The Wild Way Out

After this cold winter and some strange sickness (which was significantly helped with some wild herbs!)  I've finally started to hammer out some of the details of my new CSA program.

Partly because this all new me to me too, I sat down a wrote out how I hope my season will go.  Not only will this help my new members get some idea what to expect, it will remind me of when I need to plant and harvest.  Also, since there's so many wild foods available, I'll need reminding of when to pick things.

So, here I've outlined how I hope each CSA week will look.  I've broken the products into wild and cultivated foods.  I'm sure this list is completely incomplete.  For example, I don't know the exact season for all the various cat tail parts, so I've left them out of the list.  There's also many wild foods I am aware of but haven't yet discovered.  All the ones listed are confirmed in variety and location. 

This is still one big learning process.  But, I think I've learned enough from my dad about gardening.  I feel finally ready to open my own wings and farm and forage alone.

Week 1 (May 21, 24)

Wild- stinging nettles, planatain, chickweed, gobo (burdock root), mustards, wild carrot greens, dandelion, wild lettuce, poke salad, shepherds' purse, fiddle head ferns

Cultivated- salad greens, spinach, radishes, green onions

Week 2 (May 28, 31)

Wild-same as week 1

Cultivated- same as week 1

Week 3 (June 4, 7)

Wild- stinging nettles, plantain, chickweed, mustards, wild carrots greens, wild lettuce, shepherds' purse, violets, wood sorrel

Cultivated- salad, spinach, radishes, carrots, green onions

Week 4 (June 11, 14)

Wild- stinging nettles, plantain, mustards, violets, wood sorrel, milk weed shoots

Cultivated- same as week 3

Week 5 (June 18, 21)

Wild- same as week 4

Cultivated- salad, spinach, carrots, radishes, green onions, peas

June 25, 28- no drop off.  Kate's one annual vacation

Week 6 (July 2, 5)

Wild- wild carrots, plantain, violets, wood sorrel, purslane

Cultivated- salad, carrots, peas, broccoli, kale

Week 7 (July 9,12)

Wild- lamb's quarters, red root aka pigweed (wild amaranth), purslane, wood sorrel, milkweed flowers

Cultivated- salad, carrots, peas, broccoli, kale, swiss chard

Week 8 (July 16, 19)

Wild- same as week 7

Cultivated- salad, carrots, broccoli, kale, swiss chard, green and yellow beans

Week 9 (July 23, 26)

Wild- lamb's quarter's, red root, purslane, wood sorrel, blackberries

Cultivated- salad, carrots, kale, chard, beans, basil

Week 10 (July 30, August 2)

Wild-same as week 9

Cultivated- salad, carrots, beans, kale, chard, basil, potatoes

Week 11 (Aug 6,9)

Wild- purslane, lamb's quarter's, red root, milkweed pods

Cultivated- salad, carrots, kale, chard, beans, potatoes, cherry tomatoes, basil, okra

Week 12 (Aug 13, 16)

Wild- purslane, red root, lamb's quarters

Cultivated- salad, carrots, beans, kale, chard, potatoes, summer squash, okra, basil, tomatoes

Week 13 (Aug 20, 23)

Wild- same as week 12

Cultivated- salad, carrots, beans, potatoes, tomatoes, kale, chard, summer squash, basil, okra, ground cherries

Week 14 (Aug 27, 30)

Wild- same as week 12 (don;t worry these are the BEST weeds!)

Cultivated- salad, carrots, beans, potatoes, tomatoes, kale chard, squash, basil, okra, ground cherries, melons

Week 15 (September 3, 6)

Wild- lamb's quarters, purslane, red root, dandelion, wild lettuce, garlic mustard

Cultivated- salad, carrots, beans, potatoes, tomatoes, chard, kale, broccoli, melons, summer squash, ground cherries, garden huckleberries, okra, basil

Week 16 (Sept 10, 13)

Wild- same as week 15

Cultivated- same as week 15

Week 17 (Sept 17, 20)

Wild- shepherd's purse, dandelion, plantain, chickweed, wild lettuce, mustards, lamb's quarters

Cultivated- Salad, carrots, beans, potatoes, tomatoes, kale, chard, broccoli, summer squash, winter squash, ground cherries, garden huckleberries, raspberries

Week 18 (Sept 25, 28)

Wild- same as week 17

Cultivated- salad, carrots, beans, potatoes, tomatoes, kale, broccoli, squashes, garden huckleberries, raspberries, radishes

Week 19 (October 1, 4)

Wild- shepherd's purse, dandelion, plantain, chickweed, mustards, gobo

Cultivated- same as week 18

Week 20 (Oct 8, 11)

Wild- shepherd's purse, mustards, dandelion, plantain, chickweed, gobo, rosehips

Cultivated- salad, carrots, potatoes, kale, winter squash, raspberries, radishes, broccoli, cabbage, brussel sprouts

Week 21 (Oct 15, 18)

Wild- same as week 20

Cultivated- same as week 20

Whew!  That looks even bigger than when I wrote it out longhand.  I think it even took me longer to type it.  I'm not a deficient typist, just a good abbreviator.

Anyway, if you've made it this far, I wanted to make sure that I have no intention of including every single weed every single week.  I plan on gathering several good servings of each wild food and giving each member different things.  Since foraging is a lot of work with some what minimal results, I'd rather make sure people get one good serving rather than a smattering of small amounts.  I plan on keeping a journal of whether members received plantain or chickweed, for example, each week.  I hope to be able to personalize it too.  Some people just love shepherd's purse (like me!) while other would rather eat... a weed?  Another weed?