Greener GREEN ACRES

These delicious treats cannot be duplicated in the garden. They have a tenderness and rare flavor that will leave you wanting until the next season.

The following List (and all things WILD) means relying on Mother Nature, and that means -  nothing is positive  - but miracles and surprises always arise. 

To help make your WILD experience unforgetable we include basic recipes to enhance and bring out OUR way of enjoying their unique tastes. You will probably start to experiment and discover new and alternative ways - please keep us informed of YOUR experiences - good or bad.

  lamb's quarters                              nettles                                    cattail shoots

wild rice                                            pigweed                                 chickweed

wild chives                                       wild garlic                                 fiddleheads

milkweed                                    wild mustard                       spring beauty (bulb)

daylilly (corm)                                  wild ginger                            wood sorrel

alfalfa                                                   clover(s)                                 marsh marigold

trout lily                                               mint (s)                                  wild bergamot

purslane                                            burdock (and thistles)           wild carrot

catnip                                                    chickweed                               chicory (root)

dandelion                                                 cattails                                 Yellow Dock

Burdock (roots and shoots)                 common mallow                   grape leaves

Oh my goodness, the list is unending - `cause when we walk - we find - and we pick, and then we walk, and we find and we still pick...          

Apple - many different varieties that have been abandoned from old orchards or seeded themselves. Smaller than orchard apples and not 'wicked-witch' perfect - but NO chemicals!!

Rose Hips - Excellent tea or dessert - rich in Vitamin C

Chokecherries - often overlooked - superior rose wine.

Elderberries - Excellent dry, red wine. Some say (including myself) better than grape wines.

Wild Grape - Juice, jam, dessert or wine - your choice - excellent; best after a hard hit of frost - to sweeten

Crab Apples - not so crabby - excellent sauce for pork, beautiful color when cooked and preserved

Serviceberry - sweet treat in early spring- but hard to beat the birds

Wild Blackberry - if last years shoots survive the frost of winter - a bumper crop of "thimbleberries" will await you mid-summer.

Wild Strawberry -tedious to pick but flavor cannot be duplicated by gardeners.

Mayapple - a tasty dessert once revered by native Indians

Wintergreen - taste resembles 'chewing gum' - berries hang on plants well into winter

Bearberry - another berry from a low-growing evergreen shrub - renowned for diuretic and antiseptic properties

Hawthorn berries - small red berries used for a variety of heart problems. useful for insomnia and nervous conditions. Excellent for busy executives!!