WILD EDIBLES: For sensational spring flavor, be sure to eat your weeds! Check out this list of Mother Nature’s healthiest greens from the Farmers’ Almanac.

The sight of tiny green buds poking their heads out of the soil is the most recognizable sign of Spring. It is also a sign that fresh, harvestable food is not far off. To enjoy the first taste of spring, one doesn’t have to spend a ton of money at the grocery store or toil over the earth with shovel and hoe, they simply would have to leave their home with satchel in hand and take a walk to the nearest green patch. So put your shoes on and get ready!

Peppergrass

Peppergrass or pepperweed is also called “Poor Man’s Pepper” and is high in Vitamin C and iron. As its name suggests, peppergrass has a spicy, peppery flavor. Because of this, it can add flavor and variety to salads or be used as a garnish on baked potatoes or pork. The plant’s flat, slightly notched circles, peppery seed pods make excellent additions to spice up soups and stews.

Sorrels

Outside of the U.S. sorrels have been coveted for their sour lemon-like flavor, which makes them an outstanding addition to cream-based soups and sauces. Arrow-shaped leaves grow large in the garden setting when planted from seed and smaller among the more wild sheep sorrel variety which make for an excellent nibble while on a walk. All “sorrels” make excellent lemon like teas and refreshing beverages, but must not be eaten in excess as the oxalic acid present in the plant, also found in spinach, could hinder calcium uptake.

List to be continued in a later edition of The Bradford Era.