By Tom Seymour
Just because snow blankets the ground doesn’t mean that foraging has completely ended for the season. Some wild products stand ready for harvest, some directly from trees, and others, hidden under the snow.
Of the two, plants that remain in-situ beneath the snow require more effort to find and harvest. Also, a knowledge of the exact location of these plants becomes absolutely necessary to success.
One of my favorite wintertime treats, wintergreen, Gaultheria procumbens, grows in profuse numbers just outside my back door. So for me it’s easy to grab a snow shovel, scoop off the snow and pick the fragrant, green-and-red leaves. After nibbling on a leaf, slowly chewing until that spicy, wintergreen flavor erupts in my mouth, it’s time to take a cupful of leaves inside to make a refreshing beverage.
Wintergreen, however, doesn’t immediately release its flavor when introduced to boiling water. At best, a tea or even a slowly simmered decoction, has only a mild, wintergreen flavor. But there is a way to change an otherwise pallid drink into a zesty, flavorful one. Just pour boiling water over a handful of leaves and let it sit on the counter overnight.
This allows the wintergreen to begin the fermentation process, not to the point that it produces alcohol, but so that the true wintergreen flavor can shine through. To use, just strain the beverage, discard the spent leaves and enjoy. You can warm this brew and have a piping-hot cup of wintergreen tea, fresh-picked from your own property.
Chickweed Too
Common chickweed, Stellaria media, stands as a contradiction in terms. It is an annual, yet it remains available throughout the winter. During the growing season, chickweed seemingly pops up overnight.
Identify chickweed by its long, thin, prostrate stems and tiny, opposite leaves, thick in the middle and roundly pointed. In summer, chickweed produces flowers that consist of five, cleft petals. These give the impression of being 10 leaves but close examination will prove that that is not the case.
Don’t look for single chickweed vines but rather, clumps or mats of the fast-growing weed. These often form large masses, making harvest surprisingly simple.
Chickweed grows abundantly — too abundantly, many gardeners say — in garden beds. My raised-bed gardens always produce a few chickweed patches. From these I harvest the vines and tips, leaving the rest of the plant to regenerate.
To harvest in winter, just shovel or sweep the snow away from established plants and pick your fill. Then, after rinsing, the vines and leaves make mild but pleasant cooked greens. Some like to add the leaves and tender tips to salads.
Watercress
A small stream in the nether regions of my woodlot hosts our native watercress. Watercress, a plant raised commercially in the limestone streams of Pennsylvania, also grows wild throughout the northern climes. And while our native watercress never becomes as thick or full as the imported type, it is watercress nonetheless and offers that delightful pungency we so appreciate.
Since watercress grows in and around water, it lends itself to wintertime harvesting. There’s something intensely rewarding about strapping on a set of snowshoes, hiking out to the little stream and gathering a bunch of watercress.
Whatever we can do with commercially produced watercress we can also do with our wild variety. Some consider a liverwurst sandwich not worth making without an ample layer of watercress.
My favorite use, though, is as a garnish with seafood and also, as a salad ingredient. A typical green salad becomes a tasty treat with the addition of a few sprigs of watercress.
Get Out
So now, with these tasty, wild edibles growing close at hand, we foragers have no excuse to sit inside and bemoan the winter. Instead, we need to get out and about and enjoy the season for what it is, all the while incorporating our favorite wild, edible plants. Here’s hoping you, too, can participate in the little-known art of wintertime foraging.
Coming Next – Tree Teas
