Purslane (Portulaca oleracea) is a phenomenal food as medicine enjoyed in cuisines the world over from China to India to the Mediterranean, Levant, North America, Mexico, Australia, and beyond. It’s a common weed on every continent except Antarctica and everywhere humans have encountered this plant, they’ve woven it into their culinary traditions.

All throughout the Mediterranean and SWANA region various iterations of this dish occur- the combination of greens, herbs, eggs, and some kind of cheese (often ricotta or feta) for the ultimate peasant food that's deeply nourishing and draws on seasonally and bioregionally abundant ingredients.

I wanted to share with you all about a bioregionally abundant plant that’s often misunderstood, Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria). You’ll see it flowering right now throughout the northeast, midwest, and pacific northwest, especially in wet medaows, roadsides, lakesides, estuaries and marshes.

To me Dandelions equal spring and I’m always sure to make this fairy-fare recipe at least once a season, usually around Beltane. If you want to make these- be warned- Dandelion flowers have a fast season, usually blooming for just a few weeks, so my advice is not to wait if this recipe calls to you!

As soon as spring arrives the plant I’m the most excited to greet each year is Nettles. They’re a true harbinger of spring, one of earliest greens, and a vitamin and mineral-rich herbal multivitamin that also delivers the highest amounts of protein per serving in the plant kingdom- upwards of 30%!

Spring is here with all its revelry and beauty, but sadly so are the ticks! I’ve already had students and clients reaching out with tick bites and sightings and I wanted to share my tick bite protocol with you all. You can watch the class I taught on this for Herbstalk’s virtual event last summer at the link below.

Spring is all about wild foods and greens. Many folks forage for wonderful and abundant wild foods such as Nettles, Garlic Mustard, and Dandelion, however one often over-looked wild food I’d like to highlight is Japanese Knotweed (Reynoutria japonica syn Fallopia japonica syn Polygonum cuspidatum- so many names!).

This soup just might be my new favorite way to have Nettles! It’s so nourishing and soothing and incredibly easy to make! Stracciatella is a soup traditional to the Lazio region of central Italy and is essentially a version of egg drop soup, making it a perfect recipe for the spring when my chickens start laying again in earnest and the Nettles come back.

It’s spring and Violet season is upon us. There’s lots to say about the medicinal properties of this herb- it’s a cool and moistening nutritive tonic, especially rich in vitamin C and A, and is especially well-known for it’s ability to move lymph, especially in the breasts. I love making a Violet Oil every year for this purpose.

When spring finally comes here in the northeast it can sometimes feel like a race against time. After waiting months for the return of the green, the plants seemingly pop-up all at once, with wonderful exuberance, and at a pace that few of us can keep up with. Harvesting spring greens- if you let it- could easily be a full-time job!

Have you met Autumn Olive (Eleagnus umbellata) yet? I absolutely love this plant. It’s abundant, easy to harvest, is insanely good for you, and is wild plant we can harvest without concern of over harvest since it’s listed as “invasive” in many states (I prefer to call it “opportunistic”). Also called Autumn Berry and Japanese Silver Berry, this northeast superfood was introduced to the US in the 1830's.

Herbalism is trending and it’s easy to understand why. Plants are beautiful. They are powerful healers. Interacting with them feeds us-body/mind/spirit. So it’s no wonder that more and more folks are turning towards herbal medicine and learning the art and science of herbalism. For any budding herbalist the most exciting thing is wildcrafting herbs.

I love making herbal honeys. They're easy, safe, effective, insanely delicious, and are the kind of medicine that can be made with a tiny carbon footprint since local raw honey is quite abundant here in our region! One of my favorite herbal honeys to make is with Wild Rose (Rosa multiflora).

The Nettles are in their prime right now and I've been eating them as often as I can, harvesting to dry for winter nourishing infusions, and experimenting with recipes my kids will like. This recipe was a win so I thought I'd share it. Enjoy!

Kichari is a classic Indian stew of white rice, mung beans, ghee, and loads and loads of spices. It's food as medicine at it's finest. It supports all the eliminatory pathways in the body (often done as a cleanse in Ayurveda), boosts metabolic fire, and provides a re-set to your digestive system, especially if it's feeling sluggish and overwhelmed.

Ok, so I know this post is a little whimsical….but I must admit that I am a huge fan of pumpkin spice, but having a sugar-y caffeinated drink is not always my cup of tea so to speak, so I invented my own!

Purslane (Portulaca oleracea) is a super common weed that pops-up in almost any garden this time of year- don't weed it! Instead, harvest it for the amazing food and medicine that it is. This unassuming weed has been identified as the richest known plant source of alpha-linoleic acid, an omega-3 fatty acid!

Spring is all about the greens. It's absolutely true that many nutrient-dense wild greens are available all throughout the growing season, but for me the spring is when they especially shine. After I've spent the winter relying heavily on our winter farm share that's rich in tubers and roots, I can't wait to get outside and connect with the spring earth and fill my harvest basket with some liver-loving, chlorophyll-rich greens!