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24 February 2011
Urban Foraging in San Francisco – a modern take on an old classic.
I love the stories you’ll hear of ol’ granny hoisting up her apron to head out into the backyard to harvest her daily helping of dandelion greens. Little did she know, a hundred years later, we would call those same greens gourmet!
Last weekend I attended a wild foods walk taught by Fred Bové in conjunction with Hayes Valley Farm. As much as I support locally grown I am also a huge enthusiast for what you can find out your back door without even sowing a seed. Together a small group of us identified nearly fifteen edible species and a few non edible plants to watch out for.
Fred’s teaching style is a great mix of scientific, historical and culinary field notes and anecdotes. What I’ve learned after attending a variety of plant walks on the east and west coast is that I learn something new each time and I always make assumptions that only experts can remedy out in the field. How was I to know that New Zealand spinach, a plant that looks almost identical to one of my favorite wild edibles, lambsquarters or goosefoot, is not even related?
Sign up for the Forage Walk with Fred Bové, Friday, March 4th.
I went home from the walk with a bag full of wild greens that eventually went into an amazing Mexican style breakfast garnished with Three-cornered Leek found on the walk. It is ten times better than any scallion or green onion you can buy at the store.
Our walk concluded with a wild foods picnic and a warm oxalis and local honey lemonade that warmed me down to my toes. If you want to learn the secret ingredient for this soul southing drink and details that great teachers can share come to our next wild foods walk with Fred Bove on Friday, March 4th. We will gather at the farm at 10am, or at the Murphy Windmill, near Lincoln and 48th, in Golden Gate Park at 10:30am.
Photos by Zoey Kroll, February 12, 2011
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