Lunch from the back yard

Well, “lunch” is quite an exaggeration. It was more like a morsel. A tiny morsel that my grandchildren, Rivers and Ellie and I shared. It wasn’t the nutritious value I was after but the experience.

When Rivers and Ellie and I had a discussion about how the American Indians used to eat off the land, gathering herbs and killing game, Rivers, with all the uninformed confidence of an 11 year old said, “I could do that. Easy.”

With raised eyebrows I suggested that we try it out, just for a snack and the three of us went into the backyard. I’m not into killing game of any kind but I AM into gathering plants. I don’t have any vegetables planted yet so we were in for a (relatively) authentic experience. What I do have is an impressive display of a tiny little plant called Spring Beauty. If you’ve ever gone to the Appalachian Mountains in early to mid-spring, you may have seen what looks like acres and acres of this plant. It is tiny, growing only 2 1/2 – 3 inches tall on slender grasslike stalks but what it lacks in size, it more that makes up for in quantity.

The blossom is white with intricately detailed dark pink veins or sometimes they are all pink. I have written about Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica) on numerous occasions so I knew that they come from an edible tuber. What I did not know, because I have never actually dug one up before, is that these tubers are also very small, about the size of a chickpea. Also, what I did not know is that one tuber sends out numerous flower stems laterally. This means that the (tiny) tuber is not directly underneath the flowering stem but can be as much as 2 – 3 inches away, obviously underground.

It took us a little while to figure out how to find the tubers but when we had a few gathered we took them inside to wash them off and try them out. In my book, Wildflower Folklore, I wrote that the tubers, “raw, have the sharp taste of radishes and when baked, have the taste and texture of baked potatoes.” So we bit into our harvest and stared at each other. After swallowing Ellie said, “It doesn’t taste like anything!” and we agreed. Then we decided to bake them and, probably not very authentically, stuck the remainders in the microwave. We added a little butter and tried again. I can’t say that it tasted much like anything except butter, but at least it was softer.

At this point I’m waiting for Rivers to ‘fess up and tell me how incredibly difficult it would be to dig up enough Spring Beauty tubers for a meal but instead he’s eyeing the banana bread muffins on the counter and I could feel “lesson time” slipping away.

Will they remember the afternoon at my house when we dug up tubers, trying to feel what it would be like to live off the land? I hope so, but you never can tell. If you want to try it, come on over! And if Spring Beauty tubers aren’t to your liking, maybe there will be some banana bread muffins left on the counter.

Happy Spring!!!