inside. I wanted to incorporate the outdoors into my life a bit more.
I decided to quit the sushi restaurant in 2019 and go full time making YouTube videos, and traveled from Hawaii to Japan to Thailand. When we got back, that’s when COVID hit and we did a lot of local stuff. In 2021, I built out my own sprinter van and traveled to Alaska in the van. We had an amazing few months in Alaska.
What’s one thing people have said to you about your videos that stands out?
One of the things they say is they get to watch it with their significant others. So the guy’s gonna be like, “Oh, yeah, this is the only fishing channel my wife or my girlfriend would watch with me, because they know there’s some food in there and some good cooking.” I always thought that was kind of funny. So I get a lot of couples involved in watching the videos.
Your partner, Jocelyn, who’s in a lot of your videos, is sometimes the one who catches the fish, even when you’ve been skunked.
She catches big fish. She has the right energy for the fish. They can sense it, you know?
In your cookbook, you focus mostly on California coastal fishing. What can readers in other parts of the country learn from it?
A lot of the recipes are interchangeable with different types of fish and shellfish. So it’s applicable to anybody that eats seafood.
What’s the overall philosophy behind your recipes and the way you catch and cook?
One of the more important philosophies that I like to highlight is using all the different parts of the fish. There’s a lot that usually goes to waste, even with people who catch their own fish. A lot of the time, you’re only using the fillet. I see it like chicken, when you’re just using the breast and leaving everything else. A fish is kind of similar. You have the head, which has a ton of meat, the collars, which still have meat, and you have the entire skeleton, which has a ton of flavor. Boil it down to make a little fish stock, just like making a chicken stock.
I can make miso soup just by making a fish stock, straining it, incorporating dashi, and mixing in some miso paste. It’s a pretty simple thing to make, and you can add in mushrooms, tofu, or seaweed. You get multiple meals out of [a whole fish].
I have recipes in the cookbook where I use tuna stomach to make menudo. There’s a recipe using fish head to make birria tacos. Those are some of the more delicious pieces. Once you get used to cooking them, it’s a no brainer. Why would you ever waste that or throw it away?
What’s your go-to way of cooking a whole fish?
My go-to is not cooking it, since I’m a sushi chef (laughs).
If it’s a fish that’s suitable for sashimi, I’ll portion off [the fillet]. And then with the rest of [the fish], I’ll take the collars off. Depending on how many fish I have, I smoke or grill them. It’s a really delicious way to add a bit of smokiness and an easy way to cook them. [The fish] just falls off the bone.
You talk a lot about sustainability, local food, and knowing as much as we can where food comes from. What does the ideal future of food look like to you?
That’s it: local ingredients. It’s the most inspiring, as well. You let the seasons dictate what you cook, rather than your cravings. Going with the seasons, getting to enjoy what is available at the moment in the area—ideally, that’s what we’d do.
Catch the fish and sell it locally. It’s not the way the world works, but ideally catch it and sell it locally. Right now, a lot of the fish being caught in Alaska and even here in California gets shipped to Asia, processed, and shipped back here to sell as frozen fillets. It’s a lot of traveling that our food is doing, and that’s not the most eco-friendly way of getting seafood.
In the world we live in today, it’s almost impossible to trace where your seafood comes from, or even your meat. Gathering your own food connects you to the environment and makes you realize that these are important parts of our ecosystem that need to be taken care of. Otherwise, if we’re just wasting all these fish for nothing, they’re going to be gone sooner rather than later. It makes you understand the preservation of it and appreciate the bounty that we have in the moment—and to hopefully keep that same bounty as we move into the future.
Okonomiyaki
from Catch and Cook
Excerpted from Coastal Harvest and reprinted by permission of DK, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. Copyright © 2025 by Taku Kondo.
serves 4-6 | prep 10 minutes | cook 20 minutes
Okonomiyaki is a savory Japanese pancake that’s famous as street food in Osaka, which is where I was born and spent the first half of my childhood. Okonomi translates to “as you like,” meaning there are infinite ways to customize it to your preference. It’s a great dish to clean out the fridge and use up any ingredients that need to go.
INGREDIENTS
For the okonomi sauce:
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1⁄2 cup ketchup
1⁄2 cup oyster sauce
For the okonomiyaki
1 lb. green cabbage, finely chopped (or use 1⁄2 lb. each of green and red cabbage)
2 bunches green onion, thinly sliced
11⁄4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp. cornstarch
1⁄2 tbsp. hondashi powder
4 eggs
2 tsp. salt
2 lb. raw squid, cleaned and cut into pieces (or substitute sliced pork, beef, bacon, or thinly sliced mushrooms)
Kewpie mayo or regular mayo, to serve
Katsuobushi (bonito flakes), to serve
INSTRUCTIONS
To make the sauce, in a medium bowl, combine the Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, and oyster sauce. Mix well to combine, then set aside until ready to serve. In a large bowl, combine the cabbage, green onions, flour, cornstarch, hondashi, eggs, salt, and 2 cups cold water. Mix well so that the consistency is like pancake batter. Heat a skillet over medium heat. When hot, ladle in the batter to create a pancake roughly 6 inches in diameter. Place several pieces of raw squid on top. Cook for 8 minutes on one side, then flip it over and cook for another 6 to 8 minutes with the squid fully touching the hot skillet. To check if the okonomiyaki is cooked, push down on it occasionally; if you hear more of a sizzle, the pancake is still raw. When fully cooked, flip the okonomiyaki onto a plate. Repeat with the rest of the batter (or use a second skillet to cook both pancakes at the same time). To serve, top each pancake with drizzles of the okonomi sauce and Kewpie mayo, plus a sprinkling of katsuobushi.
Originally published by Civil Eats:
civileats.com/2025/03/18/a-cookbook-from-the-host-of-outdoor-chef-life-entices-us-to-fish-forage-and-feast
To follow along and learn more, visit outdoorcheflife.com.
Insta: @outdoorcheflife
Momo Chang is a Senior Editor at Civil Eats. She is the former Co-Director of Oakland Voices, a community journalism program of the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education. She has written for many publications such as the San Francisco Chronicle, The Guardian, Wired, and other outlets.
The Flavor of the Forest
Spring Fiddleheads
by Holly Madrigal
The curl of a fiddlehead, that emergent coil of fern, sparks something within me, a sort of primordial awe. A spiral born of the golden mean unfolds in perfect ratio into the leafy green that carpets our forests.
There are many types of ferns in the forests of Mendocino County. Unlike some mushrooms, you are unlikely to become severely ill from eating the wrong type of fern, but careful identification is always wise when eating anything from the forest. Some ferns do not have a particularly pleasant flavor, and others may give you an upset stomach.
You can find fiddleheads in the spring in areas near water or a creek with rich, damp soil in the shade. Midwesterners prefer the Ostrich Fern, Matteuccia struthiopteris, for its flavor, but in Northern California, Lady Ferns, Athyrium filix-femina, are more easily found. Look for the crescent-shaped stem—if it is a round stem, it’s not a Lady Fern, and you could risk an upset stomach. The bracken fern, pteridium aquilinum, is the most common, and dehydrated bracken fiddleheads are often used in Korean dishes such as Bibimbap.
The fiddleheads of the bracken fern can be foraged in spring. Think of foraging as thinning, not clear- cutting. Leaving some of a stand of bracken fern will allow it to grow and reproduce for years and years. Michelle Costa of Mendo Ferments enjoys selecting these morsels during her walks in the hills above Willits. She keeps her eyes trained on the dormant bracken fern patches for when the new growth emerges. Fiddleheads can be harvested when they are about three inches high but still firmly coiled. After a quick rinse to remove any woody debris, they are ready for the skillet.
An easy way to prepare them is to blanch them briefly, as described in Michelle’s recipe here. You may feel as if you are tasting the forest itself.
Simple Fiddleheads
INSTRUCTIONS
Toss your carefully washed fiddleheads into boiling salted water for 1-2 minutes, then drain. (Do not place the blanched fiddleheads in an ice bath, or you will lose the vibrant green color.) Ever so briefly, sauté with a little melted butter and a sprinkle of salt, keeping them firm, not mushy.
Mendo Ferments
(707) 354-5147 | mendoferments.com
@mendoferments on IG
Photo by Tim Giraudier: beautifuloregon.com
Pretty & Plentiful
Trametes Versicolor Makes an Invigorating Immunity Tea
by Torrey Douglass
The trametes versicolor mushroom is found throughout the world and, as such, is known by many names. In Japan it’s referred to as kawaratake, meaning “mushroom by the riverbank.” In Holland it’s called elfenbankje, or “fairy bench.” The Chinese name is yuh chi, or rain cloud mushroom, and the German one is schmetterlingstramete, or butterfly tramete (tramete is a fungi genus). Here in the U.S., its common name is turkey tail, and they are lovely and abundant, with a host of health benefits that our beleaguered winter immune systems will appreciate.
The Latin name reflects the delicate beauty of turkey tails—trametes means “one who is thin” and versicolor means “multicolored.” They do what all mushrooms do—break down organic matter to make its nutrients available to other plant life. Found on decaying hardwoods a few weeks after a soaking rain, they are distinguished by stripes of earthy grey and brown colors rippling out to the edges. There are several look-alikes (none of them toxic), so be sure to check the underside for small white pores rather than fins.
In Chinese medicine, these mushrooms are used as an anti-inflammatory and to combat infection, benefiting respiratory, urinary, and digestive systems. They are believed to improve energy and stamina, increase circulation, and even prevent cancer and regulate cholesterol. Over 400 scientific studies in Japan over the past 30 years have demonstrated its benefits to cancer patients, improving their immune systems both in conjunction with and in the absence of chemotherapy.
When foraging for turkey tail, always leave a third of the body to disseminate the spores and yield more mushrooms for future foragers. After collecting the fruiting bodies, clean them carefully with a dry brush to remove dirt and any other forest debris. You can dry them at home in a dehydrator or spread out on a cookie sheet someplace warm and dry, covered by a screen. After they are dried, be sure to store them in a dark place inside an airtight container to preserve their nutrients. The dried mushrooms can be added to soups or heated at a gentle simmer to make tea. The result has a flavor reminiscent of mushroom soup, which can be balanced by adding some lemon and honey to perk up the taste. Follow the recipe below for a warming, zingy, immune-boosting tea that will support your system during the wet and chilly winter weather.
Winter Immunity Turkey Tail Tea
INGREDIENTS
¾ cup diced turkey tail, fresh or dried, well cleaned
2 tsp fresh ginger, diced fine
lemon juice to taste
honey to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
Put diced mushrooms and ginger in a saucepan and cover with water. Simmer gently for at least an hour and up to 2 hours, and monitor it carefully so it never boils vigorously. Pour through a fine sieve to remove the solids and add lemon juice and honey to taste.
Just because most people can consume turkey tail without any issues doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be careful. When you first try a new foraged food, ingest just a small amount and then wait for a day or two before consuming more.
Just because most people can consume turkey tail without any issues doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be careful. When you first try a new foraged food, ingest just a small amount and then wait for a day or two before consuming more.
Photo by Tom Fisk courtesy of pexels.com
The Black Forager
Reclaiming Foraging with Infectious Exuberance
by Dawn Emery Ballantine
She frolics, she dances, she gambols through meadow and forest; she rhymes, she sings, she shouts joyously at the top of her lungs. She is Alexis Nikole, aka The Black Forager. It’s impossible to watch her short videos without smiling or even laughing out loud. Engaging and delightful, Alexis takes you out into nature and brings you home with good things to eat that you likely walk past, unnoticed, every day.
Alexis is returning foraging—even in cities—to the forefront, and her natural vivacity and evident passion for the topic has clearly hit a chord. She has been chosen as a Forbes 30 under 30 and a Fortune Magazine Creator 25, as well as the recipient of the James Beard Award for “Best Social Media” in 2022, and a TikTok Tastemaker with 5 million followers. As a recent promotion said, “. . . she reframes the world of food, asking us to consider tastefully satiating and environmentally sustainable food choices. She also peels back historical layers on African American and Indigenous food traditions that has [sic] traditionally been repressed.”
This 34-year-old, who hails from Ohio, credits both her parents for getting her out into nature when she was growing up and giving her a good foraging foundation. She had her first remembered foraging experience at the age of five, out in the garden and yard with her mother. But foraging didn’t really play a large role in her life until after college, when she was “super poor,” as she puts it, “and wanting to eat things other than ramen and canned vegetables.” Getting back into foraging helped her fall in love with food, but also spurred her into more research, which led her to some hard truths about the schism between Black folks and nature.
During her research, Alexis learned that Indigenous peoples had long shared knowledge with enslaved African Americans, teaching them how to fish, trap, and forage so they could supplement their meager meals. After emancipation, new laws were enacted which made it a crime to forage on land one did not own—and newly-freed folks did not, of course, own property. This effectively took both private and public property off the foraging map. Given the times, according to Alexis, “… being black in nature was a very scary thing to do, for the sake of your safety.” Foraging also became synonymous with poverty—people with means could purchase what they wanted at the grocery store and looked down on those who could not.
Under these conditions foraging became both disparaged and impossible in practice. Studies show that once folks lose access to a knowledge-base, that knowledge is often lost forever. Reclaiming that cultural and ecological wisdom is the heart of Alexis’ work. She reflects in one of her Facebook posts that, “There truly is something revolutionary about being black, and meeting the earth where she is, and making a trade. For too long this knowledge has been forgotten, and for too long, first out of fear of violence, and then out of cultural routing, black faces have shied away from the great wide outdoors. A space that truly belongs to us all, just as we belong to it.”
Grounded in this awareness, it’s clear why Alexis calls herself “The Black Forager,” even though she has received a fair bit of push-back in her online communities for doing so. In her words, she does it “for the culture.” In her 2021 Ted Radio Hour, Alexis explained, “... it makes my heart and my head heavy to see people who honestly believe that one’s race doesn’t affect the way we move through this world.” In an LA-based foraging spot on Jimmy Kimmel’s late night show, Alexis emphasized that “Foraging as a black person is an act of rebellion … I will keep talking about race and I will keep talking about socio-economic status as it relates to food.”
Alexis is conscious of how her race impacts the way in which people respond to her when they encounter her out in the wild. In a HuffPost interview she shared, “I went through a phase where I was urban foraging exclusively wearing dresses with full makeup, because I thought, ‘If I look the most palatable version of myself—even if someone doesn’t know what I’m doing and the fact that they can’t identify it makes them a little bit nervous—hopefully I look so inviting, so pleasant, that they’ll come and talk to me about it before they call the cops about it,’ which is not an experience that I feel I see a lot of my white counterparts even being a little bit familiar with … I feel like I have to have a speech ready to go at all times, regardless of where I am.”
In her posts, Alexis illustrates how to locate plants, how to differentiate them from their less healthy doppelgangers, and what to do with them once you’ve found them. She offers plenty of pointers for finding safe foraging sources and loads of recipes for turning foraged treasures into delectable—or at least interesting—edibles, such as: pickled magnolia leaves, pinecone syrup, magnolia syrup for use in making her Magnolia Snap Cookies, nocino, dotorimuk (acorn flour noodles), prickly pear syrup, dandelion fritters, and pine sprite, to name a few. On social media she notes that, in the recipe creation process, “This is one of those parts of foraging that is very ‘choose your own adventure.’” And Alexis is nothing if not adventurous, looking deeply into our natural spaces with so much wonder. During her Ted Radio Hour she reflects, “It’s like Disneyworld, but plants. And full of much cheaper food!”
To further her educational reach, Alexis launched “Crash Course: Botany” with PBS Nature and Complexly in 2023. This 15-episode series (found on PBS and YouTube) illustrates Alexis’ basic tenets: “Our lives and the lives of every other creature on earth depend on plants . . . This is a plant’s world. You’re just livin’ in it.” And her most recent foray is into the herbal soap world with Blueland, an environmentally friendly soap tablet company, launching “The Foraged Collection,” a limited edition soap line made from three of Alexis’ favorite combinations: Beach Rose, Juneberry Basil, and Lilac Clove—all plant-based and planet-friendly.
For a written source to supplement her videos, Alexis recommends Sam Thayer’s Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants in helping to decide what is safe to eat in the wild. She notes, “There’s something soul-nourishing about caring about how you’re nourishing your body.” And if we can channel even a smidge of Alexis’ joy in doing so, what better way to connect with nature and explore wild edibles. Just always remember to abide by her tagline: “Happy Snacking. Don’t Die!”
The Black Forager
FaceBook/Instagram/TikTok @blackforager
Photos courtesy of The Black Forager
Dawn Emery Ballantine lives in Anderson Valley where she procures special order books at Hedgehog Books, edits this magazine, and delights in discovering good things to eat.
Bright & Zesty
Add Color and Zing to Your Dish with Nasturtium Blossoms, Leaves, & Seeds
by Lisa Ludwigsen
Nasturtiums—they tumble from baskets, climb up trellises, and flow across garden beds, often looking like they are on their way somewhere else, just having dropped by for a casual visit. Monet painted them lolling nonchalantly in a porcelain vase and featured them prominently in his gardens at Giverny. Those cheerful flowers in oranges, reds, and yellows give every indication that they are reflecting the summer sunshine.
More than just a pretty face, though, these South American natives are edible from top to bottom—meaning all above ground parts—and they even boast medicinal properties. It could be time for you to bring those flowers, leaves, and seeds into the kitchen to add a peppery punch to seasonal dishes.
Nasturtiums are easy to grow. In fact, writer and California native plant expert Judith Larner Lowry writes in her book, California Foraging, that “On the coast of California, [nasturtiums] have naturalized, and though still planted as a garden flower, are classified as an invasive weed.” Not surprisingly, these flowers are natural reseeders, and just a handful of seeds can populate your garden or container with ongoing plants for years to come.
Nasturtiums are also good pollinators. In my garden, gophers and deer share my love of their delightful zestiness, so my nasturtiums are pot- bound on the porch or planted in a wire basket adjacent to the house. They like coolish weather, petering out when the temps rise above 85°F, but along the coast or in a shaded spot, they can flourish through fall.
Kids love eating them, too. When working with little ones in the garden, we talk about eating all the colors of the rainbow. Nasturtiums’ bright flower colors not only can brighten food but also mood. If you’ve got nasturtiums growing in your garden or can plant them for fall, here are a few ideas for adding them to your kitchen creations:
Flowers are fun to nibble and so much more. They look lovely when delicately wrapped around a bite-sized round of goat cheese or sprinkled into salads, either sliced or whole. Elevate that cobbled-together supper or appetizer platter with a sprinkle of julienned flowers. The spiciness can add a distinctive and savory undercurrent to many dishes. I’ve even seen a suggestion for freezing the flowers into ice cubes for cocktails or iced tea.
Leaves: While the flowers can grab all the glory, nasturtium leaves are not to be forgotten. They add dimension and zest to salads or even a quickly sauteed stir-fry. Use nasturtium leaves as an alternative to arugula or spinach, or try them with scrambled eggs, omelets, or frittatas.
Seeds: Young, unripe nasturtium seeds can be pickled and used in place of capers. They are quite spicy and can also be eaten plain when they are fresh and malleable. Once they harden, they should be planted, not eaten.
While you’re incorporating nasturtiums into your meals, you’ll also be adding vitamin C and antioxidants to your diet. They’re also known to hold antimicrobial and antifungal Properties.
From salads to zesty pickled treats, nasturtiums offer a unique way to add a touch of seasonal warmth and spice to your plate. The next time you see them basking in the sun, step beyond admiring their beauty and bring them inside for a peppy addition to just about any meal.
Lisa Ludwigsen has been working in environmental education and small scale agriculture for 25 years. She chronicles her experiences and travels at Food, Farms & Families at https://lisaludwigsen.substack.com
Urchin Ranching in Noyo Harbor
An Edible Approach to Restoring Kelp Forests
by Trey Petrey
In 2013, a mysterious disease called “sea star wasting syndrome” was first detected along the Mendocino and Sonoma coasts, and it very quickly decimated the main predator of purple sea urchins, the sunflower sea star. Without the sunflower sea star, urchin populations boomed.
Urchins and kelp have long coexisted in subtidal ecosystems, and when the urchin population is kept in check, kelp forests thrive, providing habitat, food, and shelter for other marine life, including the urchins. When the urchin population grows unchecked, however, the kelp forests disappear. As a result of the increased number of urchins and the warming ocean temperatures, the kelp forests along our coast were reduced by as much as 96% between 2016 and 2020—and they have yet to recover. With no kelp, what is left behind are urchin barrens, where only spiny purple urchins cover the sea floor.
Although they are opportunistic omnivores, eating decaying plant and animal matter and even other urchins, sea urchins generally consume algae to survive, including kelp. Without enough to eat, they use up the reserves in their gonads, the orange colored “uni” that is sought after as a culinary delicacy, making them of little value even as a food source. Interestingly, they have the uncanny ability to change their metabolism, so instead of dying, the emaciated shells continue to roam the reefs in search of drifting algae and eating up new kelp as soon as it begins to grow.
One solution to the over-abundance of purple urchins is to remove the starving creatures from the ocean and fatten them up in a process called “urchin ranching,” transforming them into rich umami-flavored uni.
In November 2023, Noyo Center for Marine Science purchased a 40-foot shipping container outfitted with a land-based urchin aquaculture system. This compact urchin ranch is one of several projects funded by a grant through Congressman Jared Huffman’s Community Projects Funding, administered through National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. SeaGrant/Moss Landing Marine Lab built the system and will be one of the center’s partners moving forward.
With this system, purple urchins collected from the barrens are placed in “raceways”—troughs with circulating salt water in a temperature-controlled environment—and fed a seaweed-based nutrition to fatten them up. In approximately 10-12 days, the urchins begin to develop the first lines of roe, and it takes approximately 6-10 weeks to get them up to market size. The center hopes to be able to use water directly from the Noyo River for the system, making needed adjustments to the salinity and temperature. Ranching urchins in this environment also has the benefit of more consistency in the flavor and size, since uni’s flavor stems from its diet; in a wild environment it’s difficult to know what, or how much, the urchin is eating. Fort Bragg urchin diver, Grant Downie, was recently quoted in Sierra magazine, noting that, “With ranching, you would always have good urchin to offer, so you’re not going to lose your markets to other countries’ urchin.”
The Noyo Center first partnered with the Nature Conservancy (TNC) in 2019 through a grant provided to the Norwaybased company, Urchinomics. Its goal was to demonstrate the feasibility of urchin ranching to enhance kelp forest restoration efforts, which are set to continue along the Mendocino Coast until at least 2026. As part of this program, TNC plans to donate urchins harvested in restoration projects to the Noyo Center, partially offsetting costs of kelp restoration and creating an incentive for harvesting purple urchins. Urchins harvested this way will help maximize restoration outcomes and further create a circular restorative opportunity for our community and economy.
Early in their work, TNC identified a need to reduce the costs associated with raising these animals for consumption and to develop a sustainable, effective feed that worked well in an aquaculture environment. As a result, they collaborated with urchin ranchers from San Diego to Oregon, putting together a workshop that brought together a dozen urchin ranchers to share lessons learned in this nascent practice. From this workshop, TNC developed a manual for urchin ranching which can serve as a resource for would-be urchin ranchers. This interactive manual will be publicly available in the spring of 2024. Noyo Center will figure out how to adapt these practices to Noyo Harbor, factoring in the unique challenges we face with rough seas and a seaweed—Nereocystis luetkeana—that grows on an annual cycle.
Based on the work of other urchin ranching researchers, such as the company Urchinomics, and the urchin ranching trials being conducted by Bodega Marine Laboratories, we hope this small pilot project in Noyo Harbor will demonstrate one option which has the potential to have a measurable impact on kelp forest restoration, as well as the potential for the growth of the Blue Economy on our coast. There are also opportunities for educating the community, such as our school student programs, hosting uni tastings, and science workshops introducing the public to the overpopulated shellfish.
The urchin ranching project at the Noyo Center Marine Field Station is the first of several ambitious projects geared towards sustainable aquaculture and ecosystem restoration. Among them is an effort to address the collapse of the red abalone population, involving a unique partnership led by the Kashia Band of Pomo and including U.C. Davis, Bodega Marine Lab, and the Noyo Center for Marine Science. Once a vital $44M recreational fishery industry on the North Coast, abalone populations have plummeted as the surging urchin population outcompetes them for kelp. It is critical that an abalone broodstock program be initiated soon to help their numbers recover. Noyo Center hopes to create what is called an integrated, multitrophic aquaculture system that connects urchin, abalone, and seaweed grown in tumble tanks onshore into a closed recirculating water system.
The installation of a low-tech, land-based urchin ranching system will allow scientists with the Noyo Center to explore the possibility of large-scale production of purple urchin at its future Ocean Science Center on the Fort Bragg Headlands, as well as elsewhere in the region. This preliminary effort could prove essential to restoring kelp forests by transforming starving, commercially worthless urchins removed from urchin barrens into a valued, restorative seafood product—and supporting a new regional aquaculture industry at the same time.
Folks interested in getting a peek inside the urchin ranch—and learning more about the kelp crisis overall—can attend North Coast KelpFest!, running May 18 - June 16 in both Mendocino and Fort Bragg. The month-long festival includes an ongoing art show at the Mendocino Art Center, a documentary screening at the Mendocino Film Festival, a panel discussion among researchers and other experts at the Noyo Center Marine Field Station, art workshops, citizen science events, and much more. There is much to do to help the kelp forests recover, but with a multiplicity of efforts, including urchin ranching, these crucial ocean ecosystems can again thrive off the California coast.
Noyo Center for Marine Science
338 N Main St, Fort Bragg
(707) 733 6696 | NoyoCenter.org
Discovery Center open Thurs - Mon 11am - 5pm
Crow’s Nest Interpretive Center (South Noyo Headlands Trail) open daily 11am - 3pm
Find out more about North Coast KelpFest! at NorthCoastKelpFest.org.
Trey Petrey is a member of the staff of the Noyo Center for Marine Science, managing the interpretive centers and supporting work on the urchin ranching project and other special projects coming up in 2024.
Photo credits: Urchin barren image by Abbey Dias. Urchin ranch image by Richard Millis of Noyo Center for Marine Science. Other images courtesy of Noyo Center for Marine Science.
Seasonal & Sweet
Pine Rosemary Ice Cream
by Torrey Douglass
The U.S. Forest Service website lists no fewer than seven types of pine trees in the Mendocino National Forest, including Western White Pine, Ponderosa Pine, Foxtail Pine, and the Sugar Pine, so named thanks to the sweet flavor of its sap. Our county is also the only place where you can find Pinus contorta var. bolanderi, the Mendocino Shore Pine, which is a variety of the common lodgepole pine. The “contorta” part of their name is apt—shore pines grow twisted and bent due to the coastal winds, creating shapes reminiscent of a gnarled hand grasping at the ocean breeze.
Mendocino County also has an abundance of fir trees. Pine and fir trees belong to the same genus (Abies) and can look similar, but you can differentiate between them if you look closely. Fir trees are the classic Christmas tree, with a triangular shape and soft, relatively short needles (rarely more than 2”). In contrast, needles of the pine trees have sharper tips, grow in clusters, and can be just under 1” all the way to 12” or even 16” long. The branches of pines grow less densely than fir trees, and their overall shape can vary from an irregular triangle to a roughly round shape with jagged edges—think a circle that’s had a hard life.
Pine trees might not seem like an obvious foraging source, but the fact that its needles can be foraged throughout the year has inspired some colder climate foragers to get creative. You can brew pine needles into a vitamin C-rich tea for a wintery hot beverage that smells and tastes like the forest. In Japan, pine branches are added to the glowing coals under a grill to deliver flavors of evergreen and citrus to the fish or mushrooms above. Some high-end restaurants tempura-fry them for an interesting crunch on top of their dishes.
It’s easy to get nostalgic when confronted with the scents of evergreen trees, since they are so closely associated with the holidays and the final bow of one year before another steps onto the stage. Capture that nostalgia in a dessert with the following Pine Rosemary Ice Cream created by Miro, the pastry chef of New York City’s legendary Gramercy Tavern. It’s subtly sweet and the pine essence includes echoes of mint—a fitting finale for a winter dinner.
Pine Rosemary Ice Cream
Yield: 2.5 pints
INGREDIENTS
1-1/2 c milk
1-1/2 c heavy cream
3/8 oz (half a small herb package) rosemary stalks
3/4 oz pine sprigs (needles and small branches)
1 c sugar
4 egg yolks
DIRECTIONS
Add milk, cream, rosemary, and pine to a large pot. Allow to almost boil before removing from heat. Let it cool and leave it for at least four hours. Can be left overnight, but not longer.
Remove the pine and rosemary from the infused milk/cream and then add one cup of sugar to the pot. Again bring just shy of a boil. Remove one cup of the liquid and whisk 4 egg yolks into that cup before returning the yolk mixture to the pot.
Stir constantly on low heat for 2-3 minutes or until the mixture heavily coats the sides of the pot. Remove from heat and refrigerate for 4 hours until chilled.
Spin in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. Remove to freezer- safe container and harden in the freezer for at least 4 hours before serving.
Madrone Bark Tea
A Toasty Tea for Fall
by Torrey Douglass
The Madrone tree ( Arbutus menziesii) stands out in the forest like a peacock among chickens. Muscular branches, decked out in shiny bunches of deep green leaves, are wrapped in smooth, red-brown bark and arc gracefully toward whatever direction delivers the sunlight. In springtime, clusters of small white flowers appear before becoming bunches of tiny, scarlet berries. And sometime in late summer, that red-brown bark starts to peel away in papery curls as the tree sheds its old bark to reveal its new, light green skin—definitely the best Hulk impression in the forest.
The bark falls of its own accord, so it can be collected without harming the tree and made into a mellow, woodsy-flavored tea with notes of cinnamon and smoke. It was traditionally used to soothe upset stomachs and treat colds. Earthy and comforting, this is a great autumn sipper to warm your bones as the earth spins away from the sun and cooler temperatures nudge aside summer’s memory.
Madrone Bark Tea
Gather the bark curls beneath the tree at the end of the afternoon when they’ve had all day to dry. Take a bunch of clean, dry bark curls and crush them with your hands into smaller pieces. Place them in a wire sieve and shake gently to get the tiny pieces out prior to using them.
Put about 1/4 cup of bark in a teapot and add 2 cups of boiling water, then let steep for 5 minutes. (Some folks boil the bark in the water, but that can generate strong tannic flavors.) Pour through a tea strainer into a mug and enjoy. Add a little honey if you’re feeling sweet. Store in a mason jar in a dark, cool place for future mugs of happiness.
Original photo by and (c)2007 NaJina McEnany. Photo prepared by User:Ram-Man. Used by permission., CC BY-SA 2.5
Black Walnut Bitters
A Homemade Digestive for Cocktails and Cooking
by Lisa Ludwigsen
In the world of herbalism, bitters hold a respected place as an aid to digestion and an important component to maintaining a healthy gut. The saying goes that “bitter is better,” meaning that incorporating bitter ingredients, like herbs, veggies, and spices, will complete a balanced diet. Though bitter conjures negative associations in our modern world of sugary indulgence, bitter flavors give depth to a dish or drink and really can improve our overall health.
Bitters in liquid form show up as tinctures and as a category of liquor known as digestives. Amaro, Angostura, and Nocino are a few mainstream digestives that are commonly consumed before or after meals. Walnuts are often used in bitter potions. The leaves and hulls (the pulpy green covering of the shell and nut) have been employed for centuries as treatments for ailments both internal and topical. Nocino is made from unripe walnuts combined with herbs and spices, then steeped in grain alcohol. The resulting dark, herbaceous, and slightly sweet concoction tastes tantalizing and unusual.
Walnut trees in Northern California typically fall into two varieties, the indigenous black walnut, Juglans Californica hindsii, and the English walnut, Juglans regia. The two varieties look similar but have different leaf shape and bark variations. An easy way to distinguish black from English walnuts is to look at the trunk. English walnuts are often grafted onto black walnut trunks because the native walnut is more resistant to disease and pest predation. If you notice an abrupt change in the trunk that looks like two pieces melded together, you are probably looking at an English walnut grafted onto black walnut stock. We value English walnuts because the shells are relatively easy to crack, compared with black walnuts which require much more fortitude to open.
Walnut bitters as tinctures have been showing up in everything from craft cocktails to specialty coffee drinks. Walnut hulls imbue the bitters with a complex, herb-forward profile that can add depth and cut the sweetness of a Manhattan or Old Fashioned. A couple of drops of walnut bitters can also add dimension to a soup or sauce.
Fortunately, recipes for walnut bitters can use either black or English walnuts, and both are easy to find growing in Mendocino County. Ukiah used to be prime walnut farmland, with orchards dotting the landscape where vineyards now thrive. Drive down the street and you’ll likely pass stately walnuts adding to mature landscapes.
Making walnut bitters at home is easy and provides an opportunity to have some fun with new flavors that can sometimes be found right in your neighborhood. Timing and patience are key. The hulls need to be picked when the nuts inside are half formed, before the hulls dry out completely and begin to separate from the shell. Choose hulls that are still green with a little yellowing. Separate them from the shells. Dry the hulls by laying them on paper towels in a dark spot with good air circulation. I like to use the top of my laundry dryer. The hulls will turn black while drying. When the hulls are completely dry they are ready to be made into a tincture.
This recipe is adapted from a similar recipe on the blog site Schisandra & Bergamot. Note that walnuts contain an ingredient, juglone, which will inhibit decomposition and can cause allergic reactions in some people. Also, walnut hulls will permanently stain anything they come into contact with, so wear gloves and protect counters and clothing when working with them.
Black Walnut Bitters
INGREDIENTS
1 c dried and chopped walnut hulls
3 tsp cinnamon chips (this can be crushed cinnamon sticks)
2 tsp cacao nibs (Cacao nibs impart a chocolatey background taste. Omit if you don’t have these on hand and don’t want to invest in an entire bag for just 2 teaspoons.)
1 tsp whole cloves
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp dried orange peel
Approximately 2 c of 80 proof or higher alcohol, such as vodka
INSTRUCTIONS
In a clean jar, combine all ingredients and stir. Pour in enough alcohol so that all ingredients are completely covered.
Cover the jar with a tightly fitting lid and store in a dark place for at least three weeks and up to three months. Feel free to gently swirl and sample the concoction occasionally to gauge the developing flavors. The longer it sits, the more complex the overall product.
Strain with a coffee filter or cheesecloth in a sieve and discard or compost the spent material.
Your bitters are now ready to use! Start by adding just a drop or two to a cocktail. Use them in place of Angostura bitters with sparkling water, or add them to a sauce. Remember that a little goes a long way. Feel free to experiment with added ingredients like coffee beans, citrus peels, or cacao nibs.
Miner’s Lettuce
Springtime’s Tasty Weed
by Holly Madrigal
Springtime in Northern California blankets the coastal woodlands in lush green. If enough rain has fallen, then the moss drips, the forget-me-nots emerge, and miner’s lettuce flourishes. Most people can easily identify it, perhaps cultivating some ancient memory of coastal walks of their youth, or of an older companion saying “you can eat this.” Miner’s lettuce is characterized by a succulent, mild, yet slightly lemony green leaf—a heart-shaped oval with the delicate white flower perched atop like some sort of fairy fascinator hat.
Known as Claytonia perfoliate, large swaths can be found grouped under the shady side of oaks and buckeyes. It is so ubiquitous that many a forager overlooks it, like how your eye no longer registers the intricate glory of the California quail because it is so common. Food and forage writer, Hank Shaw, calls miner’s lettuce the “iceberg lettuce of wild foods.” In an article on the website Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, he describes how this humble spring green has enough vitamin C to prevent scurvy, which is how the miners used it during the gold rush. Native to North America, it is one of the few predominant “weeds” that can claim this providence, a plant indigenous to the Americas but which does not have the bitter weed-fame of the dandelion (native to Europe).
You can find miner’s lettuce quite easily near any trail within roughly thirty miles of the coast, and in fact it may be a pleasant surprise in many other locations. Keep an eye out for this overlooked gem next time you are on a springtime walk.
Spring Miner’s Lettuce Salad with Strawberries and Feta
Make the dressing:
Equal parts light olive oil & apple cider vinegar
Honey to taste
Fresh ground pepper & salt
Assemble the salad:
Two handfuls miner’s lettuce leaves, large pieces torn, rinsed, and dried
Half a basket strawberries, sliced
3 Tbsp feta, crumbled
2 Tbsp pine nuts, lightly toasted
Layer on plates and drizzle with the dressing.
Photo originally posted to Flickr by andrey_zharkikh at https://flickr.com/photos/33497841@N02/17725750654 and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en
Flex those Mussels
Gifts from the Sea in Sturdy Packages
by Holly Madrigal
One of the most easily harvested local treasures is the mussels that encrust the shoreline, visible all over the rocks, especially at low tide. But as with any wild foods, it pays to be smart and to research what you are eating before you bite. Wild forage at your own risk. Ask questions from locals and heed their advice.
Good rules of thumb:
Only eat mussels in months with an “R,” avoiding the summer when toxic algaes can bloom and the mussels are spawning, which can alter the taste.
There is often a quarantine period from May to October to avoid paralytic shellfish poisoning—NOT something to mess around with. Call the California Shellfish Biotoxin Information Line at 1-800-553-4133 just to be extra cautious and ensure that the area you are foraging is safe.
Double check that the waters and the weather are safe at the time that you plan to forage.
Go at low tide, as mussel beds form on rocks at the tideline. Respect the ocean and keep your wits about you.
Once you’ve done your research, it’s time to try harvesting and enjoying these small shellfish delicacies. You can pick up a fishing license at one of the local shops, or purchase one online. (If you don’t have a license, you can be fined by Fish & Wildlife.) This license will allow you to forage up to 10 pounds of the mollusc, with this caveat: You are not allowed to use tools, so bring strong gloves and a bucket to hold your goodies.
To prepare your harvest, place the mussels in a colander and run water over them, using your hands or a stiff brush to rub off any debris like seaweed, sand, barnacles, or mud spots that could be on the shell. If you find any mussels with open shells, lightly tap that mussel against the side of the sink. If the mussel closes up again in response to this stimulus, it’s alive. If it doesn’t respond, discard it.
The beard of a mussel is the clump of hair-like fibers that sprouts from the shell. To remove the beard from the mussel, grab it with your thumb and forefinger and tug it toward the hinge of the mussel shell. You can also use a knife to gently scrape away the beard.
Once your mussels are cleaned and debearded, they’re ready to cook and eat. Try them in a white wine sauce, served with crusty bread. Slather them in aioli or melted butter. Or, try the delicious recipe that follows.
Drunken Mussels
This easy recipe is quick and delicious. Just bring a flavorful, wine-based broth to a boil, add mussels and cover, cook until they open, and eat. Yum!
Ingredients
2 Tbsp butter
4 cloves garlic, minced
½ tsp red pepper flakes, or to taste
1 lemon, zested
2 c white wine
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 pounds mussels, cleaned and debearded
1 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 slices bread, grilled
2 lemon wedges for garnish
Directions
Melt butter in a large stock pot over medium heat. Add garlic and let sizzle for about 30 seconds. Season with red pepper flakes and lemon zest, stirring for about 45 seconds.
Quickly pour wine into the pan and season with black pepper. Bring to a boil, stir in mussels, and cover immediately. Shake the pot and let boil for 1 minute.
Stir again, replace the cover, and let it boil for 2 more minutes. The shells will begin to open. Stir in parsley, cover the pot, and simmer until all the shells are open, 1 to 3 minutes.
Serve with grilled bread and lemon wedge.
Photo by Magda Ehlers courtesy of Pexels.
Soothing the Divine Itch
A Natural Remedy for Poison Oak
by Lisa Ludwigsen
It’s safe to say that anyone enjoying Northern California’s inspiring natural world is in proximity to poison oak. It can be a tricky and seductively beautiful plant. And some of us are sadly familiar with the divine itch that comes from poison oak contact. Accepting the fact that we must resist the urge to scratch that itch turns some people into philosophers; it can drive others to the brink of insanity. Patiently waiting for the rash to move through the stages of emerging irritation to gooey mess to finally fully healed is a great equalizer. Time heals all, as they say. It just takes a while.
The cause of the rash is an oil, urushiol, which coats all parts of the plant—leaves, stems, and fruit. In its summer glory, proudly sporting shiny, multicolored leaves on woody stems, poison oak easily blends with similar native plants like blackberries, scrub oak, wild rose, Virginia creeper, and wild grape. In winter, the delicate white berries hang on bare branches and beg to be included in a winter kitchen table flower bouquet. In poison oak country, always proceed with caution and know your plants!
The best way to avoid poison oak is to learn to identify the deciduous woody shrub, which looks distinctly different in each season. Poison oak usually has three ovate (egg-shaped) leaflets grouped together along the woody stem. Remember “Leaves of three, let it be” as good guidance for avoiding accidental contact.
Over-the-counter anti-itch remedies range from steroid creams to calamine lotion and oat baths. I’ve tried them all. My stubborn insistence on walking off-trail over the years has landed me in lots of trouble with poison oak. Thankfully, there are also products like Tecnu that will remove the oil before a rash breaks out, if you think you might have been exposed.
Not surprisingly, a few local native plants make very good treatments to reduce itching and dry out the rash of mild cases of poison oak. They include manzanita bark, mugwort, gumweed, jewelweed, and horsetail. You can easily have these plants on hand—they often grow near by poison oak, or can be found at your local co-op—and they can be used in various preparations (tinctures, decoctions, balms) in case that divine itch starts calling your name.
Mugwort & Horsetail Wash for Poison Oak
First, make a strong decoction of equal parts mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) and horsetail (Equisetum arvense), adjusting the recipe below for the quantity desired. A decoction is a strong tea where the plant matter is simmered in water, then cooled and strained, as described below.
In a small pot, measure 2 Tbsp dried herbs—or 4 Tbsp fresh herbs—to 1 pint cold water.
Over medium heat, bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Cool, then strain, pressing all liquid from plant matter.
Mix final decoction volume with equal parts witch hazel. If it is well strained, pour into a spray bottle and spray on affected areas. If the wash has sediment, either pour over affected area or apply with clean cloth or saturated sponge.
Store remaining wash in the refrigerator. The coolness will only add to the relief!
A Bit About the Plants
Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) can be found near streambeds or moist areas in elevations below 6,000’. It grows up to four feet tall and has leaves divided into three lobes. The telltale feature is that mugwort leaves are dark green above, and a grayish green below. It has a minty, sage smell.
Horsetail (Equisetum arvense) grows in moist to wet places. Its growth is straight and up to four feet tall. The stalks are composed of small segments that feel rough, which is due to the silica in the plant.
It’s easy to disdain poison oak, but it holds an important place in the natural world, where it has evolved with humans. Many years ago, while attending a workshop on the coast, I was complaining bitterly about how poison oak caused me such misery. A local Native American woman looked at me with kindness and said, “Poison oak occurs in disturbed areas, so it really is a protector of the forest. It keeps people out so the land can heal.” I realized then that I am in a relationship with this plant, and that it’s my job to be respectful and aware. When I forget, the plant is there, once again, to remind me.
Photo credit, p15 by James Whitney courtesy of Unsplash.
Mugwort photo courtesy of Lisa Ludwigsen. Horsetail photo by botany08, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.
Lisa Ludwigsen is a writer and marketer working with food, farms, and family small businesses throughout Northern California. She has worked in organic agriculture, natural foods, and environmental education for over 20 years.
Springbank Clover
An Edible Springtime Wildflower with Hidden Strengths
by Torrey Douglass
When Spring’s wildflowers appear, keep an eye out for springbank clover, whose deep magenta or pink-purple hues add some snazz to the landscape. With the Latin name Trifolium wormskioldii, its common names include cow’s clover, coast clover, and sand clover. This versatile and beautiful plant can be found in spots that offer both moisture and sun–beside a creek, in a patch of sunny meadow that stays damp from runoff, in marshy areas next to ponds, or on the edge of seasonal wetlands. They are especially abundant after a wet winter. All parts of the plant, from the young leaves to the flower heads to the tender roots under the soil, have something to offer. Starting at the top, the flowers can be dried or used fresh to make a refreshing tea. The greens can be eaten raw in salads or steamed and seasoned with sea salt for a simple side dish. But the real bounty of this plant is hidden beneath the ground, where its nutritious and abundant rhizomes historically served as an important vegetable for Indigenous peoples from California to Western Canada. Rich in calcium, magnesium, iron, and other nutrients, the roots of springback clover were traditionally dried for eating later in the year, but they are good fresh, too, when they are similar in taste and texture to Chinese bean sprouts. They can be washed and added raw to salads, or fermented into a quick and tasty kimchi (see recipe on the right). The flowers attract all sorts of bees and butterflies, so be thoughtful about gathering the plants and leave plenty for the pollinators. Mature plants thrive when they are periodically divided and replanted, so it’s fairly easy to cultivate your own to beautify the view, sustain pollinators, and provide an abundance of flowers, greens, and rhizomes for eating.
Springbank Clover Kimchi
Ingredients
• 2 c Springbank clover fresh rhizomes
• 1 c shredded carrots
• Optional: ½ c additional diced veggies like radishes, bell peppers, celery
• 2 minced cloves of garlic
• 1 tsp chili flakes
• 1 tsp fish sauce
• 1 Tbsp salt
• 1/4 c mushroom broth or water
• 1 tsp grated fresh ginger
• Optional: sesame seeds for garnish
Instructions
Combine garlic, chili flakes, fish sauce, and salt, and set that aside for one hour. This is your kimchi mixture.
Combine all of the vegetables into a bowl and salt generously, then set aside for one hour. Rinse the vegetables, then add the kimchi mixture and combine well. Transfer to a vessel, add a weight to press the veggies down, then add enough mushroom broth or water to cover.
Keep it at room temperature for 24 hours before enjoying. The kimchi can be refrigerated for up to a week. Try it with roasted meats, as a stir-fry side, or alone as an invigorating snack.
Torrey Douglass is a web and graphic designer living in Boonville with her family. Her life’s joys include reading by the fire, cooking something delicious, and inspiring her dogs to jump into the air with uncontained canine happiness.
Lazy Spring Drives
Wild Wildflowers
Blue Wing Saloon to Bear Valley 49 mi (dirt road involved)
A rustic drive through meadows of grazing cattle leads you to acres and acres of golden blooms. Swaths of purple and pink delight cover the landscape of Bear Valley outside Williams. After enjoying a delicious brunch at the Blue Wing Saloon in Upper Lake head east on Hwy 20 for about 37 miles, turn North onto Bear Valley Rd. which is unpaved. If you pass the Hwy 16 cutoff you have just passed the turn. 8 miles of dirt road pass through oak woodlands, dotted with volcanic soils. Keep your eyes peeled for the invasive wild pigs. Most of the area is private property but one generous ranch owner, in a particularly stunning field has made a gate proclaiming “Wildflower Access” allowing you to walk among the blooms. Best viewed in April with natures telltale variability.
Mustard & More
Boonville to Hendy Woods 9.2 miles
Yellow mustard fills the spaces between the vines on this gentle cruise through the vineyards and apple blossom orchards ending in the towering redwoods. Starting at Pennyroyal Farmstead sign up for a visit to see the goats, if you are lucky maybe some kids (the goat kind) will be about. Traveling west on Hwy 128 meander past vineyards bright with yellow mustard flowers. Arriving at Gowans to sample some award-winning hard cider. Just past the orchards take a left on Philo Greenwood Rd. The Apple Farm is just before the Navarro River and hosts a self-serve fruit stand complete with apply cider syrup, fresh pressed juice, jams and jelly’s. Select items for a picnic in Hendy Woods a State Park
A Blush of Blossomes
Sebastopol to Bodega Bay 16 miles
Drive along this route at the right time of year and falling blossom’s blow in drifts of warm air, carpeting the roads in pink. Driving West on Bodega Hwy. you travel through acres and acres of Apple Orchards many are the regionally celebrated Gravenstein type. Bright green grass covers the hillside interspersed with riots of yellow acacia trees. After 11 mile the road turns north up the coast a great place to grab some chowder and watch the sunset.
Sourberry
Zesty Sumac Drupes Might Be Growing in Your Own Backyard
by Torrey Douglass
Fruit from the hardy sourberry provided a lemony tang to dishes long before lemons were introduced to North America. The berries—bright red, slightly sticky, and roughly ¼” long—ripen in fall and can persist through the winter, a welcome food source for birds, other wildlife, and even people!
Also known as three-leafed sumac or rhus aromatica, the plant can grow as a low groundcover 2-3’ high or a large, bushy shrub up to 6-8’, depending on the amounts of light and moisture it receives. It is drought tolerant and boasts glossy green leaves in groups of threes, just like its cousin, poison oak. Sumac is common all along the western coast, from Baja California to Oregon, showing up in a variety of landscapes from oak woodlands, seasonal streams, and chaparral, primarily below 3500’ elevation.
Za’atar spice blend
The sumac fruit are drupes that contain a single hard seed, ripening from light green to dark red as the year rolls along. Wait until the berries are a rich red before picking. (Gloves and old clothes are advised due to the fruits’ sticky coating.) Indigenous Americans used the berries to settle an upset stomach or ease a toothache, or to make a refreshing, tart drink not unlike lemonade. If you try your hand at a sourberry lemonade, don’t rinse off the berries’ sticky coating, as that adds a natural sweetness to the drink. Instead, soak the berries in cold water for 2-4 hours before draining through increasingly finer meshes to remove any particulates.
Where the fruit really shines is in your spice cabinet. Sumac is widely used in Middle Eastern cooking, often as a key element of the popular Za’atar spice blend in combination with sesame seeds, thyme, oregano, and salt. But it’s perfectly suited to be used as a standalone ingredient as well, in place of lemons or vinegar for a tangy, gently acid flavor. Sumac adds spark to lentils, meats, fish, hummus, roasted vegetables—really any dish that could use a zesty wake-me-up.
Instructions
To make the sumac “spice,” first dry the berries. In hot and dry weather, you can do this by spreading them out on a cookie sheet under a protective screen, but in colder seasons, put those sheets in the oven for 3-4 days, periodically turning it on the “low” setting (less than 150 degrees) several times each day.
Once the berries are dry, grind them gently with a mortar and pestle—hard enough to press out the seeds from the fruit, but not so hard as to crush those seeds. Move the mixture to a plate, then “shimmy” the plate and tilt it, placing your hand perpendicular to the plate to hold the hulls back and let the seeds slide away under it. Discard the seeds.
After cleaning and drying the pestle, return the hulls to it and finish grinding into a powder (you can also use a coffee grinder for this step). Store in a jar. Soon you’ll be reaching for it whenever you’re cooking up something delicious in your kitchen.
Note: Like cashews, mangos, and pistachios, sumac is in the Anacardiaceae family. If you have allergies or food sensitivities to these foods and/or poison oak, avoid eating sumac.
Fruit Photo by Matt Lavin from Bozeman, Montana, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons. Spice photo by annafood, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Venison Jerky
A Spicy, Smoky, Tangy Family Favorite
by Alan Thomas
During deer season, friends who prefer hunting to butchering will sometimes gift us a portion of venison in exchange for help processing the animal. Venison is a lean, vitamin- and mineral-rich meat that does well when used in recipes that typically call for beef. And with less calories than chicken breast, it can arguably be called a truly heart-healthy red meat. Deer jerky is a family favorite, and it disappears almost as fast as it is lifted off the dehydrator’s screens.
After cutting steaks from the legs and shoulders, I thinly slice the remaining meat for jerky. It’s the jerky that my wife, kids, and neighbors can’t get enough of, and the recipe, which is not written down, is different each time. As a result, you’ll find lots of alternatives in the recipe below to combine for that spicy, smoky, tangy, slightly sweet mix that is venison jerky.
Note: This doesn’t have to be deer—a good, lean piece of beef works great, too.
Venison Jerky
Preparation
I slice the meat approximately 1/8” thick and divide into containers with lids or large zip lock bags. This allows me to try a couple of different marinades each time.
The Marinade
I’ll basically check the fridge for whatever bottles of sauce might be suitable. I’m looking for heat, smoke, sweet, and something with vinegar. I treat this stage as a means to clean up the condiment shelves on the fridge door, using up those bottles with an inch of something good left in them that are taking up valuable fridge real estate. I’ll take a pint measuring jug and finely chop some garlic, ginger, and a jalapeño and throw it all in. I’ll then look at the bottles and most likely put a couple of good glugs (yes, that’s a measurement in our household) of a hot sauce—it might be a habañero or as basic as good old Tapatío. Do not hold back on the amount. I’ll then find some smoke, often in the form of toasted sesame oil, which is nice and subtle. Smoked paprika is also good, or maybe a smokey bbq sauce. I’ll then add some apple cider vinegar and often the juice of a lemon. A good shot of ketchup or orange juice adds some sweet to the party. When the amount in the measuring jug is a little more than half a pint, and the little pinky taste test makes me smile and my scalp sweat, I’ll stir well then empty it into one of the containers of the thinly sliced deer meat.
One down, another marinade to go. This could be as simple as a much hotter version of marinade number one, or you can take number two in a totally different direction, which tends to be the way I roll. I’ve done a great Indian spice marinade with cumin, coriander, and garam masala. It totally depends on what you have on hand and what needs using up. I’ve not made a bad one yet!
Dehydrating
I like to put the containers in the fridge for 3 - 4 days so that the marinades find their way into the meat. I then get out the dehydrator, lay the marinated pieces on the racks, close but not touching each other, then dehydrate for between 4 - 5 hours on the jerky setting, until they’re dried but still have some give when bent. Taste test, and if some of the smaller pieces are drying out faster than others, then simply pull them out when you think they’re ready.
These don’t last long in our house, but as the weather can still be hot this time of year, we store the jerky in airtight containers in the fridge.
Photo by Frank Schulenburg, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Alan Thomas lives on a hillside with his family in Anderson Valley, where he raises cattle and pigs, putters in the garden, and tries to make the home he built a little more finished every day.
Fresh-Caught Rockfish
Richard and Corinne Thornton, owners of Anchor Charter Boats
While there are lots of ways to play at the edges of the ocean here in Mendocino County, there are fewer opportunities to get out on it, away from the land, atop that vast expanse of blue. With Anchor Charter Boats in Noyo Harbor, you not only spend half a day out among the beautiful waves, but you can also come home with dinner. From May through December, the charter company offers half-day trips where guests of all ages and experience levels climb aboard with high hopes of returning with a haul of rockfish.
Many different types of rockfish can be found in the waters beyond Noyo Harbor. Some live along the ocean floor in shallower intertidal areas to depths exceeding 1000 feet, while others live at midwater levels. Many weigh in at 3 lbs, but they can exceed a hefty 40 lbs. The company claims a 90% chance of coming back with a catch. Boat guests can each bring home a maximum of 10. The fish possesses a rich, nutty flavor with just a hint of sweet, making it particularly versatile for all sorts of recipes.
Company owners Richard and Corinne Thornton make the excursions a fun and relaxing outing for everyone. Be sure to dress warmly—summer mornings on the coast are typically in the 40s when it’s all aboard at 6:30am. The bonus? A stunning sunrise over the ocean. The trip is usually 5 hours, and you never know what you’re going to catch. Besides rockfish, you might pull up a halibut, an octopus, a wolf eel, or even a box crab. You might even win the fish pool, where each guest throws in $5 and the biggest haul by weight wins it all.
One hazard of the open water is motion sickness, so Corinne recommends taking a motion sickness pill the evening before and the morning of your voyage. Then prepare to make new friends, enjoy the wide open sea, catch some fish, and possibly fall in love with your new favorite pastime.
Two happy guests display the Rockfish they caught.
Fish & Chips
When Corinne gets a chance to get out of the office and onto the waves, she loves to prepare her rockfish with a classic fish & chips recipe, using the Sea Harvest Fry Mix, available in 5 lb bags at Harvest Market in Fort Bragg.
Ingredients
1.5-2 c Sea Harvest Fry Mix
1 bottle dark beer
Spices and herbs of your choice (oregano, chinese five spice, or garam masala, for example)
2 lbs fresh fish fillets, skin removed
Peanut oil for frying
Instructions
Add Sea Harvest Fry Mix, herbs and spices of your choosing, and beer into a medium bowl. Mix until the consistency of pancake batter. Cut fish into serving sizes, then heat the peanut oil in a deep pan to 375°. Coat fish pieces well with the batter.
Using tongs, slowly add pieces of fish to the oil, allowing the oil to recover its heat after each addition before adding more. Keep the temperature around 350°. Fry until fish pieces are golden brown. Remove fish with a slotted spoon or strainer and drain on a plate with paper towels. Peek inside to confirm the fish is cooked through. Serve with lemon, tartar sauce, and some fresh chips for the ultimate reward after your day on the waves!
Anchor Charter Boats
32450 N. Harbor Dr., Fort Bragg
(707) 964-4550 | AnchorCharterBoats.com
Photo credit for ocean: Elizabeth Lies of unsplash
Other images courtesy of Anchor Charter Boats
Cattail Pollen
The distinctive velvet brown hotdog shapes of the cattail are hard to miss in the ponds and wetland meadows of Northern California. Considered a survival plant, in that most of the plant is edible including the green tender shoots, green flowers, and roots, the cattail offers an unexpected bounty. And for a very short window in early spring, the male flowers release a pollen that can be used as a flour substitute.
To harvest, grab a pollen coated flower and give it a sturdy shake over a container or clean brown paper bag. A handful of flowers will give you a healthy amount of pollen. Transferred to a clean jar, it will keep well for weeks. Use the pollen to replace half the amount of flour in your favorite baked good recipe. Nutritious and delicious, these biscuits are best eaten warm from the oven and drizzled in butter and honey.
Cattail Pollen Drop Biscuits
Preheat oven to 475°. Whisk together in a bowl:
1 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup cattail pollen
1 Tbsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
Combine in another bowl
2/3 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
Add the wet to the dry ingredients and stir until fully combined, but don’t over mix. It will be very thick and sticky. Use a spoon to scoop golf ball-sized dollops of batter onto a cookie sheet. Bake until bottoms are a deep golden brown, about 9 minutes. Eat hot.
Photo by Jim Morefield from Nevada, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Toyon
California’s Christmas Berry
by Torrey Douglass
Toyon berries (or pomes) can be found along the entire California coast, and its nickname, “Christmas berry,” is well earned. It boasts festive small, bright red berries October through January, and at one point was so popular for foragers making wild-sourced holiday wreaths that the state passed a law prohibiting their collection on public lands. Toyon is a shrub, but it can grow quite large—up to 8 feet in chaparral, scrubland, and mixed-oak woodland habitats—and its drought-tolerance, fire resistance (if healthy), and ability to grow in different types of soil make it an ideal choice for erosion control and pollinator support.
The scientific name for Toyon is Heteromeles arbutifolia. Heteromeles means “different apple” in Greek, while arbutifolia is Latin for “strawberry tree leaves,” since the oblong leaves with serrated edges mirror those on strawberry plants. The berries are not particularly tasty on their own—mealy, acidic, and astringent. But you can coax a gentle sweetness from them through either drying or boiling. They can then be ground into flour and added to trail mix if dried, or, if boiled, simmered into a berry cider, added to pancake batter, or made into a kind of wild equivalent to cranberry sauce.
Another option for utilizing these winter gems is a sweet and chewy fruit leather. Chef and wild food expert, Alicia Funk, uses the following recipe for her Toyon berry fruit leather. Try it out for a yummy foraged snack.
Toyon Berry Fruit Leather
4 cups fresh Toyon berries
½ cup water
Lemon juice
Manzanita sugar, agave or honey
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Collect berries in the winter, then rinse and remove stems. Place in a pot, cover with water, and simmer for 15 minutes. Add desired sweetener, lemon juice, and spices to taste. Cook for another 5 minutes, then blend through a food processor or blender until smooth. Pour a thin layer—about 1/8” thick—onto a baking sheet. Let dry in the oven, food dehydrator, or place in the sun covered with cheesecloth. Cut into strips and enjoy!
Find more recipes from Alicia Funk at The Living Wild Project | LivingWild.org
Photo by docentjoyce from Los Osos, U.S.A., CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Wild Turkeys
The Tasty Fall Fowl
by Torrey Douglass
One of my favorite things about fall is the prospect of getting some wild turkey on the table. When the season is right* and the hunting license is in his pocket, my son will keep one ear open at all times for the birds’ telltale gobble. They can often be found in flocks walking through the fields and forests in the hour or two just after dawn or just before dusk.
It’s best to note the route the birds are taking and quietly find a spot farther along it, then take your shot when they pass by. Sneaking up on them is a much trickier prospect. Regulations permit using a shotgun, air rifle, or archery equipment to take a turkey of either sex. Aim for the head to preserve the meat. If you’re stealthy and have good aim, this hearty game bird can become the central feature of a foraged fall feast.
You want to tread gently when cooking a game bird. The white and dark meats need different cooking times, so it’s better to break down the turkey into parts and cook them separately rather than roast the whole bird. The meat is lean and can dry out quickly, but has a richer flavor than its domesticated counterpart. That wonderful flavor likely is due to their omnivorous diet—they will eat pretty much anything, be it berries, seeds, insects, and even small reptiles.
So when fall is winding down and the days are growing short, get yourself a hunting license and take off into the great outdoors (where you’ve been given permission, of course), and you just might bring home this most delicious forageable fowl.
*The season for hunting wild turkey in 2020 begins November 14 and lasts through December 13. Be sure to check out wildlife.ca.gov to familiarize yourself with the rules and regs, and get the proper license before you set out to catch your own wild turkey (limit 2 per season).
Wild Turkey on the Grill
A wild turkey’s legs and breasts are best for eating, and brining works well. For the breasts, marinate in soy sauce, kosher salt, juice of a lemon, and fresh ground black pepper.
Remove from marinade, sprinkle with piment d’ville and herbs de provence, and put on the barbeque. If your barbeque is outdoors and weather is not obliging, cut into chunks and put into a cast iron dutch oven along with previously sauteed onions. Add some root vegetables and whole garlic cloves, cover with stock and cook for 2-3 hours in a 350˚ oven. Veggies should be nicely softened and meat fork-tender, swimming in a delicious gravy. Great served with a rice pilaf. Pro tip: heat the pan in the oven for 10 minutes prior to adding the meat, stock, and vegetables.
Summer Sipping
Make a Tasty Cider from Manzanita’s “Little Apples”
by Torrey Douglass
For years I only appreciated manzanita berries for their color—ruby red, pea-sized pearls that make festive homemade tree garlands come holiday time. They start to ripen in late July and August, a cheerful splash of red on the forest’s edge where manzanitas grow, a joyful outburst of pretty as nature does her bling thing.
So I was surprised when, on a walk with friends, their forest-savvy daughter ran up to a manzanita tree and began snacking. My friend assured me they have a sweet-tart flavor and starchy texture, and as long as you avoid champing down on the seeds, the “little apples” (manzanita’s meaning in Spanish) are a safe and tasty find. Like all fruit with fleshy skin and a single seed stored within a central “stone,” the manzanita berries are technically called drupes. They brighten their branches well into fall, just when critters like deer, racoon, quail, and coyote are foraging to fatten up for the cold months.
Besides the carbohydrates that calorie-hungry animals are craving before winter, manzanita berries are rich in Vitamin C and potassium. But like regular apple seeds, their pips contain hydrocyanic acid, or cyanide, which is dangerous if consumed in quantity. So be sure to spit out the seeds if eating the berries straight from the tree, or, if you’re using them in a recipe, be careful to just bruise the fruit to release its flavor—don’t crush or blend since that could break open the seeds. As long as you exercise a little caution, you can easily concoct a refreshing summer sipper when poured over ice (front porch not included).
Manzanita Berry Punch
Collect manzanita berries and wash thoroughly—putting them in a colander and gently stirring them by hand while running water over them works well. Using a mortar and pestle, gently break up the fruit while being careful to keep the stones whole. Some people remove the stones at this stage, but it is not necessary.
In a 4:1 ratio of water to berries, heat water to just below boiling. (Don’t boil the water, as adding boiled water to the fruit can destroy the vitamins.) Add your sweetener of choice to the water at this stage. Honey dissolves nicely, but cane sugar works as well. You can also add a few sprigs of mint as the water heats, but remove before the next step so the flavor isn’t too strong.
In a clean container like a carboy or other large, glass jug, add the berries and then pour the heated water in. Let sit for 24 hours. Strain the juice into a different jug. Taste to test for sweetness and adjust if needed (a little goes a long way). Refrigerate and use within a week.
For a bubbly treat, simmer the juice to reduce it down to a quarter of its volume, then add the concentrate to carbonated water.
Photo by John Rusk available under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. https://www.flickr.com/photos/john_d_rusk/17998226283/
Fabulous & Forageable
A Refreshing Pesto from Spring’s Wild Herbs
by Torrey Douglass
Spring is the season of hope. It’s teeming with new beginnings, from baby lambs bouncing about the fields like popcorn to fresh shoots pushing through the rain-soaked soil. With all that inspiring potential and (hopefully) sunshine in the air, it’s tempting to immediately roll up your sleeves and dig into whatever projects capture your fancy. But before you get started on your spring pursuits, you can give your body a welcome boost with this super green pesto.
This blend of forageable plants is delicious and versatile. It works as a sandwich spread, pasta topping, or side condiment for your protein of choice. Dandelions and chickweed are pretty common throughout the county, but nettles are best foraged on the coast (and be sure to use heavy gloves to protect your hands when you do). Dandelions are good for the kidneys and a great source of beta carotene, and chickweed soothes bronchial tissue and aids digestion. Nettles contribute a bounty of minerals and vitamins—and some folks have reported nettle tea decreases their allergic reaction to pollen in the springtime. Taken together, this blend of seasonal greens will power you up to make the most of spring’s possibilities.
Wild Pesto with Spring Herbs
Gather nettles, chickweed leaves, and dandelion greens. (Be particularly careful when foraging for chickweed, as there are some similar-looking plants that are not good for eating.) Clean the plants thoroughly, being careful of those stinging nettles! Shake dry and pat with paper towel to further remove moisture. Blend the greens together in a food processor or an old fashioned mortar and pestle. Add a dash of salt, a smattering of pine nuts or walnuts, and olive oil as needed until the pesto is smooth and tasty.
Thanks to herbalist Mary Pat Palmer and forager Abeja Hummel for their input for this article.
Nettle picture by Giovanni Dall’Orto
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nettle_-_Ortica_-_Foto_Giovanni_Dall%27Orto.jpg
Dandelion picture by Fir0002, Covered by GNU Free Documentation License
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dandelion.jpg
Chickweed picture by Kaldari. Made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kaldari_Stellaria_media_01.jpg
Salt! Gift of the Waves
by Torrey Douglass
With over 90 miles of coastline, Mendocino County is lucky to have the Pacific Ocean along its western edge, leaning its rocky shoulder against the bulk of blue (or grey, or green, depending on the prevailing weather conditions). It’s an ever-changing behemoth we can gaze at, dip in, sail on, and feed from. When considering how the ocean factors into your menu, your mind probably lands first on all the sea creatures we love to eat—Salmon, Rock Cod, Lingcod, Albacore, and Pacific Halibut, to name a few. But there is another food we can forage from our rocky shores, an elemental one: SALT.
Foraging always requires a little effort, and it might be tempting to ask, “Why bother? Salt is just salt, right?” If only. Processed table salt is kept dry and pourable due to anti-caking agents, which can contain aluminium (pro-tip: don’t eat aluminium!). Its manufacturing process also destroys the naturally occurring alkaline minerals our bodies need, including iodine, so a synthetic iodine is added back in. (Flashback fact: synthetic iodine was added to table salt in the 1920s to reduce goiters occurring in the Midwest as a result of mineral-deficient foods caused by depleted soil.) Both the aluminium and the synthetic iodine are known hormone disruptors, and the bleach used to turn naturally grey salt bright white is not recommended for consumption, either. OH MY GOSH, ALL THE BAD NEWS! Let’s go get some sea salt.
There are two methods for gathering salt—you can pick up the naturally evaporated deposits left along the rocks, or you can collect salt water and bring it home to make the salt yourself. For the first approach, you need to be comfortable with some bonus items in your salt—sand, driftwood specks, possibly even seagull poop, you get it. Walk along the rocks and look for crystalized salt on the edges of tidepools or along the high tide mark on flat rocky outcroppings. With a thin metal spatula, delicately break away the deposits and lift the pieces into your container. At home you can spread the salt onto a cookie sheet and pick out whatever hitchhikers made their way into your harvest, then store in a cool, dry spot.
The second method takes more time but it’s easier to avoid contaminants. Find a pollution-free location to collect sea water (think cove, not harbor). Bring a clean, lidded container to fill. Once you’re back in your kitchen, pour the water through a sieve into a large pot, bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer until there is an inch of cloudy water left in the bottom. Next, pour this mixture into a large shallow pan or cookie sheet with a lip, cover with cheese cloth or a fine screen, and leave it in the sun until completely dry. At this point, you can use the salt in its natural flake form or put it into a food processor to grind into a finer grain. Consider adding herbs like rosemary, dried garlic, dill, and/or oregano to make your own salt blend. Your imagination can roam as wild and wide as the ocean itself.
Photo by Aylin Coban courtesy of Unsplash.