Many people wait impatiently for their last frost date, eager to start their gardens, but did you know that there are a number of wild edibles to be found even before the snow melts? Earth is abundant with life even into the arctic regions of the poles, and in more temperate regions, cold-hardy plants can get an edge on the competition by being the first to awaken before the frost lifts.
Here in Western NY one of the more prevalent early risers is garlic mustard, which is the plant with the round, veined leaves in the picture below. Garlic mustard is a member of the brassica family, along with many other frost-tolerant vegetables. The leaves have a mild onion flavor, similar to chives, but are much more tender than chives. I snack on this while I'm working outside, and if I have to remove a bunch of it from somewhere I'll use it to make a salad. I recently saw that someone on Hive was making pesto with it, so I'm anxious to try that now. The long-leafed plant in the lower left corner of the picture is woad, another member of the brassica family. I haven't tried eating woad, though it is non-toxic and used medicinally in teas. In ancient times, woad was a primary source for blue dye.
Wild carrots are another abundant wild food source early in the year. Most root crops are cold tolerant, and around here decent wild carrots can be found all year. This harvest was weeded from a 4' square raised bed that we grow comfrey in. Wild carrots can look very similar to poisonous hemlock, but can be positively identified by their very distinctive carrot smell.
Purple deadnettle, the plant with the broad, pointed leaves seen in the center of the picture below, is a member of the mint family that will emerge before the snow melts. The name deadnettle comes from the nettle-like hairs that cover the tops, but do not sting. These have a taste that I find very similar to mushrooms, and go great in my garlic mustard salad. Its very close relative, henbit, is also edible, and it has no dangerous look alikes. Eating purple deadnettle can help relieve allergy symptoms, and rubbing it on bug bites can help relieve itching.
The mint and chives seen in the picture below are not wild, but both plants and their relatives can be found wild in most parts of the world. Onions, shallots, chives, and other members of the allium family are easily identified by their tubular leaves and onion smell. Mints come in many forms and fragrances, but they all have square stems. These young mint tops are another thing I like to snack on through the day.
Cattails, seen growing in the water in the picture below, are a great wild food source that can be eaten nearly any time of year. All parts of the plant are edible, and it is nearly 100% starch. The unfortunate part about it is that it tastes like it's 100% starch. The great thing about it is that when you find it, there will be LOTS of it. Cattails are easily identified by their long 'cat tail' flowers, which turn into the light, fluffy 'puffs' you can see just above the picture's center when they are mature. Before they become fluffy, they look a lot like a dark brown hot dog on a stick.
Even when the tops are dead and dried up, the roots below them can be dug up for some tasteless, starchy nutrition. These roots will survive for quite some time even in frozen ground.
The roots spread quickly through wet soil, so whenever you see a cattail, there is likely to be a lot more food there than you can actually see. This bundle of roots was attached to just a few inches of dead stem, and weighed about 4 lbs.
I haven't taken any good pictures of dandelions yet this year, but their tender leaves will also start offering themselves up for your plate very early in the season. I'll have more about them in the next post, as well as violets and yellow mustard. Give me a follow if you don't want to miss it, I hope to see you back for more!