Blackberries: Worth the Thorns
by Torrey Douglass
The heat of summer can persist well into the fall months in inland Mendocino County, where, in some years, September is more of an August 2.0. While we are usually more than ready for the relief of cooler weather, there are some benefits when summer stretches, for as long as the warmth is around, the blackberries are, too.
This non-native invader is scrappy and opportunistic, thriving in thin soil and dry conditions that discourage plants with gentler natures. If you don’t have blackberries on your property, just keep your eyes open while driving county roads. You’ll often see cars pulled over at large thickets growing just past the shoulder, with people reaching gingerly over the thorn-encrusted tendrils to pluck the juicy gems. Wonderful on their own, in muffins, or sprinkled over cereal, they also make a knock-out tart. Brave the thorns and bring this concoction to your next potluck—and listen to the Mmmms roll in.
Blackberry Tart
For the dough
¼ c very cold water
1 c unbleached flour
¼ tsp salt (omit if using salted butter)
¾ stick of cold butter cut into small cubes
For the filling
Melted butter
Approx. 3 c of fresh blackberries
2-3 Tb sugar
Cut the cubed butter into the flour either with a pastry blender or by hand—I use a Cuisinart and it works great. Add ¾ of the water and mix or stir with a fork until it forms clumps. Keep adding water until a dough is formed, damp and uniform but not overly sticky.
Divide the big ball of dough into two. Wrap each in plastic, then squash into disks. Chill in the fridge for at least an hour, then roll it out to 1/4” thickness on a floured surface. The rolled dough does not need to be a perfect circle. Place the rough circle of dough on a cookie sheet on top of a piece of parchment paper to keep it from sticking. Sprinkle the top with a little flour so the fruit doesn’t make it too soggy as it bakes. Add the fruit in a tight circle in the center in one layer, then sprinkle with sugar.
Fold the dough over the fruit—it will not meet, so some of the fruit will still be visible in the center. Brush the top of the dough with melted butter, then sprinkle with more sugar and put in a 400° oven for 45–55 minutes until the crust is lightly browned. Slide onto a rack to cool.
Purslane
Delicious Superfood
by Holly Madrigal
Purslane is considered a weed by many since it grows readily in the hot spaces between garden beds. Each plant will release hundreds of thousands of seeds, so if you grow one, it's basically with you forever—which could be wonderful, since one person's weed is another person’s superfood.
Purslane leaves are tiny green gems of vitamin C, antioxidants, magnesium, calcium, potassium, and omega 3 fatty acids. Known around the world, it can be found in cuisines in India, Spain, and Turkey, among others. We are lucky that it grows abundantly in Northern California.
Since it grows along the ground, rinse well and add to a water bath with a teaspoon of vinegar. Agitate to remove grit and drain. Pick leaves from thicker stems and add to salads, puree in dressings, or use to stuff fish. The flavor of fresh purslane is like bright green lemon pepper. What a weed!
Easy Purslane Summer Salad
Ingredients:
1 tomato, chopped
1 cucumber, chopped
½ c purslane leaves, thick stems removed, chopped
1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
½ c small fresh mozzarella balls, chopped
2-3 T fresh squeezed lemon juice
Drizzle of olive oil
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
Combine all the ingredients by stirring gently, and eat up.
Nettles!
Spiky and Splendid
by Janelle Weaver
At our restaurant, The Bewildered Pig, we can’t get enough wild nettles when they are in season! They have an earthy flavor that’s often compared to spinach, but “wilder.” The puree recipe below is our favorite method of “preserving them,” because it takes little time and the end result takes up little space. Blanching the nettles is great as it “locks in” the chlorophyll and the nutrients. Kept frozen, you can use this bright green puree for all kinds of things. Not only does it taste great, but also nettles are packed full of nutrients to keep you super healthy! If you want to forage for nettles yourself, bring along an experienced, knowledgeable forager. It’s smart to wear gloves to work with raw nettles to avoid getting “stung.” Only purchase nettles from a reliable source.
Nettle puree is excellent with all kinds of dishes—as a pasta “sauce,” added to aioli (wow—how healthy to make a fresh garlic & nettle aioli with farm fresh eggs?!), or mixed with ground toasted nuts and fresh garlic to make a pesto. Use as-is for a sauce for vegetables, cheese, fish, or game. Stir into an egg custard, mix into fresh pasta dough. Add to whipped cream cheese and serve with bagels and lox. The possibilities are endless, and we’ll explore as many as we can while spring lasts!
Nettle Puree
Ingredients:
Up to 1 lb. wild Nettles (or more)
Sea Salt
Oil of Choice~see notes
Equipment/Other things needed:
Stock Pot or large saucepan
Spider (hand held strainer)
Blender
Gloves
Large bowl fitted with a basket strainer
Clean towel
Pair of trimming scissors
Depending on the size/growth stage of the nettles, you will need to trim them accordingly. Very young nettles don’t need to be trimmed, whereas with older nettles, you will need to clip the leaves from the woody, spiky stems. You should rinse the nettle leaves before blanching to ensure they are free of forest debris and bugs.
Have your trimmed nettles at the ready. Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil. Salt like the sea. While the water is coming to the boil, prepare an ice bath in a large bowl. Once the water is boiling, add the nettles. Do not overcrowd the pan—you may need to do this in batches. Boil for 20 seconds.
Using your handheld strainer, remove the nettles from the water and plunge them into your ice bath. Jiggle them to insure they chill quickly. Remove, wring them out with your hands (blanching makes the sting go away, so you won’t need your gloves at this point). Place onto the clean towel and wring out again to further remove excess water. In small batches, place nettles in the blender. Add oil to cover. Blend until smooth. Store in small containers and freeze until needed.
A note on oil: If you do not want the oil to impart flavor, you should use a non-GMO canola. Olive Oil is fine, but it will lend its flavor, so keep that in mind. You can blend canola & olive oil to dilute the flavor of the olive oil. Peanut or coconut oils are not recommended.
You can add herbs of choice to flavor your puree as desired. If you only have a small amount of nettles, you can use spinach to increase your quantity. Blanch the herbs separately (they only need 10 seconds in the boiling water).
The Bewildered Pig serves dinner from Thurs–Sun 5:00–9:00pm.
1810 Highway 128, Philo. | (707) 895-2088 | bewilderedpig.com
Photo by Paul M on Unsplash
Crab!
by Jay Newcomer
On November 3rd, the Dungeness crab season opened for recreational fishing along our stretch of beautiful coast here in Mendocino County. Last year was a prosperous harvest, and I’m hoping for another great season this year (which will run through July of 2019). To be eligible to catch crab, one must have a valid California fishing license (children under 16 years of age do not need a license), and each angler can keep ten Dungeness crabs of legal size. A measuring tape or, even better, a crab gage must be used to be sure all crabs taken are of legal size—at least 5-¾" across the narrowest part of the shell on the crab’s back just in front of the lateral spines.
Female Dungeness are easily identified by looking at the belly, as she will have a half moon shaped shell. By contrast the males have a prominent point shape on their belly. I only keep males to encourage as many crab offspring as possible.
There are three popular ways to catch Dungeness crab. The first is by casting from the shore, using a sturdy fishing pole and a baited box with looped fishing line surrounding it. Squid makes fine bait and can be found along with the catching device at many county fishing and sporting goods outlets. My favorite one is the Noyo Fishing Center down in the harbor in Fort Bragg. After casting the trap out onto a sandy bottom, the angler waits until a tugging of the line is felt, and then they quickly retrieve the bait to shore.
The second popular method is the use of hoop traps, conical in shape and about 2-½ feet across. A bait such as raw chicken is securely attached to the center of the trap, and the trap is lowered onto the sandy bottom of the ocean. A buoy is used to mark the trap’s location on the top end of the retrieval rope. Be sure your rope is long enough for your water depth or the whole rig will sink and be lost forever. Hoop trapping is used from piers and from kayaks in the ocean and is also a good way to catch crabs in the brackish river mouths. Each trap will need to be frequently checked and legal crab removed at least once every two hours.
Finally, a fully closed crab trap is most commonly used when fishing from a boat. These traps also feature retrieval ropes and marker buoys and are deployed in sandy bottomed locations ranging in depth from 50 to 200 feet or deeper. Traps are baited with fish heads, chicken, or squid, and can be left for several tidal cycles. Each buoy must be marked with the ID number on the angler's license, and it’s important to remember where the traps were set. Your cell phone can help with this by activating the mapping feature. Leaving the traps overnight works great, and returning the next day to pull up the ocean’s bounty is a unique thrill.
Crab should be kept on ice and alive until placed in a boiling pot. Bring the pot back to a boil for 15 minutes, then drain and cool as quickly as possible. An ice bath works best for this. Dungeness crab makes wonderful salads and crab cakes, as well as crab bisque. While you can find all sorts of recipes online, like the Baltimore Crab Cakes below from epicurious. com, my favorite is simply covering the table in newspaper and eating the fresh, sweet meat directly from the shells. Enjoy!
Baltimore Crab Cakes
Ingredients
1/4 c mayonnaise
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 T Dijon mustard
2 tsp fresh lemon juice plus wedges for garnish
1-½ tsp Old Bay Seasoning
1/2 jalapeño, seeded, finely chopped
1 pound lump crabmeat, cooked and picked over
1-¼ c panko (Japanese breadcrumbs), divided
1 T thinly sliced chives
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 head Bibb lettuce
2 T vegetable oil
Combine first 7 ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk. Add crab, then stir in 3/4 cup panko, chives, salt, and pepper. Form each into 6 1”-thick patties. Refrigerate for a miniumum of 10 minutes. Cover a platter with lettuce leaves.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Place remaining 1/2 cup panko on a plate, then dip the cakes before adding them to the skillet. Fry until golden brown and crisp, 3-4 minutes per side. Arrange atop lettuce and serve with lemon wedges.
Jay Newcomer has lived in Anderson Valley for more than two decades. When he’s not playing with grapes for a living, he enjoys fishing, gardening, foraging and turning all that bounty into delicious meals for family and friends.
Crab drawing by Rebecca Goldie.
The Abundant Acorn
by Torrey Douglass
Acorns are amazing. You could easily overlook these little oblong nuggets scattered among the duff under oaks, but they are an integral part of our ecosystem, a nutrient-rich food source for all sorts of wildlife, from squirrels and wild turkeys to deer and wild pigs. In a 2014 article in Scientific American, ecologist Janet Fryer from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service states that “oak species with their large, nutrient-rich acorns, may be the single most important genus used by wildlife for food and cover in California forests and rangelands.” Even domesticated livestock like cows, sheep, and goats will feed on acorns from the many types of oaks that thrive on our south facing slopes.
Like many California natives, the Pomo people of our area relied on acorns as a dietary staple. And why not? They are an excellent source of fats, protein, and minerals, and thanks to their hard outer shells, they can be stored for up to three years. Health benefits include improving digestion, heart health, energy levels, and blood sugar regulation—quite the superfood! And super-abundant as well. A mature oak can drop up to 2,000 pounds of acorns in a good year, but as Boonville homesteader Rob Goodell shared, an oak’s yield can vary greatly from one year to the next.
So what’s the catch? In a word: tannins. Tannin amounts vary among different oak species, with white oaks containing the least. (Some oaks in the area include black oaks, live oaks, and tan bark oaks.) It’s best to collect the acorns shortly after they’ve fallen, while there’s still a little give to the shells. Moth worms can burrow into acorns, leaving a hole that lets in air, so to quickly identify infected acorns, pour a bunch in a bucket of water and remove the “floaters.”
To render the acorns edible, tannins need to be removed through either steaming or soaking. The first step for either process is to remove the acorns from their shell. You can lay out the acorns inside a folded towel then hit them with a hammer to crack the shells. You can also soak them overnight to soften the shells, then peel them by hand. Fastidious cooks remove the papery layer between the shell and nut, but it’s not necessary. After you’ve gathered the nut meats, chop them roughly in a blender. Do not make them too fine or they will fall through the holes in your steamer.
Next, place three to four cups of the chunky acorn mush into a steamer. After 30 minutes, taste to check if enough tannins have steamed out. It can take up to two hours for full processing, so keep tasting until you’re satisfied the bitterness is gone.
Another leaching technique requires storing the chopped acorns in a large glass jar of water in your fridge. Drain and replace with fresh water every day for a week, then taste to see if they are ready or give them more time if they need it. In the past, the native Pomo would fill a basket with acorns and set it in a running stream for a couple of weeks to achieve the same effect.
Once the tannins are removed, you can work with your acorn mixture. A second blend will break down the chunks into smaller pieces for a finer “meal”—this can be done in a blender or with a potato masher. Next spread the meal on cookie sheets to dry in the sun. It needs to be completely dry to become acorn flour or the moisture will accelerate decay. Once dry, you can blend again in a food processor, then sift to remove any last little chunks. Store acorn flour in a dry, dark place. It will last anywhere from a few months to almost a year.
You can use half acorn flour and half wheat flour in your favorite baking recipes, but be mindful that the acorn flour is gluten-free and adjust your approach accordingly. Pancakes, muffins, and even breads work well with acorn flour. The end product is similar to almond flour, so you can expand your options by hunting for almond flour recipes wherever you look for kitchen inspiration.
Willits herbal teacher Donna D’Terra uses acorns to make acorn paté. Learn more about processing acorns in her September 8th class: Autumn Wild Harvest. This hands-on class will also cover a method of turning Bay nuts into chocolate-like treats and using Manzanita and Toyon Berries as drink and seasoning. For more information, 707-459-5030 or Motherland@pacific.net.
Donna d’Terra’s Acorn Pate
Mix 1 cup acorn (leached, cooked, strained, cooled) with mayonnaise until it is a “spreadable” consistency. Fold in some or all of these (chopped fine): scallions or red onion, celery, basil/cilantro/parsley, toasted sesame or toasted sunflower seeds. Add to taste: lemon juice or balsamic vinegar, tamari, salt, or pepper. Serve on crackers and enjoy! Photo by Andy Balestracci.
Special thanks to Donna d’Terra the recipe.
Nocino: A Sip from Mendocino’s Past
by Heidi Cusick Dickerson
June 24th is the Feast Day of San Giovanni (St. John the Baptist), the patron saint of Florence, and traditionally it’s also the day when unripe green walnuts (noci) are gathered to make Nocino. Do your future self a favor and start this liqueur to make the perfect winter gift. Nocino was a popular digestif originally brought over by immigrant families from the Emilia- Romano region of Italy. Sipping this after dinner tipple can transport you to 1920’s Mendocino County, where Italian American wine-makers were struggling to survive prohibition. You too can visit this fascinating era while supporting a good cause at the Leadership Mendocino Festa at Testa! Celebrating the end of Prohibition 85 years ago, join this “grown-up treasure hunt” for food and fun at one of the authentic prohibition farmhouse cellars. Friday June 15th. Tickets at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3423588.
Recipe: Green Walnut Liqueur (Nocino)
- Pick 2 cups of green walnuts. Rinse and chop these immature walnuts into quarters (the young shells can still be tough so use caution). Put them in a big glass jar with a fifth of Everclear—has to be 100% alcohol.
- Put it on the deck outside or on a windowsill in the sun for 40 days. If the temperature reaches 95 or more, move it to partial sun.
- On the 40th day, strain the liquid, which will be dark brown. Toss the walnuts in the compost. Add sugar to the liquid—at least a cup, but more will give it extra viscosity and cut the bitterness.
- You can also add lemon peel, yellow part only, and cinnamon stick to taste.
- Cover and store in a cool place for 40 days. Then strain it and let it sit until the holidays.
Serve in tiny liqueur glasses for an after dinner digestif. Salute!
The Nourishing Wild
Spring’s “weeds” are packed with nutrients and flavor
by Bill Taylor and Jaye Alison Moscariello
Join the wild food revolution! In a changing world of nutrient-poor domesticated crops, wild plants provide some of the most nutritious foods found anywhere. Floodgate Farm is known for their wild plant offerings, particularly their colorful and delicious salad mix. These plants are some of the first to recover after fires, and due to their resiliency, they’re now helping sustain Floodgate Farm as we replant and continue recovering after the Grade Fire destroyed our crops and orchard in July 2017.
Oftentimes unwelcome, wild “weeds” can be made into salads, snacks, and other dishes. Many of them grow best in the worst soil, so they often use niches outside the garden beds. Even “bitter” greens have some sweetness as well as other flavors, so the secret is to balance the mix with sour and sweet plants. Here are just a few of the wild edibles available, used for Floodgates famous “Wild Chips” and fennel “candies”:
1. Cat’s ear (Hypochaeris radicata), Endive, Dandelion (Taraxcium offinale), chicory (in order from least to most bitter) all have similarly shaped leaves. Cat’s ear has fuzzy leaves and a more flat topped yellow flower than dandelion. Chicory and endive have blue flowers. Timing is everything, as younger elastic-feeling leaves are milder, and moisture and coolness makes for milder and sweeter leaves. Dandelion is said to cleanse the liver and gallbladder, stimulate the kidneys, and can be safely used as a diuretic as it replaces potassium.
2. Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare). Bulbs, stems, leaves, buds, flowers, seeds—in any season there is something! Fennel grows along roadsides with fine wire-shaped leaves with a bluish tint and umbrel flowers. It gives a mild anise flavor to any dish—stew, soup, or a roast. Seeds can be ground and used like licorice. Fennel is said to aid digestion, reduce acid in the stomach, and help with colic.
3. Mallow (Malva spp). Considered an anti-aging plant by traditional Chinese medicine, mallow has many uses. Its demulcent property, like its relatives okra, hibiscus and hollyhock, softens hard tissues and smooths linings like those of the intestine and bladder. There are several varieties; all are good in wild chips, and most work in salad (even the fuzzy ones in limited quantities). Flowers and green seed pods can be used in curries or other spicy dishes, or in “mallow pea crunchies” (a curry-spiced chip variation).
4. Mustards (Brassica rapa), Wild Radish (Raphanus sativus). To spice a salad, use flowers and radish pods as well as leaves from less hairy/spiny varieties. The leaves are great for wild chips. Pods are best when flexible; use taste together with feel to train fingers to harvest only prime pods. Leaves are available throughout the rainy season and in moist areas during the dry season. Flowers and pods follow 2-6 weeks after, especially when sun is abundant. These spicy brassicas are hot lymph stimulators, clear the sinuses and respiratory system, are helpful for allergies, and open the pores of the skin.
5. Lanceleaf plantain (Plantago lanceolata). Prominent veins and low-growing rosettes of dark green leaves make this plant distinctive. Called “White Man’s Footprint” by native Americans because it grows in the most compacted soils, it has a slightly mushroomy flavor. It’s a bit tough for a lettuce-tender salad but adds great flavor—just start with small amounts. It adds a crispy flavorful accent to wild chips. Astringency makes it a great emergency wrap for small cuts. Buds and seeds from it and its wide-leafed relative Plantago major act as a mild laxative.
6. Sheep sorrel, 3-leafed sorrels, yellow dock, broad leafed dock. With their lemony tart flavor, sheep sorrel leaves appear like a spade shovel. It can be very troublesome in most annual situations, but it does loosen tight soils. On the other hand, all the docks are tap-rooted perennials, which are great in a fruit tree guild since they do not interfere much with shallow feeding roots of trees. Timing is important as older leaves can get very astringent and full of oxalic acid. Dock leaf stems are milder and can be used like rhubarb even when the leaves get too strong. Sheep sorrel is one of four ingredients for the herbal cancer remedy Essiac (along with Turkey Rhubarb, Burdock, Slippery elm). It cleanses and alkalizes the blood, and stimulates the kidneys.
We invite folks to explore the internet for pictures of the plants, or bring samples to us at the Ukiah Farmers’ market for identification help. You can also sign up for one of our classes. Be sure you properly identify a plant before consuming! Thanks go to Karin Uphoff for providing us with some of the information regarding healing uses.
Recipe: Easy Wild Chips
- Choose leaves from the following: Dock, cat’s ear, mustard, wild radish, mallow, lanceleaf plantain, and amaranth (a summer wild plant). Pretty much any edible spring green will do!
- Make a raw salsa by combining the following:
- 2 chopped tomatoes (frozen or dehydrated works if fresh is not available)
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 small onion
- 1 tsp ground hot pepper
- 1 cup chopped seasonal raw squash (stored winter is great)
Blend until fairly smooth. Massage into the washed and drained leaves. Add a mix of crushed sunflower seeds and nutritional yeast until coated to taste. Dehydrate—rearranging a few times will speed drying—and eat within a week or freeze to keep for longer.
Top left photo p. 30 from left to right: Mallow, Yellow Dock, Fennel, Mustard, Sow Thistle, Cat’s Ear, Lanceleaf Plantain. Top right photo: the Floodgate Farm stall at the Farmers Market.
Photos courtesy of Bill Taylor and Jaye Moscariello.
Bill Taylor is also a pianist and composer, and Jaye Moscariello is a visual artist. Our website floodgatefarm.com has more farm and workshop/class information and links to our work.
Catching a Wild Pig
My family has raised pigs for as long as I can remember, but it’s not every day that one of us will catch a wild one. One of those days came last spring when we were driving home at the end of the day and saw three pigs running across the road—two piglets and their mother.
I got out of the car and took off after one of the piglets. I tried to grab it but I missed, and it got away. The second piglet had doubled back and gotten confused, so I dove for it before it could realize what was happening. I grabbed it by its waist and hugged it to make it calm down and stop it from squirming.
I got back in the car with it, and it stayed pretty relaxed on the way home. We named it George and kept it in the house for about three months before putting it in a pen with the rest of our pigs. We named him George because my grandfather was a farmer who loved pigs, and his name was George.
During the first week of having George in the house with us, he didn’t trust us so it was hard to feed him. We would put an old towel around him and spoon-feed him some oatmeal. Once he got used to it, we would just put his food in a bowl and he would eat it when he decided he was hungry. He quickly became friends with our two dogs, Emma and Mochi.
When George got too big and stinky to live in the house, we gave him a dog cage on our front deck for him to sleep in. Once he got big enough, we fed him commercial pig pellets and kitchen scraps. George would come and go as he pleased, and the dogs would accompany him. He ended up spending so much time with them and drinking from the same water bowl as them that he thought he was a dog. George would stroll around the house all day, digging unwanted holes and sleeping while he wasn’t following someone around.
George is now living in a large pen about 100 yards from our house and weighs around 200 pounds. We raise all our pigs for food and will probably butcher George sometime this December.
Sam Douglass-Thomas is a ninth grader at Anderson Valley High School. He likes mountain biking, basketball, and spending time with his friends. He has been helping with the family’s animals since he was a toddler.
Feral pigs are wild animals and should not be approached or handled without an experienced person present.
Huckleberries
by Liz Migliorelli
We are lucky to have huckleberry as an abundant local food and medicine. The
leaf can be harvested and added into other herbal tea blends. The leaves are high
in vitamin C, are antiseptic, astringent, and can help stabilize blood sugar levels,
which you might need after eating too much huckleberry pie!
The recipe below is for a delicious syrup made from the huckleberries themselves.
It’s easy to prepare and goes great on top of pancakes, waffles, yogurt, ice cream,
in your tea, or by the spoonful.
Recipe: SIMPLE HUCKLEBERRY SYRUP
- Gently cook down 2 cups of berries in 2 cups of water until you have reduced
- the liquid by half.
- Strain the mixture, pressing out the extra huckleberry juice through a sieve.
- While the liquid is still warm, add 3/4 cup organic cane sugar to your one cup
- liquid and stir in well so the sugar dissolves and the liquid thickens.
- Bottle and store in the fridge for up to three weeks—although it probably
- won’t last that long, it’s too tasty!
Liz Migliorelli (aka Sister Spinster) is a clinical western herbalist and magic maker who lives on the Mendocino coast. She teaches herbal classes, sees clients and keeps a well stocked apothecary. You can learn more and work with her by visiting her website: www.sisterspinster.net
Use care when wild foraging. Eat only plants, berries, and mushrooms that have been safely identified.
Seaweed: The Ocean’s Gift
by Holly Madrigal | photos by Ree Slocum
“Before we start we thank the ocean for this gift,” says Terry d’Selkie as her voice raises to sing a song taught to her from an elder. The song has calls that sound like seabirds and gives our thanks for the seaweed harvest we are about to collect.
Today is a nice low tide so the ocean ebbs and flows calmly as we clamber over rocks gathering sweet kombu, wakame, and sea palm. Sweet kombu grows in bunches on these rocks, and we navigate the sea anemones and urchins to cut the broad leaves; my hands become somewhat slimy. d’Selkie explains that this seaweed has lots of saccharides, which account for its sweetness. The Mendocino Coast kombu grows in long smooth ribbons and can be used when soaking and cooking dried beans. Enzymes in the seaweed help break down the properties of beans that can lead to digestive issues, like gas. Kombu is also proven to eliminate heavy metals and radiation from the body.
I learn a lot as we harvest. The wakame is broad and emerald; Terry calls this “women’s seaweed” because it is so rich in calcium and other nutrients. When it comes to the sea palm, Terry instructs us to cut the smaller palm fronds leaving a two-inch mop atop the stalk. This allows the palm to continue to grow and multiply.
We trim the seaweed in bunches and fill mesh bags to be hauled back up the rocks. Terry takes an “accept what nature gives you” approach with her seaweed harvesting business, Ocean Harvest Sea Vegetable Company. She does not freshwater rinse, since doing so dilutes the minerals and flavor, and instead rinses the seaweed in the ocean. The harvested seaweed is sun-dried in the fresh air of the Mendocino mountains.
To ensure the safety of her product, Terry takes the seaweed to a lab to test for radiation (we are across the sea from Fukushima) as well as toxins or other impurities. Every time the results have come back clean.
Ocean Harvest sells their sea vegetables at many local markets. Terry has customers in Colorado and New York as well as some local restaurants. Café 1, in Fort Bragg, uses the sea palm in their coleslaw.
Any individual can harvest ten pounds without a permit, although the sea palm requires authorization. I, for one, am delighted and humbled by this bounty that awaits us just off shore. No need to board a kayak or don a wetsuit to gather these nutritional powerhouses; a song of gratitude instead seems very fitting for this gift.
Recipe: SPICY SEA PALM SALAD
Serves 6-8
1/2 to 1 oz. Sea Palm (crumbled)
8 oz. spaghetti or soba noodles (broken in half)
2-3 Tbsp. hot pepper sesame oil
2-3 Tbsp. sesame oil or olive oil
2-3 Tbsp. shoyu or tamari sauce
1-2 Tbsp. maple syrup or natural sweetener
2-3 Tbsp. vinegar
2 cloves garlic (minced)
2 Tbsp. ginger (grated)
1/2 cup cilantro (chopped)
1/2 cup roasted pepitas (toasted pumpkin seeds)
Cook noodles according to directions. Add Sea Palm during the last 5 minutes of cooking—crumbled sea palm will expand, so smaller pieces are better.
Meanwhile, mix all liquid ingredients, garlic and ginger in a large bowl. Drain and rinse noodles and sea palm. Add to large bowl. Mix well. Just before serving, add cilantro and pumpkin seeds. Enjoy hot or cold!!
Douglas Fir Tip Sorbet
THESE BRIGHT, TANGY HARBINGERS OF SPRING MAKE A ZINGY SORBET WITH MORE THAN ITS SHARE OF IMMUNITY-BOOSTING VITAMIN C
The bright green tufts on Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) trees are some of the first signs of spring. The new growth is soft and lime green in color and packed with Vitamin C. The flavor is a balance of citrus peel and foresty goodness.
It can be made into a calming tea by steeping tips in boiled water for ten minutes. Fir tip syrup makes an excellent cocktail mixer: simmer and reduce three cups water, half cup sugar and handful of fir tips by half and strain into a bottle. Or try this fun and different spring time treat, Fir Tip Sorbet. Remember when harvesting that you are in effect pruning the tree so select tips from alternating branches, not all in one place. You can be daring and nibble a fir tip in the field. The taste should be a bright glimpse of spring.
DOUGLAS FIR TIP SORBET
3 cups water
1 cup sugar
3 cups rinsed fresh fir tips
1 tsp fresh lime zest
three or four fresh mint leaves
2 tsp lime juice
bright fir tips or dark chocolate curls for garnish
Bring water, sugar and fir tips to a boil. Cover, turn off heat and steep for 20 minutes. Add lime zest and mint and steep for 10 more minutes. Remove solids using a fine mesh strainer. Reserve the liquid, stir in lime juice and let cool. Pour syrup into a rimmed baking sheet or ice cream maker. Freeze, stirring ice crystals with a spatula every hour until it reaches desired consistency. Scoop into bowls and garnish with a couple of fresh fir tips or shaved dark chocolate.
Entomophagy (Insect Eating): Poised for its “sushi moment”
by Cynthia Ariosta
Mendocino County is arguably a leader of sustainability, where local food production, organic farming, and support for local farmers are paramount to many who live here. Farmers markets, school gardens, farm-to-table restaurants, and events featuring local bounty are regular occurrences. We have a DPO (Direct Public Offering) funded wool mill in development, a heritage grains project, a robust foraging community and a thriving presence of boutique animal husbandry. All of this means that Mendocino County is ripe for the development of a new type of farm, specializing in insects raised for human consumption.
Yes, insects.
The first time I engaged in entomophagy (insect-eating) was in Mendocino County while on a mushroom foraging expedition with our very own resident mycologist, David Arora. David, author of the celebrated field guide Mushrooms Demystified, travels worldwide hunting and identifying mushrooms, but is also a collector of the eclectic, including fragrant Asian teas and canned edible insects. While preparing, marinating and sautéing our daily haul of mushrooms, we pan fried a can of Thai crickets in a mixture of white wine, garlic, butter and herbs. Scampi style crickets: delicious, albeit crunchy.
A trip to Mexico City solidified my entomophagy. A friend and I sat in a hotel room in the Polanco crunching on a bunch of market purchased chili-lime marinated chapulines (grasshoppers) sipping a glass of white wine. Later that week, we ate agave worm tacos in a roadside restaurant. The server presented a bowl of the high protein critters, cooked in garlic and xonostle liquor, made from the prickly pear, and we wrapped the worms appropriately in corn tortillas with salsa, onion and cilantro. I bit in and waited for the gush, but the worms were crunchy, nutty, and tasted quite like marinated Rice Krispies. It was, for me, an edible epiphany akin to discovering sushi, during which I realized that just because something isn’t intrinsic to our culture of eating doesn’t mean that we can’t also enjoy it.
Perhaps, for the benefit of the planet, we should.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 2013 study on edible insects, by 2050 there will be 9 billion people living on the planet; in order to sustain them, food production will need to double. Our planet is already suffering from land scarcity, overfishing, climate change and chronic hunger. Edible insects could potentially contribute to creating food security. More than 1900 species of insects are consumed by more than 2 billion people on the planet. Insects are a source of significant protein, fat, vitamins and fiber and their cultivation utilizes less water and land resources than cows and pigs.
For example, crickets only need to consume two kilograms of feed to produce one kilogram of body weight, and grow to maturity in about six weeks. In a cow, the ratio is 8 to 1, and maturation can take two to three years. It takes 1800 gallons of water to create one pound of beef, and one gallon of water to create one pound of cricket protein. A cow uses two acres of resources in its lifetime; 55 crickets grow in a 4 x 6 box. House crickets contain approximately 21 grams of protein per 100 grams of cricket, while ground beef contains about 26 grams per 100 grams of meat. Insects can be fed with consumable organic human and animal waste, like spent grains and composted vegetables. They emit significantly less greenhouse gasses and ammonia than cattle and pigs, therefore contributing less to global warming than their farm animal counterparts.
So, what is the stumbling block? The disgust factor – which, it seems, may be something we can overcome. French restaurants, after all, fetch a hefty price for escargot, but we turn our noses up at the thought of consuming a common garden snail. Caviar is considered a delicacy but you don’t see carts of escamoles (ant eggs) rolling by on silver platters. We boast many “water bugs” in the American diet – lobster, shrimp, crab, crawfish – but don’t see “cricket” boils popping up for Mardi Gras.
Despite this, we are making great strides to incorporate insect protein into a neatly packaged Western diet. San Francisco based Bitty Foods creates and sells cookies make from cricket flour. Parisian Company Jimini’s, whose slogan is “Think bigger, eat smaller,” offers insect sampler boxes for your next cocktail party. Exo makes Paleofriendly, gluten-free bug based protein bars.
Can edible insects have their sushi moment here? It seems that we might have the right ingredients. Entomophagy offers one possible solution to the global problem of food shortages, over-farming, and depletion of natural resources. Mendocino is a pioneer for sustainability. We have abundant resources in our farmers, investors and land. We are collectively passionate about food systems and a healthy planet.
I’m ready for another worm taco please.
California Bay Laurel & Bay Nut Bon-Bons
by Donna d'Terra
Use care when wild foraging. Eat only plants, berries, and mushrooms that have been safely identified.
The California Bay Laurel (Umbellularia californica) is a tree found throughout our bioregion. (It is also known as Pepperwood and Myrtlewood.)
Right now, the nuts, which look like miniature avocados, are ripe and falling on the ground. They can be dried and made into Bay Nut Bon Bons (recipe on the right). They taste somewhat like chocolate, and also have a similar stimulating effect.
This recipe came from Tamara Wilder who practices natural living skills in Mendocino County. See more about her work at Paleotecnics.com. You can also find information for harvesting, storing, and roasting Baynuts at SkillCult. com, the blog and website of self-reliance expert Steve Edholm.
Bay Laurel tree leaves are also useful. Put a handful in the jar with your grains to repel insects, or in chicken roosts as a louse preventative, or with your garlic to increase storage time. The leaves have a reputation of relieving a headache when crushed and gently inhaled.
Now is the time to collect and dry your bay nuts for the coming months. They will store for a year or more. Happy Autumn!
Bay Nut Bon Bons
Collect the nuts and let them dry enough that you can easily peel off the outer covering, and then let the nuts dry completely.
Roast the nuts in a 450 ̊ oven on
a cookie sheet for about 15 to 20 minutes, stirring every few minutes until they are brown but not scorched.
Cool the nuts and remove the outer shell with a hammer. Next, grind the nutmeats in a grain mill, or blender. Stir in a small amount of sweetener such as honey or organic powdered sugar, and then form into little balls.
Urban forage hiding in plain sight
The loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) does not grow wild in northern California, but these delicious fruit trees can be found growing in backyards and neighborhoods.
Distantly related to roses, apples, quince and pear, loquats have grown in Japan for thousands fuzz. Three to five large jewel-like seeds cluster at the center of years, though they are most likely native to the hill regions of southern China. So it’s not the first fruit you would expect to see in the suburban cul-de-sacs of Northern California. Yet here it thrives.
The fruits are the shape and size of a fig, ripe when the fruit is deep golden yellow. The peel is covered in a fine velvet of each fruit. The seeds are not edible. The fruit tastes sweet and somewhat like a tropical plum. You can eat them right off the tree or peel them easily.
Loquat fruits are ripe in early summer. Take a stroll through your neighborhood and keep your eyes peeled for a medium sized tree with yellow fruits and large oval leaves. This exotic fruit could be hiding in plain sight.
Loquat Tartletts
10 Loquats, ripe, peeled if desired
1⁄2 cup Pennyroyal Farms Laychee
1⁄2 teaspoon lemon zest
1⁄2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon superfine sugar
Dash cinnamon
Small thyme sprigs for garnish
Prepared phyllo dough tartlett shells
Pick or gather ripe loquat fruits. Rinse, and using a kitchen towel, rub the light fuzz from the outside of the fruits. Alternatively peel and remove the skins. Using a paring knife cut the loquat in half in a circular motion. Three to five large seeds are within each fruit. Remove seeds and fruit blossom end.
Mix Laychee, lemon zest, lemon juice and sugar together in a bowl until well combined. Using a spoon place a small dollop in the bottom of each phyllo shell. Add a loquat half, pressing it down into the soft cheese mixture. Place another small dollop inside the fruit and sprinkle with cinnamon.
Place shells in the broiler until just caramelized, 3-4 minutes. Once done, add a small thyme sprig to the center of each tartlet. Enjoy!