Thursday, April 23, 2015

The Daffodils Are Nice, But...

We have a profusion of daffodils at several of our sites, and they happily were in full bloom around the time of our Spring fundraiser. The daffodils are lovely, but the resurgence of the stinging nettles makes me happier than their blooming. Long-time readers will know that I eat a lot of stinging nettles in the Spring.

Nettles have a high protein content for a green vegetable. Being one of the first herbaceous plants to emerge in the Spring, nettles were an important food in the days before fresh produce could be shipped from distant parts. This onetime "make it or break it" food has fallen off the radar for most people, but there are a handful of nettle adherents out there.

For the next two months, I'll be subsisting on nettle soup, nettle fritters, creamed nettles, nettle hortopitta, nettle pesto, nettle quiche, nettle omelets, nettle... I think you get the picture. I'm kinda like Yosemite Sam in Rabbitson Crusoe with his coconuts, but I actually love nettles:





I don't know if you can eat daffodils... nah, the very dedicated gardeners of our grounds department would have my head.

6 comments:

MJ said...

If the nettles are out, the fiddleheads should be out as well. We don't have them here, but I used to consider them a spring tonic.

Chickpea said...

I like the sound of your nettle feast. I must find some time to pick them before they get old and tough. Eaten in war time by my dads generation but sadly neglected now.

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

Redbud is on the way...
~

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

If the nettles are out, the fiddleheads should be out as well. We don't have them here, but I used to consider them a spring tonic.

We have some, I think it may be too late to eat them, though, because they're uncurling.

I like the sound of your nettle feast. I must find some time to pick them before they get old and tough. Eaten in war time by my dads generation but sadly neglected now.

I love them, CC. They have a beautiful "green" taste.

Redbud is on the way...

I keep checking... still no flowers.

ButchPansy said...

Aside from offending the groundkeepers, you would deeply offend your gut and liver were you to eat the daffodils. Narcissi are poisonous.

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

Good to hear from you, BP! Where have you been?

Thanks for the daffodil tip, I think I'll stick with the old standbys.