Wild Greens!

Buenos dias! Good morning! Actually, it's after noon already, but it rained and rained and rained all night and morning, so it feels like the day is just beginning! I had fun with another Yoga podcast class this morning and am just loving it! As long as I can actually get started, I am good to go. I have heard that 90% of the equation is simply showing up and this rings true for me in many ways. Then, I walked outside to pick some greens for my smoothie and realized some of our strawberries are ripe!! Yahoo! Only a few were ready and they were delish! Nice appetizer...then to the greenhouse to pick some of the last of the spinach (it likes cooler weather in early spring and fall)and some weeds to eat! I picked lamb's quarter and dandelion leaves. Here's some info I cut and pasted for you...

Lamb's quarter, is a wild relative of the spinach plant and can be used as a free replacement for spinach! It grows prolifically throughout most of the world.
This herb is one of the most nutritious wild foods you can eat.
One cup of raw lamb's quarter leaves contains:
~ 80 mg of Vitamin C
~ 11,600 IU of Vitamin A
~ 72 mg of Phosphorus
~ 309 mg of Calcium
as well as good amounts of
~ Thiamin
~ Riboflavin
~ Niacin
and
~ Iron

Dandelion greens are one of season’s earliest wild picks and one of the finest spring tonics. The greens have a slightly bitter note and are elegant in a salad.
Dandelions support digestion, reduce swelling and inflammation, and treat viruses, jaundice, edema, gout, eczema and acne. This sunflower relative boasts potent medicinal properties with laxative and diuretic properties.
Don’t bother gathering from plants that have gone to flower. Here’s why: as the energy moves up to the blossom, the greens becomes quite bitter and require blanching to be toothsome. Please note: do not gather dandelions from lawns, public trails, roadsides or any chemically-tainted area. The leaves are high in vitamin A, vitamin C and iron, carrying more iron and calcium than spinach.

Pretty amazing stuff, eh? And all just a free, fun wild pick! I was having a hard time bringing up pictures, but you can google them easily to be able to identify them for harvesting. I blended the big handful of greens with frozen plums, stevia, Carob Powder,, Spirulina , Goji Berries and water. I made the same concoction yesterday and this one tasted quite a bit more bitter, so you have to be careful with the amount and youthfulness of the dandelion greens, but it was still yummy. Frozen plums aren't my favorite fruit of choice for smoothies, but that's what I have in the freezer from last fall's harvest. I am grateful for all this beautiful, healing food that comes right from home! Pick something wild!!