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serves 2

1/4 cup young mugwort leaves, packed and chopped

1 teaspoon herb de provence

4 organic, free range eggs

1 T fat of choice (olive/butter, bacon, coconut. . .)

pinch of sea salt

1. Heat a heavy bottomed 8 inch skillet to medium high heat.

2. When hot, add fat to the pan and swirl to coat bottom.

3. Meanwhile, whisk eggs in a bowl and add to the pan.

4. Sprinkle mugwort and herb de provence evenly over eggs and let sit, untouched for about 2 minutes, or until the sides are cooked and the inside is starting to set.

5. If your herb mixture does not include salt, add some to the pan.

6. Carefully flip the frittata over and cook the second side for another 1-2 minutes.

7. Serve hot or room temperature.

Golden Beets with Winter Cress, Proscuitto and Goat Cheese

Serves 2

2 medium golden or red beets, leaves and stems removed

4 slices proscuitto, cut in half

1 small onion, chopped

1 cup winter cress leaves, roughly chopped

fat of choice (olive/butter, bacon, coconut. . .)

sea salt and pepper to taste

1 oz goat cheese, crumbled

1. Heat oven to 400. Rub beets with olive oil and lay on a parchment lined baking pan and cover with second pan or parchment and then foil. Roast for 30-60 minutes, checking after 30 minutes. The beets should give easily when fingers put pressure on them.

2. Remove beets and let cool until they can be handled easily with ungloved hands.

3. Alternatively, peel beets and slice to medium thick slices. Add water and sea salt to a large skillet and bring to a boil. Add beet slices and simmer for anywhere from 10-12 minutes, or until beets can be easily pierced with a fork. Remove to a paper towel lined platter and set aside.

4. Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 T fat of choice and then add the proscuitto slices, spreading out to flatten and making sure they are not crowded in the pan. Cook each side about 1 minute, or until shriveled and starting to brown. Remove and set aside.

5. Add more fat to the pan, if necessary, and then add onion, cooking about 5 minutes.

6. Add greens and cook until wilted. Season with sea salt and pepper to taste.

7. Add half the goat cheese to the greens and stir in until the cheese starts to melt.

8. To plate: Place 4 beet slices on plate or platter, top with greens, 1 slice of prosciutto and a sprinkling of goat cheese.

   
   

   Field Garlic Dip with Crudite

   Serves 4

   about 1/2 cup of field garlic bulbs

   Field garlic tops, chopped for garnish

   1/2 teaspoon dried onion

   1/2 teaspoon dried garlic

   1/4 teaspoon celery seed

   1/4 teaspoon black pepper

   8 ounce sour cream

   ** Note that the dried herbs measurements are just a guide. Use more or less depending on taste.

   1. Mix all together in a medium bowl and serve with your choice of raw vegetables such as carrots, cauliflower, celery, radish, peppers. . . etc. . . .

   
   

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Our part of the country is naturally forested and if one stopped mowing their lawn, it would eventually turn into a forest. Edible forest gardening is simply designing gardens that mimic the structure and function a forest ecosystems while producing food and other products. Edible forest gardens have three layers of vegetation, Trees, shrubs and herbs and  Just like forests, if designed well edible forest gardens require no fertilizer, no irrigation, no herbicides, no pesticides, and much less labor than vegetable gardens. North American Indians practiced advanced forms of edible forest gardening and permaculture by managing ecosystems with fire, regenerative harvesting and coppicing. What if we planted 40 million acres of  fruit trees, berries and perennial vegetables instead of lawns!

Don’t worry we can turn lawns into low maintenance, resilient and productive ecosystems that supply us with food, fuel, fodder, fiber, farmaceuticals, fertilizers and fun. Lawns are actually a great place to start because they make things easy, you don’t have to worry about taking out existing plants and working around things.

This fall I was busy getting rid of a bunch of lawns (almost 5,000 square feet) by sheet mulching and I will outline the process that I used. There are many other techniques that can be used, this technique is adapted to the materials that are available for free.

To get rid of your lawn easily you will need:

Cardboard- I like going to appliance stores and getting massive boxes, the dudes even help load up the car.

Mulch- woodchips are my favorite, become friends with tree services, they might even call you and ask you if you need more. You can use leaves, hay, compost or whatever else you can find.

All you have to do is lay down the cardboard and cover it with mulch! This simply smothers the grass and builds soil. If you have the materials available and you want to get fancy and really make your soil nice you can aerate the ground with a pitchfork, spread compost/leaves and then lay the cardboard and mulch.

Although sheet mulching works very well on a small scale I worry about establishing large scale food forests and farms. It would be too labor intensive and require tons of material to sheet mulch acres. Grass is probably better for farms so animals can graze. At Native Earth we will be starting with small polyculture patches and we will expand them every year. Does anyone have any ideas or experience with large scale plantings? Also what would happen if wood chips became scarce, I have heard the demand for wood chips is very high in portland because of gardening.

Westwood Volunteer Ambulance Corp Garden

Native Earth Teaching Farm

Thanks to everyone who participated in sheet mulching lawns this fall. It is never to late to get rid of your lawn.

“Plant food trees everywhere always for the rest of your life”- Mark Shepard

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However, with every upside, there is always a downside. In today’s convenient world, foraged foods are very un-convenient. They take an investment of time to get the from pasture to table. Although much of the food is growing only steps away from your front door, most plants need to be dug up, washed, dried, soaked, pickled or par- boiled. In the case of stinging nettles, gloves and sheers are needed just to harvest them. But if our diets can be significantly enhanced for the better by including even a small percentage of foraged foods shouldn’t the effort be willingly made?

Once a survival trait, our ancestors had, by necessity, an extensive knowledge of foraged greenery. They knew wintercress, with it’s high vitamin C content, prevented scurvy in winter months when only meat, grains and some root vegetables were available. Although our ancestors did not know the scientific reasons why these particular foods did what they did, they found, by being tuned into nature and through generation after generation of use, that these particular foods did the trick. We now know that wild plants vs cultivated plants contain up to 50% more vitamins and minerals, more phytochemical content (antioxidants and anti-microbial properties) and a more natural balance of anti inflammatory omega 3’s to inflammatory omega 6‘s. Our lawns are scattered with highly nutritious foods. Dandelions, for example have high concentrations of vitamin A, C, K, B6, E and minerals such as calcium, iron, potassium and manganese. Wood sorrel are extremely high in vitamin C and red clover is abundantly high in calcium, magnesium as well as isoflavones. We also know that eating with the seasons gives the proper amount of vitamins, minerals and medicinal properties our bodies need exactly when we need them. And, by eating local food vs food that has been shipped in from across our country or from other countries, the nutritional value is much more dense.

It stands to reason that food growing right under your feet, in your own back yard, far surpasses anything you can get at the grocery store. And, as if nutritional value weren’t enough, a foraging expedition satisfies all our primal needs too. The thrill of the hunt, never knowing what will be found in the season you are in, patients and care when tending to the plant or plants in the preparation of a meal and gratification of a full stomach at the end of a foraged feast. This brings on an accomplishing feeling, more so than any trip to the grocery store can do. For there is a vibrant feeling from within the forager who creates such a feast and a comfortknowing that even with our food system being as screwed up as it is, nature will alway find a way to dig it’s roots in and survive.

By Lisa Caccamise

Farmer's Market Food Demo

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Popular and botanical names

Lists of common uses

Heavy duty laminated cards

39 of the most common edible and medicinal plants in North East USA

click here to purchase your own set of Field Cards 

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