Slow Cooker Pork and Beans

My boyfriend really liked this recipe so I'm going to share it with all of you. My mom used to make pork and beans back when I was little.

Slow Cooker Pork and Beans

Prep: 30 mins    Cook Time: 6.5 hours  

2 lbs of your favorite dried beans (I used white because that's what I had)

1 tbsp of salt

3 cups of water

1 pkg of bacon or cut up pork chops (whichever you prefer, I used bacon, but make sure it's really crispy)

1 cup of onion, diced

1 cup of ketchup

1/2 cup of brown sugar

3 tbsp of maple syrup

4 tbsp of molasses

4 tbsp of honey

2 tsp dry mustard (I've heard that some people use Dijon mustard instead)

2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

Soak your beans overnight, at least 8 hours, I soaked mine probably close to 12 or 13 hours. 

Drain your beans and put them in your crockpot, add salt and water (I did a little more than this recipe so I put enough in just to cover them). Cook on high for 6 hours. Strain off foam.

In the last 1/2 hour of your beans cooking, get the rest ready to go. Cook up your bacon and brown your onions.  Add the remaining ingredients together in a medium sized bowl, stir until well mixed. Once the 6 hours is up, add the bacon, onion and sauce and cook on high for another 30 mins. 

Foraging J - L

So I'm going to continue here as much as I can, but life is picking up speed here. Been super busy at work and at home. Finally got most of our hearth for our fireplace ready to go, only about two rows left which is exciting. Here is a photo of it, we are about one more row done than in this.

Also we go most of our porch roof insulated, except one area which continues to leak even after we put down Blueskin and new shingles (ARGG!!), so we are going to try to section that part off so that it doesn't destroy all the new stuff we just put up.

Anyways same as before please be careful when foraging. Many plants look similar and if incorrect ones are ingested it can cause illness or death. Use at your own risk.

Jerusalem artichoke

Jerusalem Artichokes have small tubers on the roots that are delicious. It is a native plant, with a very misleading name. It is not at all related to artichokes, nor does it grow in Jerusalem. Tuber is edible raw. Tuber is best when cooked, and similar to a potato. Tuber has high nutritional value. Grows in moist soil and thickets.

 

Johnny-Jump-Ups

Johnny-Jump-Ups have a mild wintergreen flavor and a variety of uses.  They’re added to salads, desserts, and soups, served with cheese and used to decorate confections. Incidentally they are the ancestor of the common pansy.

Knotweed

Seeds are edible. Seeds can be eaten whole or pounded into meal. Plants can be cooked and eaten. Varieties in Manitoba are Common knotgrass, Common knotweed and Mountain knotweed. Grows as a weed in a wide range, including dry areas, plains, and subalpine regions. Raw plants eaten in quantity may cause stomach upset and/or diarrhea.

Kudzo

Pretty much the entire plant is edible and is also known for medicinal values. The leaves can be eaten raw, steam or boiled. The root can be eaten as well. (Like all herbs, pregnant women and breast-feeding woman should consult a physician first before use)

Lamb’s Quarters

Also known as pit seed, goosefoot, pig weed, wild spinach. Also spelt lambsquarters or lamb’s quarter. Was cultivated as a grain-like plant, like quinoa. Can be found along roadsides, in fields and in cultivated ground. It is annual, and will readily self-sow if allowed to set seed. All green, other than a bit of silver dusting, primarily on the underside of the leaves, which is more noticeable on younger plants. Grows up to 7 feet tall, although 3-5 feet is more typical. Leaves alternate up the stalk and are up to 4 inches long. They are lobed father down on the plant and more lance-like towards the tip. Some varieties resemble maple leaves (these are supposed to be some of the best for eating). Flowers are small and green and cluster at the growing tip of the plant the seeds are small and round, either black or brown and are produced by the thousands. Tastes like spinach.

Young shoots or top leaves of older plants are the tenderest and can be harvested until the plant flowers. Can be eaten raw or cooked. Some people may have a mild tongue irritation because of the silvery powder that covers the leaves, so eat gingerly until you know if you are one of them.

The leaves can be steamed or stir-fried, sautéed and used in omelets. May be preserved by canning, drying or blanching and freezing. Possible remedy for nettle sting

Use the leaves raw in salads, or cooked in soups, in mixed cooked greens, or in any dish that calls for cooking greens.  Lamb’s Quarters are susceptible to leaf miners; be careful to harvest plants that are not infested.  Although Lamb’s Quarters are best before the flowers appear, if the fresh young tips are continuously harvested, lamb’s quarters can be eaten all summer.  Lamb’s Quarters are also called Pigweed, Fat Hen, and Goosefoot.

Lavender

Lavender is an old stand-by found in many home gardens including mine. Its flavor is flowery, sweet and citrusy. Lavender has been used to flavor bread, cookies, jelly, beef, wine, sauces, stews, and custards. The blossoms are an attractive addition to champagne. The blossoms are also used around the house to impart a nice aroma from bedding to baths. They are also slightly diuretic.

Lemon Verbena

Leaves are eaten as spinach. they are also used to flavor fruit cups, jellies, cold drinks, salads, omelets, salad dressings, and vegetable dishes. The leaves or, tiny, citrus-scented, are brewed into a refreshing tea. Tea from just the flowers is sweeter.

Lilacs

Lilac blossoms are pungent and on the lemony side.

Lovage

Highly aromatic it is similar looking to flat-leaf parsley only much larger. The flavor is like parsley and celery combined with a note of anise and curry. Leaf stalks and stem are blanched and eaten like celery, or peeled and eaten. They can also be candied. Young leaves are chopped and added to salad, soups, stews, seafood, and omelets. The seeds are used for flavoring, often in breads and confections. An aromatic tea can be made from dried leaves or grated roots. And the flowers are edible.

Foraging G - I

Good morning everyone, hope you all had a good weekend, I know I did. My boyfriend's cousin and her baby came to visit, they live in the US and it was the first time I've meet her, so we had a good visit. On Saturday my boyfriend and I spent the day reconnecting, as we've been super busy lately and stressed out. And on Sunday we mainly had a lazy day at his parents house, went into the hottub, and did chores around the house, oh and we took the carbs off of our skidoos to clean. But back to the article, please read carefully and use the information below at your own risk. Please comment and let me know your thoughts, it means a lot to me!

Gardenia

They are so common they are called the Common Gardenia They look like the Jasmine and indeed Gardenia blossoms are also used to make jasmine tea. It seems a little like bait and switch but since the pallet doesn’t know the difference your Jasmine tea may be flavored with Jasmine or Gardenia. As for the Gardenia flowers they are eaten raw, pickled or preserved in honey. The fruits are also edible and used as yellow coloring for other fruits.

Garden Orache

Leaves are edible raw. Leaves are suitable as a potherb. Leaves can be boiled or steamed and treated like spinach. Leaves have a bland to salty taste. Seeds are edible. Seeds contain vitamin A. Seeds can be ground into a powder for use as a flour. Grows in open areas. deserts, and ground with high salt content, including the seaside.

Warning: seeds contain saponins and should not be consumed in extreme quantities. Warning: plant tends to concentrate harmful nitrates in their leaves, avoid harvesting plants which grow in artificial fertilizer.

Garden Sorrel

It’s a Rumex and many of the wild sorrels are too bitter to eat, as are their blossoms and seeds. While there are exceptions — I know of only one locally that is pleasant — you can have a steady supply of sorrel leaves and blossoms if you include this old-world flavor in your kitchen garden. Rumex acetosa is used in nearly every ethnic cuisine in Europe, from being mixed into mash potatoes to flavoring reindeer milk. The blossoms are tart like the rest of the plan, lemony. Use as you would a lemon.

Garlic Grass

Garlic grass (Allium vineale or wild garlic) is an herbal treat often found lurking in fields, pastures, forests and disturbed soil. It resembles cultivated garlic or spring onions, but the shoots are often very thin. Use it in sandwiches, salads, and pesto or chopped on main courses like scallions.

Garlic Mustard

Edible parts: Flowers, leaves, roots and seeds. Leaves can be eaten in any season, when the weather gets hot; the leaves will have a taste bitter. Flowers can be chopped and tossed into salads. The roots can be collected in early spring and again in late fall, when no flower stalks are present. Garlic mustard roots taste very spicy somewhat like horseradish…. yummy! In the fall the seed can be collected and eaten.

Geranium

Scented Geraniums have different scents, among them almond, apple, coconut, lemon, nutmeg, old spice, peppermint, rose, and strawberry. The flowers tend to agree with the plant’s name. They are used in salads, desserts, and drinks.

Gladiola

Glads (Gladiolus) blossoms are bland, lettuce like, and you must remove the anthers… take the middle out.  Basically, eat the petals. They can also be cooked. Like squash glad blossoms are often used to hold tasty tidbits.

Goldenrod

Canada goldenrod is a weedy native in the US Midwest and Canada but considered quite invasive in

Europe and Asia.  You’ll help slow the invasion with this recipe by removing flowers (the plant’s reproductive organs) from their stems.  To prepare flowers for cooking, begin by rinsing the flowers off under cool tap water.  Lay the flowers flat on a cutting board and scrape from the base of the flower to the flower tips with a paring knife to remove them. Plants can be cooked, flowers are edible raw, seeds are edible raw. Varieties in Manitoba are Canada goldenrod, Giant goldenrod, Missouri goldenrod, and Northern goldenrod. Grows in open plains, foothills, and montane regions.

Cornbread Recipe

Ingredients

3/4 cup Jiffy corn muffin mix

1/2 cup Jiffy yellow cake mix

1/2 cup Canada goldenrod flowers

1/2 cup milk

1 egg

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 375°

2.  Combine all ingredients in a medium mixing bowl and mix thoroughly; batter may be chunky

3.  Bake in an 8″ x 8″ pan for 25 minutes or until cornbread is golden brown

Gooseberries

These are also common in the woods in northern Missouri, the branches are grey and have long red thorns, and the leaves are bright green and have 5 points, they have rounded edges and look like the shape of a maple leaf. The flowers in the spring are very odd looking, they are bright red and hang down, and the berries ripen around late May early June. Berries have modest taste, tart if picked too early. Berries can be collected and left to ripen. Berries can be dried for storage. Berries can be cooked and then spread to dry into cakes. Berries contain high levels of pectin, which benefits making jams. Varieties in Manitoba are White-stemmed gooseberry and Northern gooseberry. Warning: eating gooseberries in quantity may cause stomach upset.

Goose Tongue

Use the young leaves raw in salads, or cooked in soups, in mixed cooked greens, or in any dish that calls for cooking greens.  Goose tongue is best in spring and early summer, before the flowers appear.  Goose tongue can be confused with poisonous Arrowgrass, so careful identification is essential. Goose tongue is also called Seashore Plantain.

Ground Elder

To many people this is one of the most pernicious garden weeds. It has an herbaceous perennial nature, with creeping roots that enable it to spread and colonize land. Growing to 1 m (3 1/2 ft.) or less, it has hollow stems that bear the leaves, and from early to late summer, white flowers in umbrella-like heads.

You’ll find it: on waste areas, especially near old buildings and gardens. Also look at the base of hedges and alongside roads.

Leaves: are 10-20 cm (4-8 in) long, medium to dark green and usually formed of three finely tooth-edged leaflets

Harvesting the leaves: young leaves are the best and tastiest, picked in spring and early summer. However, pinching out flower shoots helps to protract the season when young leaves appear.

Collect leaves before the plants flower, as after that time they have a strongly laxative nature.

Using the leaves: wash the leaves thoroughly under running water, then allow to dry in the air. Ground elder leaves can be used in a wide range of dishes and preparations, including soups, quiches, fritters and omelettes. These can also be steamed and used much like spinach. Add young leaves to salads, where they impart an aromatic and rather tangy flavour.

Hawthorn

Berries are called 'haws'. Haws are tasteless, with a texture that is mealy and seedy. Haws can b

e dried for storage. Haws can be mashed into a pulp, cooked and then spread to dry into cakes once the seeds have been strained out. Haws contain high levels of pectin, which benefits making jams. Plant is a shrub or small tree, 6-11 meters tall with long sturdy thorns. Grows in open woodland, forest edges and road-sides in lowland and montane regions. Varieties in the Pacific Northwest include Black hawthorn. Warning: thorn scratches to the eyes usually results in blindness. Blood pressure and heart rate may be affected by consuming berries.

Herb Robert

Edible parts: The entire plant. Fresh leaves can be used in salads or to make tea. The flower, leaves and root can be dried and stored using it later as a tea or herbs as a nutrient booster. Rubbing fresh leaves on the skin is known to repel mosquitoes, and the entire plant repels rabbits and deer which would complement and protect your garden. (Like all herbs, pregnant women and breast-feeding woman should consult a physician first before use)

Hickory

These common tree nuts are the highest calorie payout of the fall season, giving you 193 calories per ounce of nutmeat. Most hickory nuts taste like their famous relative: the pecan.

Hickory nut trees can grow about 50-60 ft. tall, their green leaves are spear like and can grow very large, they have pointed edges. The hickory nut is round and ten to ripen in September or October.

High Mallow

Leaves are edible raw. Young leaves are tenderer and less bitter than older leaves. Young shoots are edible raw. Leaves are suitable as a soup thickener. Seeds are edible raw. Seeds have a palatable, nut-like flavour. Flower buds and flowers are edible. Fruits are edible. Grows in meadows, roadsides, disturbed sites and gardens.

Hollyhocks

Hollyhocks look great on a plate, and their taste is bland for those who want strong colors rather than flavors. They have also been used to color wine in the distant past when such things were not regulated. The leaves are also edible raw and it’s still a cultivated vegetable in Egypt (the root has starch.)  Besides plating and salads, you can also make a refreshing tea from the Hollyhock.

Horseradish

Most everyone knows that horseradish is a hot root. In fact, the root is rather clever. The two chemicals that make horseradish hot must be mixed to be hot, but the plant keeps them in separate cells, so they don’t bother the plant. Only when the cells are crushed together is a hot chemical created. Young leaves can be added to salads, pickled or cooked as a potherb. Sprouts can be added to salads, or the roots can be cooked as eaten that way. The flowers are edible, quite mild compared to the root. Sprinkle them on salads, throw them in when pickling or cooking string beans and the like.

Hyssop

Leaves are edible raw.

Tips of young shoots are edible raw.

Leaves and shoots are suitable as a potherb and seasoning agent.

Grows in ditches and by roadways.

Italian Bugloss

Also known as Wild Bugloss, Alkanet and Anchusa. Originally from Europe it’s cultivated around the world, is intensely blue, and is used among other things as a dye. The bright blue blossoms are an excellent salad addition and are quite attractive when mixed with rose petals. Locals eat the tender stems boiled. 

Foraging D - F

I'm going to post this last thing here before the weekend, (for those of you that don't know I do not have internet access at my home) and I hope you all enjoy it. Please let me know in the comments if you found anything useful or have any tips to share!! Reminder again that improperly identifying certain plants can be toxic, and to please be careful and use at your own risk. Have a safe weekend and lets all make the day count! Thanks!


PS. Really quick update on my house construction, we have started doing the brick work for the hearth for our woodstove so we can used alternative heating methods and reduce our carbon footprint and get off the grid. I will post something next week along the lines of DIY mortar work (that is defiantly an adventure!!!!) and some photos with it. Please do not forget to share and comment on my blog!!! Thanks so much guys it really means a lot to me!!!!

Dame’s Rocket

Dame’s Rocket is a declared invasive species in several places. It’s your civic duty eat the weed. Originally from Eurasia some 400 years ago it’s a mustard that at first glance looks like Phlox. Dame’s Rocket has the typical mustard family four petals, Phlox, five. It’s found essentially everywhere in North America except the Old South. It is cultivated, escaped and is included in wild bird seed mix. Young leave collected before flowering are eaten like cress. Seed pods can be added stews and soups. Seeds are a source of oil and can be sprouted and eaten. The flowers are used to add spicy flavors to fruit dishes and salads.

Dandelion

Roots are bitter and make a good substitute for coffee.

Best harvested from late fall through early spring, when the plant is dormant and has stored energy in

the root. For medicinal use, fall is best, because inulin (insoluble fiber) levels are higher and fructose levels are lower. Freezing of winter coverts inulin to fructose. Spring roots are less bitter and chewy, higher in taraxacin, which stimulated bile production Dig roots using sturdy fork. Break/damage the root as little as possible so you don’t lose sap, which is where the medicinal properties lie. Select large, vigorous plants – small, spindly plants will have small roots and are not worth harvesting. Can be used fresh for cooking and medicine. For long term storage, drying works best. Roots should be well scrubbed before cutting. Spread on a screen and place in a cool, dry location with good air flow and dry for 3 to 14 days (until brittle). Will last about a year.  To make a tincture, place dandelion root in a jar and cover with 80 proof (40%) vodka.  Cover tightly and allow to steep 4-6 weeks, shaking daily.  Strain out plant material and store in a dark glass bottle. 

Label and date.  To make a decoction, place one ounce of dried roots or two ounces fresh roots (by weight) in a pan with one pint of water.  Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.  Strain and compost the spent roots. 

To make a strong herbal infusion tea, use 1/2 ounce by weight of dried leaves or one ounce by weight of fresh leaves per cup of water.  Place the ingredients in a glass canning jar.  Cover with freshly boiled water.  Put the lid on and steep overnight.  Strain and compost solids.  For medicinal purposes, drink 3-4 cups per day.  Alternatively, use a French press, or steep (covered) for at least 20 minutes before straining. I’m-Sick-of-Cellulite Tea: Help bodies metabolize fats and improve elimination of wastes with these cleansing herbs. Infuse: 1-part dandelion leaf and 1-part nettle leaf. Decoct:1-part dandelion root and 1-part burdock root. Decongestant Tea: This tea helps the body to clear phlegm and open the lungs and sinuses. Infuse: 1-part dandelion leaf, 1-part nettle leaf, and 1-part thyme herb. Decoct: 1-part dandelion root

Do not use if use have irritable stomach or bowel or if you have an acute inflammation

Daylily

You can find this plant in many parts of the country, these are not tiger lilies or Easter lilies (which

are toxic), and a daylily is completely safe to eat. Daylilies have bright orange flowers that come straight out of the ground, their main stock/stem has no leaves so that’s your confirmation that it’s a day lily, if you see an orange six-petal flower like this one that has a bear stem (no leaves) it’s a daylily. You can eat them whole or cook them or put them in salads.

A foraging standby in all but the southwest desert and northwest Canada is the Daylily. Also go sparingly, they can be diuretic or laxative. That said day lilies are on the sweet side, vegetable-ish. Like squash and glad blossom, they’re used to hold tasty finger food but like other blossoms cut them away from the white bitter base.

Edible Nettles

Stinging Nettle

Boil or steam the younger plants like any fresh vegetable. Boiling/Steaming gets rid of the “sting”.

Note the fine hairs along the steam; these are what sting when you touch them.

Also known as: Devil’s Leaf, Devil’s Plaything, European Nettle, Slender Nettle, Stinging Nettle, Tall Nettle A well-known herbaceous perennial, 1.2 m (4 ft.) or higher, with tough yellow branching and spreading roots, it develops green flowers with yellow stamens in catkin-like arrangements from early to late summer. It appears throughout temperate regions of the world.

You’ll find it: in hedgerows, on grassy banks and wasteland, in woods and especially close to rubbish heaps and old abandoned buildings, where it forms near-impenetrable colonies. Leaves: upright stems, seldom branching, are covered with stinging hairs and bear green, somewhat heart-shaped, tooth-edged leaves that also impart a sting when touched (see an image of perennial stinging nettle).

Harvesting the leaves: wear gloves and cut off the top 15 cm (6 in) of young stems only to the end of early summer; after that the leaves become tough, have a bitter taste and laxative properties. Using the leaves: always wash the leaves under running water before preparing them for boiling or, preferably, steaming for about four minutes. These leaves, which are high in vitamins A and C, iron and protein, can be used as a green vegetable as well as made into a purée — this is particularly good served on toast with the addition of a poached egg. Nettle soup is a delicious summertime forager’s treat and nettles can be included in any recipe for which you would use spinach.

Nettle Soup

Collect enough nettle tops and leaves to half-fill a carrier bag, then wash carefully. Soften 2 chopped onions, 2 chopped celery sticks and a crushed garlic clove in a small knob of butter in a large saucepan. Then add 1-liter (34 fl. oz.) vegetable or chicken stock and all the nettles you can cram into your pan. Bring to the boil and simmer for ten minutes or so until the nettles are tender. Purée the soup in a blender or food processor, return to the pan briefly and add 3-4 tablespoons crème fraiche or cream. Heat through, correct the seasonings and serve.

Young leaves are edible raw, though they will sting in the mouth for a short time. Young shoots and young plants are edible when steamed/cooked. Roots are edible when cooked. Roots are best when collected in spring/autumn. Grows in moist soil and disturbed areas in plains, foothills, and montane regions. Warning: wear gloves when collecting to avoid stings.

Wood Nettle

Also has stinging hairs along its stem, but they don’t seem to be as virulent as those of Stinging Nettles. Note that some flowers are above the top leaves and others are below.

False Nettle

This plant is easily confused with Stinging Nettle. However, it doesn’t have any stinging hairs along its stem. The flowers are different; they are in tight clumps instead of loosely spread out along arching thin steams like Stinging Nettle. Note the very long leaf stems.

Horse Balm

This plant is most often misidentified as Wood Nettle. The main difference is that it has no stinging hairs, and the flowers are all above the top leaves, and a very different from those of Wood Nettle. Note the long leaf stalk

Elderberries

An elderberry shrub can grow easily grow about 10 feet and yield tons of food, their leaf structure is

usually 7 main leaves on a long stretched out stem, the leaves are long and round and the leaves themselves have jagged edges. These are easiest to identify in the spring as they blossom white clustered flowers that resembles an umbrella. Mark the spot and harvest the berries when they’re ripe around September.

Elderberries are known for their flu and cold healing properties; you can make jelly from them and are very sweet and delicious.

Berries are tiny and powder-blue, growing in clusters.

Berries are edible if cooked or dried.

Plant is a large, tree-like shrub.

The variety in Manitoba is Common elderberry 

Warning: berries may cause nausea if eaten in quantity. Red varieties of the berry are poisonous.

Elephant head Lousewort 

Leaves were traditionally cooked. Leaves in moderate amounts are suitable as a potherb. Grows in low wet areas, meadows, and fields. Warning: plants are poisonous if eaten in large quantity.

False Roselle

Many a hibiscus flower can go into salads and the like, but the False Roselle has edible pink flowers and the leaves are edible as well, raw or cooked.  Use the young leaves for salads and stir fry. They keep their color. Also known as the “Florida Cranberry” or the “Cranberry Hibiscus.” A tart juice can be made from its fat calyxes. Its blossoms are edible as well.

False Solomon’s-seal

Berry is edible.

Berry transitions from green to mottled/dark red.

Berry was traditionally stored in cooled grease.

Berry is high in vitamin C.

Young shoots and green parts of young plants are edible, and best when cooked.

Rhizome is edible when cooked.

Varieties in Manitoba are False Solomon’s-seal and Star-flowered false Solomon’s-seal 

Grows in thickets, forests, and moist open areas.

Fairy Bell

Berries are bright red and large (~0.5 inches in diameter).

Berries occur at tips of branches in clusters.

Taste is blandish/sweet.

The variety in Manitoba is Rough-fruited fairy bell

Plant grows in moist forested areas.

Fennel

Fennel’s blossom is an explosion of yellow and the flavor is of mild Fennel. It’s the hint of anise appreciated in cold soups and many desserts.

Fiddlehead Ferns

Fiddleheads are a high source of antioxidants, source of omega-3, omega06, iron and fiber. Tastes like a cross

between artichokes and asparagus with the texture of string beans. After removing leaves from the stalks, both fiddleheads and their stalks can be prepared as asparagus can. Boiling, steaming, sautéing, and pickling are the most popular way to treat them. Can also be pureed. The stalk is good eaten fresh, but even better cooked. Eating too many raw fiddleheads can cause an upset stomach.

The term “fiddleheads” refers to the unfurling young sprouts of ferns. Although many species of ferns are edible as fiddleheads, Ostrich Ferns are the best. They are edible only in their early growth phase first thing in the spring

 

The young, tightly coiled tender tips of plant are called 'fiddleheads'.

The spring fiddleheads of all varieties of north temperate ferns are edible. Remove hair/wool from fiddleheads; soak in salt water to remove bitterness. Fiddleheads are best when boiled for half an hour in two changes of water. Fiddleheads can be dried for storage.

Rhizomes can be roasted/pit-steamed, peeled, and pounded to remove whitish edible part from fibers, or chewed to suck out starch. Dried rhizomes can be ground into flour.

Grows in wide range of areas, including foothills and montane region. Warning: avoid long term use, has carcinogenic properties.

Warning: avoid mature bracken, which destroys vitamin B and can cause a deadly blood condition.

Field Pennycress

Growing season is early spring to late winter. You can eat the seeds and leaves of field pennycress raw or boiled. The only warning with the field pennycress is not to eat it if it’s growing in contaminated soil. Pennycress will suck up all minerals around it. General rule is do not eat pennycress if it’s growing by the side of the road.

Fireweed

You can identify by its purple flower and unique structure of the leaves’ veins; the veins are circular rather than terminating on the edges of the leaves. Best eaten young when the leaves are tender. Mature plants have a tough and bitter tasting leaves. You can eat the stalk of the plants as well. The flowers and seeds have a peppery taste. Great source of vitamins A and C

Shoots are edible raw. Young leaves are edible raw. Flowers are edible raw.

Flower bud clusters can be cooked as vegetable. Stem pith can be added to soups as thickener. Varieties in Manitoba are Common fireweed and Dwarf fireweed. Grows in open, disturbed areas in foothill, montane, alpine and subalpine regions. Warning: may act as a laxative if eaten in quantity.

Fleabane

Young plants are edible when boiled. Young plants are suitable as a potherb. Varieties in Manitoba are Eastern daisy fleabane and Philadelphia fleabane. Grows in fields, disturbed areas, open woods, thickets and roadsides. Warning: may cause miscarriages and should not be consumed by pregnant women. Warning: may cause dermatitis.

Forget-Me-Nots

Five petals, flat face, a yellow eye, usually blue but can be pink to white.  The blossoms are added to salads as a garnish and make excellent candied blossoms.

Forsythia

It’s easy to spot the Forsythia in the spring time. Just look for a naked shrub covered with yellow blossoms. You can find them in most urban areas and they escaped cultivation is several locations. The blossoms are spicy, minty, and slightly bitter. They add a cherry garnish to salads, particularly after a long winter. Very young leaves are edible raw. Better boiled.

The brilliant yellow forsythia bush can grow to 3 metres (10’) tall and can get as wide as 3.5 metres (12’). The flowers have four lobes and appear mostly in clusters of two to six. Forsythia bark is yellowish brown in colour and has raised lenticels (bumps).

Forsythia Properties

Forsythia fruit is used in Chinese medications as it contains several properties. It is a proven diuretic; skin tonic; emmenagogue (herbs which stimulate blood flow in the pelvic area and uterus); anti scrofulous (Scrofula is a tuberculosis infection of the skin on the neck); febrifuge (reduces fever); and it is a vermifuge (expels intestinal worms). It is most commonly used in Chinese medicine for colds, bronchitis, strep throat and it clears the body of toxic heat (sore throats, fever, chills, chronic skin eruptions, acne or dermatitis.

How to Use Forsythia Flowers

These beautiful flowers can be steamed and dried, used in decoctions and infusions, and made as a tea. In addition, tossing a few of these springtime beauties on a salad will impress any guest. If you collect 750 ml (three cups) of these flowers, you can transform them into syrup!  The forsythia, another reason for us all to enjoy springtime foraging! So next time you’re out there pruning the forsythia bush, save the flowers – you’ll be glad you did!

Fragrant Water Lily

The unopened flower buds can be collected and boiled as a vegetable. Once opened the raw blossom can be used as a garnish or nibble. Whether the plant’s rhizome is useful is something of a debate Flowers are edible raw. Flowerbeds can be cooked. Leaves are edible raw. Ripe seeds are edible raw. Rhizome can be boiled or roasted. Grows in lakes, ponds and slow-moving water in low and montane areas.