A Little Wild Salad

We enjoyed our first fresh picked salad of the season. It is amazing to me how much better a salad tastes when I've just picked the greens. Even the freshest store lettuce can not compare.

Last night's salad began with some leaf lettuce and spinach harvested from a small raised bed. The harvest was not quite enough to feed this family of six. I decided to supplement my garden harvest with a bit of wild greens.

A short walk around the yard added dandelion, carrot greens, and broad leaf plantain.  Other wild greens that are good for a salad (and are pictured above) include, chicory, wild lettuce, curly dock, winter cress flower buds, and young wild garlic greens.

Foraging is a hobby I wish I had more time for. There are so many interesting a delicious things to find. And the best part, you don't have to plant or tend any of the bounty that grows wildly. You only need gather it. These types of edible weeds (and more) thrive in what "Wildman" Steve Brill calls, disturbed areas, in his book Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants. Disturbed areas are simply places where the dirt has been moved and things have been changed, such a a driveway.

You see many of these plants as you drive down the highway. Many of them are right in your yard, or grow in the cracks of your driveway. You probably recognize chicory in bloom with it's distinctive blue flowers. Wild carrot you may know by another name: Queen Anne's Lace.

The spring mix added a lot of fresh flavor to the salad. Combined with our fresh garden lettuce and a few store bought vegetables it made for a delicious salad. Add a baked potato bar, and call it dinner.

Bring on the fresh garden and wild veggies. They are delicious and healthy, not to mention very affordable.


Stephanie is a wife and mother of four attempting to live a simple and frugal life. She also blogs at Stop the Ride and Adventures in the 100 Acre Woods.