Time to Harvest!!!

It’s a busy time of year in the garden and in the wild…With the glory of gold, red, orange and still-green autumn leaves and the air crisp and fresh…

Been harvesting, drying, digging up plants to bring inside (got them all in last night when it went down to the low 30's...eek! So I get my wish to have the wood stove season and herb drying season coincide, at least for a short while!! But drying isn't all there is...

I go out with my empty basket as often as possible and come back with it full of the day’s riches.

Here’s an example:

Lamb’s quarters (Chenopodium album) volunteered to grow in my garden and where many gardeners would pull it out and add it to the compost heap in ignorance of its profound nourishment, any wild food enthusiast or herbalist would be likely to cook it for almost-immediate gratification or to freeze it or otherwise preserve it for it’s delicious food-medicine.

This year I chose to turn it into pesto, yum!!

Wild Lamb’s Quarter Pesto

Lamb’s quarters (mine were in flower, so I included the flowers and any stalks that were still supple

Olive oil

Garlic

Pumpkin seeds

Sun-dried tomatoes

Sea salt

Simply blend your ingredients together in a mixing bowl or blender until it is the taste and consistency you like. I freeze mine in glass jars, being sure to cap them loosely and leave 1/2 inch of air space on top.

A single serving of lamb’s quarters in any form provides an astounding abundance of vitamins and minerals, all of them in nature’s healthy proportions and easily assimilable by our bodies. Lamb’s quarters provide strength, flexibility, vitality and resilience, just what we need to help our immune systems in the wintertime.

And oh, this pesto is good!