While reading this book, I got very inspired to go foraging, but had a hard time identifying plants with his descriptions and pencil sketches alone. I found myself looking up images of each plant to see if I recognized it, or checking Merriweather’s website, the best source for Texas wild edibles. One plant that I did NOT need to look up was the wild onion.

While walking around our freshly(!) filled pond this afternoon with my parents, I came across a patch of wild onions. They look exactly like small onion starters, and when pulled out you can smell their spicy onion essence. I came back this afternoon and used a weeding tool to harvest some of the small bulbs. I think they will grow larger but I wanted to try some young ones.

They taste delicious and full of flavor. I imagine that they’re more nutritious as well. As Euell writes, “There are real treasures of vitamins and minerals among the wildlings.” He’s awesome like that.

Here’s my onions after being washed and the weeding tool I used to harvest them:

So I decided to make a wild onion/swiss chard (from the garden) mini-frittatas. I sauteed the onions and chard leaves, with their ribs, and threw in a head of broccoli too. Then I cooked the eggs a bit and divided them into blue ramekins. I added some cheese on top and put them in the oven for about ten minutes. Pure deliciousness.

I’ll end with one of my favorite quotes from Euell: “There is always good hunting and good eating for a true neoprimitive who has a strong stomach and weak prejudices.”

The first plant we focused on was the thistle. There are many varieties of thistle, but most of their young leaves can be eaten. The stalks, when they are tall, can be trimmed and cooked like asparagus. Once they get a bit larger I’ll try it out!

One of my favorite plants was the cucumber plant, also called pellitory. It tasted like cucumber, and the tiny leaves were soft, fresh, and adorable.

Brent was excited to find fresh, local greens.

The plant below is called plantain, although it’s not related to the banana-like fruit. It has two veins running parallel from the leaf base to the tip, so it’s fairly easy to identify. When I took my students on their Friday hour-long outdoor lunch at the JCC, I was able to teach them how to identify this plant. Of course, I didn’t eat the one below as it was surrounded by deer poop.

The plant below is very common although most folks prefer it least of the wild edibles. It’s called henbit, and let me tell you right now, my chickens love it. They also love all of the wild mustard we have growing like mad on our land, and the clover, all of which is edible for humans as well.

Lily in her foraging stance!

We’ve identified most of the wild edibles that we identified in Wimberly right here in Elgin, with the exception of the cucumber plant (le sigh). But there’s still more of our land to explore as we learn about new plants. Since our class, we’ve been throwing a few wild greens into every salad that we make. It’s so rewarding to eat fresh, wild greens from your front yard, especially when the only thing you need to do is pick them!

As you might have noticed, we’ve taken a bit of a blog hiatus as Brent tweaked some aspects of the site. Currently our gallery is still being worked on, but it should be up again soon!

The pain is a lot more than I expected. It was such a surprise to lose them. Yesterday I walked out to the car and heard Booby crowing like always. By the time Brent went out to check on them, they had all been killed. Parts of the chicken wire were broken, above where we had put hardware cloth, but no bodies were taken. Our theory is that a group of coyotes broke in but were scared away before they could eat their spoils.

I’m especially sad because we’ve raised them since birth. If you look back at the pictures, you can see how small and innocent they were. Brent and I nurtured them through their development and they felt more like pets than farm animals. Their distinct personalities were starting to show. I loved hearing their gentle chicken noises and their excitement when I came out the front door. It’s hard to look at the coop this morning. Feathers are still strewn all over the run.

They were just starting to produce eggs, and they had such a long part of their lives ahead of them. It feels especially senseless because they were killed and not even eaten. Thankfully I didn’t have to see the bodies, because my amazing husband Brent cleaned them up in the morning before work.

I’m still kind of reeling from the whole thing. The chickens made us feel like part-time farmers, and I could tell people with pride about our birds. Now I feel a sense of failure because I didn’t protect them enough. I think we will rebuild and get more chickens, but for now we’re still mourning our losses.

Rest In Peace:
Dorothy
Rose
Blanche
Sophie
Dr. Robinson
Cleo
Aldona
Clifford
Matzah
Lonestar
Myrtle
And Blue Foot Booby, our rooster.

One of our first organic chicken eggs

Well, make that two eggs. Brent found another one this morning! Let the omelette/meringue party begin!

I had the great fortune of visiting the Land Institute in 2005 for a short course with my friend Claire Handy. I remember being struck by the beauty of the prairie – the calm of the wind blowing through the grass, the open freedom. Wes Jackson spoke at the course, and he was the first person that made me realize how ecologically diverse a prairie and how important it is to model our agriculture systems after natural systems. They are, after all, the most successful.

To hear Wendell and Wes speak was a real pleasure. Their friendship was shown in their banter towards each other, and their mutual respect was also apparent. They frequently quoted one another, from print or from personal conversations. Both men are very articulate, funny, passionate, and knowledgeable. The topic of conversation was generally focused on sustainable agriculture, but both men spoke with reverence about farming, plants, ecosystems, and connection with the land. One of my favorite quotes was from Wes, mentioning that natural ecosystems have a greater yield than man-made agriculture. It highlights how much we can learn from nature’s handiwork.

(Note: The above picture comes from Conservation Magazine, courtesy of the Land Institute, and shows traditional wheat on the left and a perennial wheatgrass on the right. Notice the difference in root structure, which affects access to underground nutrients.)

This talk was reinvigorating; I really feel like Brent and I are on the right path. We’ve found our spot of land to love, but kept our day jobs. Both Wes and Wendell were adamant about that. Wendell said that he discourages young people from farming, but that he might as well be discouraging people from falling in love – they are just going to do it anyway. He’s an understand, self-depriciating man. I think he loves the growing movement of young farmers.

Wendell said that great change comes from individuals doing what needs to be done, not exceptionally powerful, wealthy people. We are learning from the land, and I have faith that this knowledge will contribute, somehow, to the greater good. Someday. For now, we’re just going to enjoy the sound of rain on the roof, and keep learning from the experts.