Some Forages

So i'm amazed at everything out there... God's generous bounty, so overlooked, especially in the city!

With foraging eyes open now, two days ago I saw these curious fruits on 7 ornamental trees near work. Not wild, but I know they weren't planted for their fruit, so I took one and looked it up. A Kousa dogwood. The fruit is amazing, like peaches and very ripe guava, the skin thick and a bit bitter with phytonutrients. It is edenic. Some websites are not thrilled with the fruit - all I can think is, this must be a better variety! This should not be missed on earth! So I picked more! One leaf is still attached in the photo.

I pulled out of the strawberry patch this weed that looked familiar from my attempts to absorb "Northeast Foraging" by Leda Meredith. Indeed, there it is - purslane! I've never eaten it but it tastes so familiar, liked cooked celery? No, I cant't place it!

I added to my salad today a bit of peppergrass, (on the right of the photo), young plantain leaf, lamb's quarters, and yellow wood sorrel.

Also today I saw in the garden some kind of thistle that I think is edible, will have to check it out more closely.

The hay covering the strawberries came from a farm and I believe it brought the seeds of the purslane, the thistle, and some fuzzy leaved plant that I hope turns out to be a squash! Or, that must have come from my kitchen compost.

Down by the river, a big patch of mint, lady's thumb, jewelweed, sumac - not in flower, need to confirm it's not poison - with groundnut vines twined through it. And of course, red mulberries - I got about a quart, and some leaves fell, which make a very healthy tea.

Nearby the house too is echinacea, clover flowers, Asiatic dayflower, wild carrot, dandilion, goldenrod, and black nightshade, and of course, maple trees....

Here are the mulberries drying; with some sweet orange cherry tomatoes from a plant given me by my father's wife. The sweetest tomatoes ever, they fulfill their identity (bright, tangy) fruits.