Spring Tonics Present Themselves

Vitamin-Packed Goodies are Popping Out All Over!

I’m sure most people as as glad as I am that “Standard Time” was shortened significantly this year, having never quite made the adjustment to early darkness in the first place. Springing the clock forward early just puts us back where we were anyway all the dark winter long. Easter’s early this year too, and as my mother used to say, you can’t be sure it’s really spring until Easter.

Of course, last year we suffered a hard Easter freeze in mid-April that ruined the fruit and mast crops irreparably – even fooled the dogwoods that were in full bloom! So while garden preparations are proceeding apace with the march of March, and potatoes, lettuce and peas have been planted, we’re not ‘safe’ to really get things in the ground until late April.

Despite this, the daffodils are in glorious bloom along with forsythia, the crocus have come and gone, the lilies are growing fast and everything’s budding. All I can do is hope the fruit and mast aren’t ruined this year by another late freeze, but there are many things growing right now that a homesteader can make good use of just because it’s there. All of these goodies are packed with vitamins and serve to help prep the system after a long, slim, dark winter.

First and foremost are the new dandelions and wild onions. These are everywhere, tender young dandelion greens and soft wild onion chives make a great addition to spring salads. There’s hardly anything as nutrition-packed as dandelion greens, but the older they get the more bitter they become. The new ones aren’t bitter at all, so gather as many as you can. Toss them in with the first of the purslane that greens in the garden, some young violet leaves and flowers, and any sheep sorrel growing along the fence. Toss it with virgin olive oil and a little of last season’s wine vinegar, some early mint leaves just now appearing among last year’s dried stems, and garlic. Cut in a bunch of fresh wild onion chives and toss well, eat hearty!

Other excellent spring tonic offerings are the buds of tulip poplar trees. These aren’t yet present at my elevation, but will be in a couple of weeks. Because spring is windy, the buds fall regularly from my 100+ foot trees when the wind blows. And spring is always windy. I like these raw, some people like to marinate them. Purely a matter of taste. Spring is also a prime time for puffballs and early oyster mushrooms if you’re certain you can identify them. When the tiger lilies start budding, they’re delicious sliced into a salad, eaten straight off the plant, or battered and fried (if you like fried food – I don’t).

If you like your tonic to be formally ‘tonic’ go ahead and take a swig of the now-filtered vodka-based tonic you made last fall from ginseng and goldenseal roots, dogwood berries, rose hips and sassafras bark. It’ll give you a vitamin, mineral and flavonoid-packed pick-me-up good until dinner! Or, if you’re like me and are busy rough-filtering last fall’s oaken-aged basalmic wine vinegar, take a spoonful of the must while you’re working. This will not only help you gage how well it’s aging, vinegar and the grape must are seriously good for you!

Mine’s been in gallon jars with big oak chunks (to give it the oak flavor since I don’t have any oaken barrels). Once it’s rough-filtered it’ll be returned with fresh maple chunks. After another 6 months the maple will be replaced with poplar. Each time I’ll skim a small bottle off for use in the kitchen. Don’t forget that this increasingly aged wine-with-must vinegar is a great home remedy as well as spring tonic. When your family gets the inevitable spring cold, use it liberally on fresh wilding salads (or just give ‘em a tablespoon full). Cuts phlem, eases coughs, soothes throats, energizes digestion.

Take care of yourselves, and happy spring!

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