Today shaped up to be one of the first days I can truly remember since this past fall where the rain and wind subsided and the sun made a cameo appearance. I dare say, an Oscar worthy one at that! I looked at the forecast yesterday and it appeared there may be a chance for a jaunt in the woods where I wouldn't get wet and cold...
I got some great closeups of some tiny mushrooms.
I didn't pick them, but they sure are fun to take snapshots of up close.
I woke around 8 AM, ground my freshly self-roasted coffee beans, and started the kettle to fill the French press. I whipped up the cream and butter for my 1st cup and enjoyed the morning; I thought that it appeared as though the weather would cooperate for me today. After 2 more cups I gathered my foraging gear and tripod, threw on the boots and headed out the door.
It still looks a bit bare, but it'll get
real green in a hurry! Lots of chum salmon and cutthroat trout in this here little creek.
I have been putting off picking nettles for the past few weeks now. I scouted my patches at the end of February and one was yet to sprout, the other had
just begun to sprout. It's very interesting, as these 2 patches are only about 5 miles apart, but the micro-climates have an effect on when these plants will grow. The first patch is very near my neighborhood, so I stopped at this one first. I knew, that if I saw nettles here, there would be many more at my other patch.
Closeups of the small nettle shoots.
Mind the fine hairs, they irritate the skin for quite sometime.
There were a few here, not enough for me to feel comfortable with harvesting however. I decided to walk the trails a bit to see if I couldn't find some other items to forage. Unfortunately at this location I was unable to find anything. I did, however, get some really great photos.
Not sure what this is, but the way the water built up on the tiny bud was really cool.
The squirrels have been busy over the winter slaying the fircones.
A water skeeter floating on top of the water was what I was really trying to capture here, but if you look closely you can see the salmon fry in the background!
As soon as I went to snap the photo of this slug it tucked it's head down to eat some lichen...
I packed things up, cracked open a lemon flavored La Croix soda water and hit the road to the next location. I had visions of a sack full of nettles and lamented in the possibility of even finding fiddlehead ferns.
I thought this makeshift bench would frame the photo of the bay very nicely.
A salmon jaw, nowhere near the water I might add. I can only imagine what dragged this thing here... Not sure what this flora is below but it was way cool looking.
I got out of the truck and checked the swampy area for ferns while trying not to sink to my shins!
I would have picked some, but this was essentially the extent of what was ready to be harvested, so I opted to leave them be and come back another day.
Indian plum blossoms about to open up.
A closeup of an evergreen tip that had fallen to the ground.
There were a few trillium blossoms to enjoy.
I believe this is a skunk cabbage shoot, but I am uncertain.
More cool tiny mushroom closeups.
All washed up.
Is there such a thing as noble rot for rosehips?!?!?
I got to the area where the nettles grow and was greeted by many nettles ready for harvesting.
I picked until my bag was about half full and called it an afternoon. I walked a bit more and snapped a few more photos.
I headed home and as I drove I thought that perhaps I might make a batch of nettle-kraut when I got home:
I ended up with a total of 3/4 of a pound of nettles.
I sprinkled the nettles with salt, fennel seed and caraway seed.
Mash it all up and let it wilt. I like to use a beverage muddler.
Mix with 1 1/2 pounds of green cabbage.
I will let this sit for about an hour until some of the water gets drawn out by the salt and it wilts some more. I will then add the mixture into 1 quart mason jars and top each jar off with salted water, date the jars and set them on my fermentation shelf. It should be ready to enjoy in about 3 weeks.
Nettle-kraut:
3/4# fresh nettle tips
1 1/2# green cabbage
1 tbsp caraway seeds
1 tbsp fennel seeds
4 tbsp kosher salt (2 tbsp for making the salted water, 2 for wilting the mixture)
2 cups warm water
6 cups cool water
2 whole cabbage leaves
2 small river rocks (small enough to fit in the jar mouth)
2 coffee filters or cheesecloth
2 rubber bands
-Combine the nettle tips, cabbage, caraway, fennel and 2 tbsp of the salt together. Mash until it is well wilted and some of the water begins to leech out.
-Pack into 1 quart mason jars, leaving a small amount of head room. Place 1 cabbage leaf on top of the mixture to keep it submerged. Place the rocks on top of the cabbage leaf.
-Mix the remaining 2 tbsp of salt in a 1/2 gallon container with 2 cups of hot water to dissolve the salt. Add the cool water to bring the temperature of the water down. Pour the salted water into the jars to completely submerge the kraut.
-Top each jar with the coffee filter or cheesecloth and secure it with the rubber band.
-Label your jars with the date.
-Check periodically for your preferred doneness, in my garage at about 55 degrees it takes about 3 weeks to get to where I like my kraut.
My advice would be to enjoy the kraut without cooking it, perhaps only slightly warming it if you don't enjoy it chilled. Once you heat the kraut it will kill the beneficial bacteria that grow during the fermentation process.
