Thursday, August 7, 2014

Wild Foods, Garden Things, and Music at the Gandhi Garden

Recently I took a bike ride to collect some wild yarrow and blackberries.  Yarrow is an herb with lots of uses and benefits. The blackberries were about 20-30% ripe, so I was able to collect about a cup. They're really tart, but also really tasty!



I also recently got an email from a Wild Foodies group in Philadelphia about the plant of the week, Rose of Sharon.  I hadn't heard of it, and when I saw a picture, I recognized it as a plant that my landlord has growing up and down the edges of his property.  I found a recipe to stuff the violet, pink, and white flowers in goat cheese and bread and fry them.  That seems tasty, but I also want to find a recipe that doesn't completely hide the taste of the flower.  I believe the leaves are edible as well.  There's food all around us!



I found this praying mantis hanging out in my Kale a couple days in a row.  Good luck or something, right?



Then I found these melting, drippy mushrooms growing on my straw bale garden next to some watermelon and pumpkin seedlings.  It was a hot day, but I've never seen that before.  Trippy!





At work the other day, I was playing with a little butterfly or moth.  It looked a bit like a monarch on the top of it's wings, but with the wings up, it looks more moth-like.  What do you think?  He wanted to eat my finger.  Silly guy!



A few nights ago, some friends of mine with the SAGE Coallition threw a cookout/concert in downtown Trenton at the Gandhi Garden (219 East Hanover St Trenton, NJ).  Vita and the Woolf played an awesome set, and Ruff House brought the funk!  It was a great time!



Vita and the Woolf


Ruff House

I also recently harvested a bunch of Queen Anne's Lace (wild carrot) flowers to make a jam.  I need to collect a bit more, but I'll post pictures when that's finished.  It's suppossed to be very tasty, so I'm excited to see how it turns out.



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