Plants with Purpose - Spring Greens
SPRING'S HERE . I know this, not because of the weather, nor the arrival of the first bumble-bees and butterflies in the garden, but because my hens have finally deigned to lay a few eggs. Unlike my neighbours’ hens, who churn them out all winter, my grumpy birds are strictly post-spring equinox layers (and only then after intense negotiation and bribing with slugs from the garden).
Soon, then, we will have an egg surfeit. Eggs are not associated with Easter for nothing; in traditional societies (and peculiar backwoods households like ours), they are a food of spring, eaten along with the first greens to shoot above the earth. After long winters of tired root vegetables, stored too long, and dried meat (or these days long winters of chocolate, Christmas pudding and indulgence in sloe gin), the digestive tract cries out for the cleansing, tonic effect of fresh, green vegetables. And the earliest and tastiest are wild ones. They are often the most nutritious, too, as the deep roots of plants we dismiss as “weeds” can tap into the mineral reserves buried beneath the soil. |
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A great Eastertide favourite was Easter Ledges, or Dock Pudding, made with the chopped leaves, not of Dock, but the related Bistort (Polygonum bistorta), These beautiful, pink poker flowered plants (above) are also known fetchingly as Easterman Giants – look for them lining roadside banks and ditches. They are combined with nettles and an interchangeable selection of wild herbs such as dandelion or sorrel.
The leaves are bound with beaten eggs and oatmeal and boiled in a pudding cloth, whereafter they can be served with bacon for breakfast. Sadly, Easter was too early this year to try some recipes before writing, for my Pudding Docks have only just come up and the nursery gets first call. But next Easter, maybe I’ll be an expert!
RECIPES
Meanwhile, here are some favourite spring green recipes for cleansing the system:
Wild greens omelettes (for 2)
6 young sorrel leaves
3-4 small leaves of comfrey
A few heads of fresh mint
Chop leaves finely and combine with 3 tablespoons Crème Fraiche. Beat 2 eggs per person, season with sea salt and black pepper and pour into heated omelette pan. Add the leaf mix, fold over and cook till set.
Nettle Soup (for 4)
A colander of nettle tops
A cup of ground elder or bishopsweed (yes, I do mean it!)
A cup of young comfrey leaves
A large potato and a small onion
A litre or so of stock – I prefer marmite-flavoured
Salt and pepper
Fry onion and chopped potato gently in butter, then add washed greens and stir fry for a few minutes. Pour in stock. Liquidise when cooked. Delicious!
©Margaret Lear
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