Aronia

"Emancipate yourself from mental slavery.
None but ourselves can free our minds." – Bob Marley


The story of the exodus tells of a desert burning bush speaking to Moses regarding delivery from slavery and misery. And another story goes like this: An Aronia shrub in Autumn is the voice of god. Songs of freedom flare from these flame-leaves, their true colors igniting the world with celestial poems of liberty. Deliver us from slavery and misery? They look like they could.

These shrubs (up to 8' tall) blanket landscaped hills, line Library pathways and buffer yards. The thick and leathery leaves with a saw-toothed pointed-oval shape are dark, shiny green in summer. The Autumn leaves are revolutionary red, riot red, Mujeres Libres red. These leaves will not be slipping quietly from this world. And the berries clustered beneath them are bitter, honest and black as the anarchist uniform.

This is also a story of a common landscaping plant turned Super-Nutra-ceutical. Once thought to be the last in nutritional edification, they are now the first in antioxidant imbibery.

A multitude of studies find Aronias to be the most potent anti-oxidant on earth, and loaded with Vitamin C (many study cites at wikipedia.com). Antioxidants, as you can deduce, slow oxidation which is supposedly caused by marauding free-radicals that bash in the glass windows of your cells, so to speak. Antioxidants were originally looked into as preventatives of rust, oil spoilage, and fat rancidity. And, as far as your body is concerned, the analogy is apt. Want to prevent rust, spoilage and rancidity? Aronias are your berry.

Normally, I wouldn't advocate anything that might limit the freedoms of radicals. I don't want to picture these clusters of Aronia berries in riot gear, wantonly firing rubber bullets (which look a lot like Aronia berries) into a block of free radicals. Perhaps these are merely semantics, but one might consider a conspiracy of government scientists to defame radicals. They could have named them Staid Centrists, right?

Studies also demonstrate Aronias boosting circulation, maintaining urinary tract health, fortifying the heart and fighting cancer (www.hort.net).

Aronias taste just like you might imagine the world's most powerful anti-oxidant would. Their other name is "Chokeberry" (not to be confused with Chokecherry, which is worse). These are not masquerading Jolly Ranchers, and yet somehow my children Love them.

I've hesitated to share the "good news" of Aronias because I've not known what to do with them, other than let the children eat them, then bleach their fingers. And I generously leave them for February birds.

A little "research" revealed these black clad anti-oxidants to be useful after all: for making wine and jams and juices. As readers might recall, my experiments with wine and jam making have been rather …unsuccessful. And my perseverance for such domestic hobbies is very weak indeed.

Aronia jams are sold all over the internet. R.W. Knudsen has come out with bottled Aronia juice. And I direct you to this wine recipe: http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/aronia.asp.

Even more "research" revealed that Aronia berries make excellent and gorgeous scone accessories.

Just as soon as our first frost tempers the tart, I'll be trying this recipe for Aronia juice, found on WSU's Mt. Vernon extension website: http://mtvernon.wsu.edu/frt_hort/aronia01.htm. Though I don't exactly understand the vague directions, I will give it my best shot.

Native to Northeast North America, probably conceived in what became the "Live free or die" state of New Hampshire, this fruit's popularity is yet in its infancy on this continent. However, ex-patriot Aronias have imbedded themselves within the Polish world, where they are quite popular. However, I've uncovered no reports of what we can assume are particularly healthy Polish urinary tracts.

I will remind readers that not all black berries are as marginally edible as Aronias. Some will taste better and some might kill you. Do not jam, juice, wine or scone these berries without 100% certain identification.

Will Aronias free us from slavery? Not even mental slavery. Save us from the misery of rust? rancidity? spoilage? oxidation? Probably!! Bust us from our prisons of urinary tract infections and sluggish circulation? Certainly!! Save us from Free Radicals? Why would we want that?

Aronia-Apple Juice: recipe courtesy Georgene Lee, WSU Mt. Vernon Extension
Steam Aronia berries to extract juice (Yield approximately 2 cups of juice per pound of berries). Mix half and half with apple juice, either commercial or home produced, and chill.

Chicory

In 1492 Blue Sailors sailed the ocean blue.

Around the big black cloud of Columbus Day there is an itty bitty silver lining: globalized food. India discovered peppers, Europe got potatoes, Italy fell in love with tomatoes, and the Americas got chicory (rice, wheat, etc). Some native-plant fascists will not recognize that as a silver lining.

Chicory is a twiggy, angular plant growing 2-5' tall. Chicory's celestially blue, edible flowers are spiky and round like a ship's wheel, hence the old-fashioned moniker "Blue Sailors." They are also members of the "floral clocks" club, open 7am to noon. Unfortunately, you won't find them now because you are probably reading this in the evening, if at all, and because the plant is currently winding down for winter.

Wild edibles, which are by definition edible plants lacking little copper labels, are frequently difficult to identify because their edibility is in a season when their identifiability is not. Leaves are edible before they flower, and roots are good after the flowers fade. A way to outsmart the crafty Blue Sailors is to identify when in flower, noting the precise location, and then return in fall for roots or spring for greens. Be 100% sure you've got the right plant.

Chicory is supposedly perennial. However, my experience on the Palouse would lead me to believe perenniality might be variable, unless I was supposed to roast the moldy root I pulled up this spring.

The young leaves of early spring, are oblong, and grow from a rosette. These frisky, edible greens should be tempered with leaf lettuce and honey-mustard dressing.

Because they are comparable to dandelions, I assumed fall was the time to dig chicory roots. Upon further research, however, I found the experts fiercely divided. Being a uniter, not a divider, I'll phrase it this way: experts agree that chicory roots should not be dug up during the frozen, dark winter (with exceptions). Spring is the best. Summer is perfect. Fall is the only time to get good chicory roots. Also, there's no time like the present.

Chicory roots are dug up easily, given moist soil conditions. You can find them behind dilapidated industrial buildings and alongside RxR tracks. I'm sure no one will suspect anything; you trespassing with your shovel behind the old grain elevator.

Roots dug from pre-flower chicory are juicy. Roots from post-flower stems are tough. Boil pre-flowered roots for 30-45 minutes and enjoy the juicy roots plain or in soups. For a coffee substitute, soak the whitish later season roots in water for a few minutes, scrub the dirt off, roast at 225* in your oven for possibly four hours, enjoy spicy potpourri of roasting roots, grind, and brew like coffee by percolating or straining through a filter. You might also mix it with roasted dandelion root or, famously in France and New Orleans, with coffee.

The French contend that it counteracts the acidity of coffee. Herbalists recommend it for detoxifying livers, and treatment of ailing spleens, stomachs, and joints. (Growing and Using the Healing Herbs by Gaea and Shandor Weiss.) A recent bee sting at our house might have been soothed by a poultice of chicory leaves, but for the churning arms and body which resisted it. Poultice: pour boiling water over fresh leaves, remove leaves, let them cool slightly, and apply to swelling.

The Blue Sailor's home port is the sprawling, ill-defined catch-all of origins: Eurasia. Cultivation of chicory stretches back 5000 years to Egypt with Romans copy-catting. It also has a history in Chinese medicine. (http://earthnotes.tripod.com)

The well traveled Blue Sailors, also called Wild Endives, are sold in France as Barbe de Capucin which surprisingly does not translate into "Cappuccino Barbie," but into "beard of a Capuchin monk," and no one really knows why (Eat the Weeds by Ben Charles Harris). Called "Succory" in England, it was used in love potions. (http://groups.msn.com/TeaCentral) "Noxious Invasive Weed" is a recent, American-made, USDA slur for the Blue Sailors, never applied to pilgrims and their descendants, of course.

Because I'm a uniter, let us all recognize, if not celebrate, Columbus Day by honoring the Blue Sailors as perhaps one of the healthiest and prettiest sailors to come to this "new" world in many centuries.

Apples

FREE: the unconditional love of apple trees. You can find forgotten or un-harvested apples (sweetened by frost) in every neighborhood. Technicolor-red apples are dropping at Idler's Rest near Moscow, ID and a large variety fall at the base of Steptoe Butte. For the imperfect and infested apples of neglected trees there are several delicious options after you have cut out the worms and bruises: 1) Drying. I love sweet dried feral apple in my oatmeal. 2) applesauce 3) spiced apple butter and 4) apple pies and 5) cider! But beware the dung flecked and bruised wind falls which lend a gross, moldy, and e-coli laced flavor.

Dandy-lion Roots

Among the wild roots ready this time of year is the Dandelion. Dandelion identification shouldn't be tricky, but then again it might be. Their leaves are dark green, light green, growing flat, growing up, deep jagged edges, or smoother sided. The underside of the leaf spine of a dandelion is NOT hairy. The leaves grow from the base of the stem, not up the stem. Get out your expert adviser and make sure. The leaves and yellow flowers are also edible and we will discuss them in season.

You know where to find dandelions: disturbed soils, my garden, alleys. If you don't have them in your yard, you are doing something wrong.

Once you're sure it's a dandelion and no one's going to miss it, get digging. My favorite digging companion is a hori hori-like knife made by Green Top. You can make the jobs of pulling and cleaning the roots easier if you harvest after a rain. Try to get most of the 2-4" finger-like root. In cool water, soak the roots for a few minutes, to loosen the dirt, then scrub them with a wash cloth.

Fresh fall dandelion roots taste buttery sautéed or added to fall soups. They cook about as long as other roots: carrots, beets, etc.

I dry my roots in an oven, either on less than "Low" overnight or carefully watched at 400 for a roastier taste. I'll use them for winter teas and infusions. For my favorite cozy drink, grind and brew the roots like coffee. For more on dandelions read Healing Wise by Susun S. Weed (Ash Tree Publishing, NY, 1989).

An introduction

We (you and I) have been eating from the wild since we were small children, from invasive Himalayan blackberries to disgusting Mountain Ash berries eaten on dares. A decade ago my brother Matt, a professional wild forager, introduced me to miner's lettuce and nettle. Since then, through lean times and backpacking fiascos, wild foods have sustained me and my family. Even when all is well, the earth's free gifts enrich our meals, snacks and tea times. I don't consider myself an expert; I am an enthusiast. And I want to share with you what I have learned.

Preliminary Warnings:

1) Poisoning. Please avoid this by identifying the plant and edible parts with absolute certainty. Check your favorite expert: person or book. Plants of Southern Interior British Columbia and the Inland Northwest published by Lone Pine is a favorite resource. However, I learn plants best by being shown again and again by patient teachers, like my husband, Huckleberry. I'll share my tips but YOU must be sure.

I heard a cautionary tale of mushroom non-poisoning, the morel of which was this: the symptoms of panic (heart palpitations, sweating, rapid heart beat) when you think you might have ingested a poisonous wild thing are indistinguishable from the symptoms of real poisoning. The only way for you and your entire extended family to avoid getting your stomachs pumped in the ER on Christmas day is to be 100% certain of what you are eating before you eat it.


2) Private property. If it looks like someone might care, get permission or be very sneaky. Try not to trespass.

3) Pest/herbicides. Watch for deformed or unseasonably dead plants. 4) Doo. Make sure animals haven't recently fertilized your foraging spot.

5) Discovery of allergies.

Okay. Now it is time: Ready. Set. Forrage!