Expressions – Part 8

TESTIMONIAL.

On a warm summer's day I lost a dear friend named Ann.  In April, Ann had come out to my house for a wild foods class that I was teaching.  Unbeknownst to me, Ann was suffering from Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, which eventually would claim her life.

Everyone had a great time with the plants, and our field trip, and we also spent some time with my healing herd of horses and donkeys.  My horse, Lakota, tuned in on Ann and spent many minutes licking her hand.  I had no idea what was going on, and could only hope that Ann was comfortable with Lakota’s attention.  I had to trust the process.  When Ann came out she had tears in her eyes and told me that she had received a wonderful healing from my horse and she was so thankful.  She wrote me a thank you note that brought tears to my eyes when I received it and I asked her if I could post it to my website. She agreed and it is there still.

There are no pictures of Lakota licking Ann’s hand. Everyone in class that day could tell you about it, but there are no pictures.  I had no idea of the significance of what I was witnessing.  The picture below was staged with the help of another dear friend of mine, Deb.

“What a wonderful day being with you and the circle of women!
Thank you so much for sharing Lakota with me. I will never forget her breathing and gentleness.                              I do believe she licked my hands to help heal them!! She knew I needed some help there.                                         I am so glad she let me hug her and pet her.
The sharing circle at the beginning was powerful. You are such a sensitive, loving, enthusiastic teacher. I always love field trips so visiting the variety of plants and picking and tasting them was pure fun.
Thank you for offering this special class. Any time I can learn more about wild plants and animals, I feel blessed. May you find sweet success, you deserve it.”
AT, Erie, CO

A WINTER’S TALE.

Long, long ago there sat a village kingdom high in the mountains, nearer so it seemed to the gods, and which certainly had a feeling of being  “heaven on earth.”  Or so it felt to the local residents, who sometimes whispered that their tiny village was indeed, “the spiritual center of the universe”.  And it became known as truth that some residents were indeed higher than others, for the land flowed with mead and many various flavors of the nectar of the gods, as well as a pipe filled with local and imported greenery, which was also revered highly by most of the grateful inhabitants. As the deep snows of winter set in, the residents gathered in their halls of worship, huddled together for warmth and companionship, and partook heartily of their sacred substance of choice.

In this village lived two fair maidens who brought joy to those around them.  They, being short of monetary treasures, were long indeed on wit, creativity, flair and beauty.  It came to pass that one of the fair maidens had received a large quantity of the imported greenery in exchange for a favor that she had rendered to another. She had indeed hoped to be paid in tokens that could be exchanged easily for her honey mead of choice, and was quite sorrowful for a time as she sat with her friend and separated seeds from stems of the low quality barter. What to do? But slowly an idea began to take shape and the maidens eagerly embraced it and discussed in great lengths how they could turn this vision, which now resided only in their in enthusiasm, into a reality. It would take every penny they had between them, but vowed to one another to accept this challenge and swore one another to secrecy, until such time as it came to pass.

They separated and began their quest to secure many different ingredients, requiring mountains of  flour and butter, a whole basket of eggs  and large measures of nuts and candied fruits. And the day arrived when they secured themselves behind locked doors, surrounded by their varied acquisitions and set to task. They laughed and sang loudly as they rolled up their sleeves, pulled out their largest cauldrons and plunged their bare arms into the forming dough ~ it was a glorious sight to behold.  At the end of the day, they wiped the sweat from their brows and sat back and marveled at their creations.  

There sat seven loaves, beautifully baked to perfection, weighing thrice over what they appeared. They were in uncharted territory now and had no elder to guide them on the next step of their journey. They appraised the recently laundered cotton sheet and measured again the seven loaves. Sacrificing the sheet to this creation was another measure of their unfailing commitment to their quest, for sheets of such good structure were a prized possession of the young maidens.  Reverently they dipped the torn cotton into a bowl filled with the best brandy they could acquire and wrapped tightly the loaves ~ imbuing each with love and good tidings.  

For seven nights, the two maidens would gather and bring out the loaves from their hiding place. For indeed, word of the wondrous creations had seeped into the villagers imagination, and were whispered about in the halls of worship.  Night after night the giddy maidens stole away from the communion hall, filled the bowl with brandy, re-soaked the sheet fragments and re-wrapped the heavy loaves. It was a labor of love and the maidens became quite attached to the seven swaddlings.  Alas, one night, upon retrieving the loaves from their sacred hiding place, they found one missing and they mourned the loss.

The time came to pass to share their handiwork with their friends and family. Many who had long scoffed at the idea of fruit cake, stood in line to receive their portion of the maidens delicacy for it was known to all that these loaves alone contained the sacred greenery. And every villager knows that even that greenery which does not produce the desired affect when smoked in the pipe, becomes a powerful intoxicant when baked or cooked. And the mind blowing effect of the magic fruit cakes were soon known to all with the curiosity to take them in.

And many a glass was raised that holiday to toast the ingenuity of the two maidens. And many were the invitations they received to share in the holiday festivities of their beloved neighbors.  It was a winter to be remembered, but never repeated.

And so ends this tiny tale with these words of advice.       Pure Love and Joy are free dear friends.     Imagination is your goddess given right ~ partake and be of good cheer.

Merry Christmas and green blessing to you all, each and every one, and to your friends and family, and their friends and family, and so on.

<< And, oh yea who so stealthily stole the seventh loaf, you are forgiven, but the maidens would love to hear your side of this winter’s tale. >>

Dandelion Festival

A few years after I graduated from herb school (1995), Dorje Root, a fellow herbalist, approached me with a wondrous idea. She suffered from “Environmental Dis-ease” and wanted to let her neighbors know that there were other things to do with dandelions than spraying them with toxic chemicals. She needed help and I was totally intrigued. Thus was born, the city of Boulder’s first Dandelion Festival. We planned a one day event filled with fun activities and classes on various subjects: cooking with weeds, the fascinating art of brewing dandelion wine, medicine making ~ which included teas, tinctures and lip balms ~ as well as the medicinal properties of our dearly beloved yellow friend.

It was a lot of work, to put it mildly, and the first spring we pulled it off in Dorje’s back yard. Her children made signs and posted them, and her oldest daughter collected a meager admission fee at the back yard gate. The children loved making lip balm and folks really enjoyed the cooking class. We presented a salad of wild weeds including purple mustard, mallow, wild spinach, as well as the yellow flowers and young leaves of our guest of honor.  Then we sautéed up a batch of onions and garlic, added dandelion greens, nettles, and the very young leaves of yellow dock and sprinkled this with vinegar and tamari. We finished off with a Dandelion-Rhubarb Crisp that remained a festival favorite for years to come.  Our small crowd ate everything we made, every last morsel.

We considered it a total success with over twenty-five neighbors and “people-who-don’t-know-us” stopping in to see what all the fuss was about. Well, almost a total success.  We learned that very first year that you do not bring out the dandelion wine early in the day; it should be one of the last classes offered. It involves wine tasting and is way too much fun for everyone involved!

The next two years we offered the festival again, the last week in April, in Dorje’s back yard. And for the two years after that we were hosted by Hedgerow Farm located east of Boulder. Every year we offered more classes, bringing in published authors for talks and book signings. Every year more people flocked to our festival; we had to find volunteers to park cars!!  It was exhilarating and exhausting. We were hoping that the Naropa Institute of Boulder, Colorado, and the owner’s of Hedgerow Farm, would take over the festival as part of their continuing education and community outreach program, but they did not take the bait. Alas, after 5 successful years, we were worn out. 

Below I offer you two “dandy” recipes that were published in the Daily Camera, Boulder’s local rag, on April 25, 2001. The article was printed in the FOOD section of the newspaper the week before our festival, along with a Schedule of Events.

These recipes are easy, quick, delicious, and dare I say it, good for you.

Sautéed Dandelion Greens

1 Tbl. Olive oil

1 Tbl. Tamari

3 garlic cloves, sliced

1 Tbl. Apple cider vinegar

4 cups fresh spring dandelion greens, washed thoroughly and chopped

(blanching optional, see note)

Combine olive oil, tamari, and vinegar in a skillet and warm on medium heat. Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Add the greens. If using fresh greens, sauté for 4 to 5 minutes. If using blanched greens, just warm through, about another minute.

Makes 2 to 3 servings.

NOTE: Dandelion greens get very bitter later in the season, even in late spring. To eliminate some of this bitterness, place the greens in a sauce pan and pour boiling water over them. Bring the water back to a boil. Strain, then repeat the process if necessary.

Dandy Tofu

½ pound of tofu, cut into cubes or sticks

Enough soy sauce or tamari to cover tofu

One cup of tightly packed wild greens (dandelion, mallow leaves, wild spinach, purple mustard, etc)

1 Tbl. Oil or butter

A few dashes of turmeric

Optional: chopped hardboiled eggs, mushrooms, garlic and/or onion, sesame seeds.

Place the sliced tofu in a shallow bowl. Pour soy sauce over it and leave it to marinate. Go outside and gather wild greens (also available at heath-food stoves and “better” grocery markets)

Add oil or butter to saucepan over medium heat. Begin browning the tofu, sprinkle with turmeric, while you wash and strain your greens. When the tofu is browned on one side, turn it and lay the greens on top.

Add any optional ingredients. Cover and let simmer on medium low heat for a few more minutes, till other side of tofu is browned. Gently stir and serve.

Makes 1 to 2 servings.

I Love this for breakfast!!

NOTE: for years now I have been substituting Braggs Amino Acids for soy sauce and tamari. It is a much healthier choice for a low salt diet.

Turmeric is wonderful for the digestive system and can be taken in capsule form for joint inflammation.

Wild Foods ~ Are you what you eat ?

I did an eleven month herbal study in 1995 which included all aspects of plants, their medicinal and spiritual healing properties, as well as how to make our own herbal remedies from plant parts. Every week we had a section on nutrition which totally turned my head around and I will be forever grateful. I fully embraced food as my medicine; and if we are what we eat, I wanted wild foods in my repertoire. I love to garden, but there are “weeds” that are fun, adaptable, abundant, cost nothing and are delicious. 

But look over here, on the path to the vegetable garden. You are walking on dandelion greens, mallow and wild spinach. They grow wherever they choose; thriving only where the land will support them, plus they come up weeks earlier than planted seeds. Of course a dandelion will often grow out of crack in the sidewalk, screaming to get your attention, “Look how strong and versatile I am, to grow in this difficult situation.  I can help you!”

I began to take note. We did herb walks in the forests, beside the stream, as well as the back alleys of our neighborhoods, learning to identify what is edible and how delicious weeds can be.  If you ever plan on being lost in the woods, make sure that your hiking partner is an herbalist. 

You can eat things that you can barely touch!!  I have nourished a small plot of stinging nettles from baby plants that were a house warming gift from a fellow herbalist. I placed them in a situation where they are least likely to jump out and grab an unsuspecting admirer. Nettle leaves gathered in the early spring before the plants have gone to seed, can be sautéed for a delicious green side dish weeks before my adorable spinach plants are ready for the plate and can be used in any recipe calling for cooked spinach.

Medicinally, nettles are vibrantly rich in vitamins and minerals and are considered to be a marvelous whole body tonic, great for enhancing the immune system and can benefit those who suffer from plant allergies. PLEASE NOTE: Unlike spinach, nettles cannot be eaten raw; they must be cooked, or dried for later use, and make a delicious, nutritious tea. Use gloves and wear a long sleeve shirt when you first gather nettles; I doubt that you will continue with the outfit, but better safe than sorry to get started. If you should get stung, you will be uncomfortable for an hour or so.

Beginners Recipe for Nettles.

Place nettle leaves in a colander and gently rinse with cool water.  Empty into a frying pan that will easily hold what you have harvested.  Add a small amount of water and simmer gently for two minutes or more. When most of the water has evaporated, add butter and gently stir. At this point you can add salt & pepper or sprinkle with your favorite seasonings. I love to add nettles to sautéed minced garlic.

The color green that nettles turn when gently cooked is a gorgeous sight. I hope in this lifetime that you get the chance to experience this.

Annette Price

Reprinted from Food and What Feeds Us, by a Week’s Worth of Women, edited by Jyoti Wind. 2009.

I am offering Bringing in the Wild ~ Discovering Wild Foods

Two dates: May 1^st or May 5^th  ~ 10am to 4 pm

@ Dragonfly Farm

Contact us at annette@what-wire.com

Eat Well and In-Joy !!  *annette