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.

Wild Sodas are a fun and easy way to make living, medicinal, naturally probiotic beverages that are made by wild fermentation- we don’t add any yeast- the wild yeast on the flowers and yeasts in the raw honey are what cause the fermentation! They can be made with 100% local ingredients, making them a wonderful example of “localvore medicine” that reflects the true terroir of the land and has a super small carbon footprint. I mostly make them in the warmer months, but they can be made year-round. 

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.

At its most basic, nougat is a confection made with nuts, honey, and/or sugar, however it can also include egg whites, herbs, spices, dried fruit, and seeds depending on where it’s made. There are variations traditionally made throughout the SWANA region (Southwest Asia & North Africa), the Mediterranean, and southern Europe, and the name it’s most commonly known as in the US, nougat, comes from France.

Ferments are already medicinally active foods unto themselves and the additional medicinal herbs elevates them even further. I personally enjoy enhancing fermented vegetables with herbs and spices- kimchi, sauerkraut, and root vegetables in particular- choosing the blend based on what’s really in its prime and available in my garden, local farms, and woodlands and meadows.

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 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 always a plus when your medicine tastes good- am I right!? Cordials enter into the food as medicine realm and can be a lovely way to take your herbs. I like to enjoy my cordials the European way- sipping in sweet little cordial cups after dinner or while socializing with friends.

This past week my family and I got away for one last beach get-away to Maine. I love the languid and liminal days of late summer on the coast when the Rose Hips start to ripen and the ocean-side Goldenrod is in bloom- it’s my favorite time to visit.

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!

Lately, this soup has been saving my life! So much so that I just had to share the recipe. During seasonal transitions, especially our current one from late summer to fall (and the on-coming fall to winter), our immune systems need some extra support. And it seems like just about everyone I know is either navigating through or has already dealt with their first cold of the season, myself included!

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.

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.

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!

It's currently that weird in-between time when winter is turning to spring, and seasonal transitions are a time when we are especially vulnerable to colds and flus, as any of you who have had a dreaded spring cold can attest too! Here in New England, the weather famously goes back and forth much faster than our body's can keep-up with, and a week of warm weather in March can easily be follow-up by a blizzard.

If you have a garden in New England, you probably have Evening Primrose (Oneothera biennsis) volunteering itself as a weed! Since this plant loves recently disturbed soils, gardens are one of their primary habitats, although Evening Primrose is a plant I would say I "cultivate" only in the very loosest sense of the word!