...this is hairy bitter cress!!!
Well this grows all by itself...I never have to encourage it and then come the early days of spring....there it is in amongst the stoney paths that trap the winter rains.
....oh that sounded quite poetic I think...
..."The stoney paths that trap the winter rains"....
Well anyway...this hairy bitter cress is actually quite delicious when washed and the root removed and popped into tomato sandwiches or added to a spring green salad!
Here's a little blurb about it from a foraging post that I came across....
Hairy bittercress is known by other common names like
pepperweed, snapweed, and land cress. It is in the mustard family, and has the
same peppery, bitter flavor as other mustards. It is best to gather the greens
very early in the spring, or in the late fall when the leaves are tender. The
many leaf stalks grow from a basal rosette, can reach about 4" long, and
are sparsely hairy. Each leaf stalk has 5-9 paired leaflets, and the
largest unpaired leaflet is at the tip of the stalk. From the center of the
basal rosette, flower stalks will grow up to 10" tall, with several more
leaf stalks growing from the main stem. The flowers are very small, white, and
have 4 petals, and will bloom while the seed capsules are forming. The seed
capsules are small, about 1/2"-1" long, and olive green. When the
seed capsules are mature, they can explode and spread the tiny seeds far from
the parent plant. While the flowers and flower stalks are edible, they may seem
a bit tough compared to the more tender leaf stalks and leaflets.
Now you see ...you all know it probably, and perhaps you all got there before me and had been putting it into your salads...for ever!
I snip the roots off....plunge it in to cold water a few times and often just leave it in the water until I use it.
We had it in sandwiches today alongside some gorfeous carrot and lentil soup!
....YUM...
(Like the fish swimming around in that bowl by the potter!)
The next herb to be foraged will be the juicy tops of the early nettle crop that I maintain at the side of the orchard....oh alright ...grows whether I like it or not...
...but boy does it make a good nettle broth..
They say that it's good for the liver.
That's good enough for me!
