Wild Mustard Hot Stuff In The Kitchen And The Car

The farmers’ scourge for centuries, wild mustard is hardly at the top of anyone’s list of favourite plants.  A harbour for insects and pests harmful to gardens and crops alike, it has been the target of herbicides and natural defences used by organic and non-organic farmers for the last sixty years, yet remains one of the most common noxious weeds in the fields.  Yet, it is far from the demon that we have been led to believe.

When farmers send their grain or oilseeds to be cleaned prior to shipping, cleaners can count on an abundance of wild mustard seed in the screening mix.  Inevitably, it is discarded, and sometimes burned to prevent regeneration or sprouting.  That drastic technique often fails, because mustard seed has a good resistance to fire, with its hard shell.  However, it does burn, since it has a very high oil content.  Ironically, this oil offers great potential for revenues.

Mustard has one of the highest oil content of all oilseeds, including soybean, flax and canola, often exceeding 40%.  Yet, it has not been used to its full potential in the production of biodiesel.  I attribute this to the mental attitude of oilseed producers, who opt to produce biodiesel from food-grade oilseeds, although offgrade, sprouted and screened oilseeds produce as good, if not better biofuel than food grade.  When I was working on establishing biodiesel facilities in Manitoba, many farmers scoffed at the idea of using reject material to produce their fuel.  They wanted “nothing but the best,” which, of course, meant paying a premium price and eliminating profit margins.  Similarly, on our biogas pilot projects, few farmers wanted to be involved in producing biogas from manure, as if the concept meant that the end product would be inferior. 

Mustard seed produces excellent fuel.  Even wild mustard oil is quite edible by humans, although large quantities of the seed and the plant can be injurious to cattle.

The flakes of mustard meal left over after squeezing oil from the seeds can be deadly hot – easily as hot as a good wasabe. I have used the flaked meal round garden plants, and found it works to deter cutworms and other crawling pests.  A caution, however: do not place the meal too close to the plants, as they can suffer badly from contact with the concentrated residue.

Mustard plants, like turnips and beets, also provide very tasty, and somewhat peppery greens.  Not as spicy as the leaves of nasturtium, mustard greens have more life and taste than many of the more bland green wild crops of late spring and early summer.  In a pinch, the stalks can be chewed as a survival food.  I have found them woody and difficult to digest, and would prefer to eat other available wild greens.  Cooking does not enhance the flavour of mustard greens.  Raw, mixed in a salad is my preferred choice, or even used as a lettuce-like supplement in sandwiches.   One colleague uses the almost-opened flower heads in the same manner as broccoli, steaming them and adding a bit of cheese to liven them up. 

Hardly the floral ogre that it is painted to be by farmers, wild mustard offers a lively option for innovative gatherers of wild foods, and should not be discounted or rejected merely because farmers hate the plant and cattle seem revolted by it.  Spice, salad ingredient, boiled green, pest controller and even fuel for your vehicle or kerosene heater, mustard can be a lifesaver!

Fiddlehead Ferns Offer Music For Your Tastebuds With

It’s spring in the moist woodlands of North America when fiddlehead ferns begin to unleash their soft green tongues like a frog set to strike at an insect.  These greens are one of the most tender and juicy wild harvest foods, available worldwide. 

Fiddleheads in North America commonly are associated with the wet east coast or west coast rainforests, yet varieties can be found in abundance across the continent.  Simply put, the fiddlehead fern is not really a type of fern of its own, but a general description of the new growth shoots for all of the fern family. 

Like morels and other short-season spring delicacies, fiddleheads are available for brief days each year. They appear through the soft leaf beds of wet woodlands and shady waterway edges as soon as the ground begins to warm, quickly unfurl their fronds and rush toward full growth in a week or so.  Unlike morels, they do not hide from sight, but form the lush carpets and undergrowths of many forests and thickets.

Two varieties of ferns – Bracken and American Royal – grow across North America, with the Ostrich fern found mostly on the east coast. Harvest them by clipping the uncurled sprouts.  These wild plants are havens for small insects, dust and pollutants, and should be washed thoroughly before eating.  While many instances of mild illness have been reported (mostly due to improper washing or cooking), there are very few reports of allergic or toxic reactions.

Because fiddleheads are neither a soft leafy vegetable or crisp root-like consistency, they are suitable for a variety of cooking styles and recipes.  Simply sautee the greens in butter and a dusting of garlic, pepper, basil for a delightful side dish.  Alternatively, boil the greens and serve with a little thyme. Top angel hair pasta with steamed fiddleheads spiced with paprika, thyme, cayenne and onion powder.  Dash olive oil over dish and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.  Fiddleheads can be a feature ingredient for a number of salads, used as a soup ingredient, served with a lightly-cooked root crop mix, breaded in oat bran, flax flour and corn meal prior to deep frying, or even pickled in brine after blanching.

One of the most exhilarating wild harvest meals that I have enjoyed in early spring began with a salad of fiddlehead, dandelion and strawberry leaf, doused with raspberry vinaigrette.  The main course included boiled and buttered cattail root (potato-like consistency), fried dandelion roots, boiled fiddlehead greens, morels served with hamburgers blended with ground common plantain seed (harvested the prior year and dried) and freshly harvested horseradish root, grated and mixed with vinegar.

Spring is a season of opportunity for the lover of wild foods, and the opening act of that season is fiddlehead greens!

Pigweed A Great Garden Crop, Not Always a Noxious Weed

While dedicated gardeners are madly yanking the noxious pigweed juvenile plants from their gardens in mid-May, savvy harvesters are savouring the wonderful greens that they will enjoy on the diner plate when this tender young amaranth is boiled and served with butter and parsley.
Pigweed is a fast growing, hardy weed that shows up in gardens and marginal soils at about the same time as its equally hated friend, dandelion. Both are succulent, tasty and nutritious plants that most of us shun.
While pigweed can be harvested throughout the summer, it is at its most tender in late spring. The mature plant has a tough stem that requires dedicated boiling to force it into tenderness, while the juvenile amaranth can bee consumed whole.
I often have secured my weekly supply of vegetables simply by harvesting spring’s new wild plants and weeds, even though plants such as pigweed and ragweed are targeted as the source of many springtime allergies.
Like dandelion greens, pigweed is very tasty as a boiled green, augmented with a sprinkle of parsley and thyme. However, the leaves also work well in a modified “garden” salad, using dandelions, wild portulaca, wild strawberry leaves and shaved cattail root. While mints are a little delayed behind the first rush of pigweed greens, they, too, offer a sharp, fresh taste with your wild greens medley. Pickled or canned pigweed can easily be retained for use throughout the winter, and some people simply steam it for one or two minutes before bagging and freezing it.
Pigweed is a particularly hardy plant that takes lots of abuse and continues to grow. It is drought and heat resistant, can survive when tilled, tread upon or even razed in spring grass burning. On the other hand, the taproot gives way easily when weeded from the garden, so, even if you are intent upon eradicating the weed, pull it, but consume the green, above-ground parts. It is a truly vengeful way to punish this weed for its intrusive nature.
Red pigweed is found in almost all parts of North America, excluding Newfoundland Labrador, with green and smooth having somewhat more restrictive territories. Smooth pigweed dominates in eastern parts of USA and Canada, while green pigweed mostly lives in western USA, Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Amaranth seeds have complete protein amino acid sets, making the seed a valuable grain. The leaves are high in calcium, iron and magnesium.
Pigweed actually can play a vital role in a garden as a companion plant, as it harbours ground beetles that prey on pests, while trapping leaf miners.
Unfortunately, its reputation as a noxious weed makes it a target for destruction rather than harvest. This is the gardener’s loss, as it is a beneficial and valued food source. It is one of the safest foods to eat from the wild, and a very tasty addition as a side dish or component of the main meal.