​Green foods are calling out to us. Can you “hear” them?
After months of living slowly and more quietly, keeping our inner fire with sweet, starchy sustenance, it’s time to wake up. Get moving, step outside, accept the gifts of plants and feel the renewed energy cursing through your body and soul
Our bodies don’t need punishing cleanses, our spirits don’t need to be crushed with guilt. Tender care and joy will grow a healthier human.
Handfuls of wild flavors go a long way.
My take on the traditional shepherd’s pie is filled with lentils and young nettle leaves, carrots and chives, sprinkled with ramps (leaves only, friends) and wild garlic. I suppose it would be more accurate to call it a forager’s or gardener’s pie.

​Dear friends, how come you never told me about baked oatmeal? Withholding such information can have a very negative effect on our friendship.
Simple, scrumptious, nourishing: oats combined with your favorite fruits, eggs, butter, maple syrup and some kind of “milk” baked to perfection.
I loosely followed a recipe I found on-line.
2 eggs,
1 cup of milk
1/3 cup of maple syrup
2-3 T of melted butter
2 cups of oats
1 tsp baking powder.
Lots of fruits.
Today I accidentally included cornmeal too.
Baked at 375F for 40 or so minutes.
While it’s baking I’m going to treat my hands that touched hundreds of flowers this week to a soothing oat milk bath. They are tired, red and inflamed and crying for attention. Oat is the ultimate soother and supporter or red, itchy skin. All it takes is a bowl of warm water, and sock with some rolled oat. As you gently squeeze the oats tied in the fabric the water turns milky and silky. Ok, some may say slimy. You skin will thank you for it.
Wait, it doesn’t stop there! While you’re giving your hands a spa treatment, why not sip a coup of oat straw or milky top of oats tea? Just as it is soothing to your skin, it is as soothing to your whole body. Rich in minerals, especially calcium ( goodbye crushed up rocks, calcium supplements) it builds up and supports the mentally and physically exhausted.
It’s all about oats here today. And probably tomorrow too.

It's Spring in Ohio and Nettle is showing off its first, dark green leaves. 
Besides gathering some with careful attention or gloves to make fortifying Green Soup, I like to make Nettle Salt. What an easy way to make this powerful herb a part of our daily diet. Another plus is that it will keep forever. Well, it would if we didn't use it up so fast on popcorn, soups and stews or even pasta dishes. 
The process is simple and straightforward. Gather and clean your Nettle, strip the leaves and place them in the food processor. Add salt, process it for a bit then lay it out to dry. With the oven light on it takes about a day to dry it completely. For herb salts you don't even need a dehydrator, drying happens fast. 

You'll need:
1 part Nettle
1 ( 1 1/2) parts Sea Salt or Himalayan salt or whatever salt is dear to your heart
Food processor
Paper towel and cookies sheet to spread out on and dry

Why Nettle? You may ask. 
Nettle is deeply nourishing for the tired to the bone person. Or for anyone, really. This deep colored, green tasting herb ( reminds me of Spirulina) is full of minerals: Calcium, Iron, Copper, Magnesium just to list a few. That green color signals a good amount of chlorophyl. It's a diuretic herb ( makes you pee) but unlike synthetic drugs, as it helps you get rid of stagnant fluid build up, it won't depletes your mineral sources in the process. 
In my mother land, Hungary, old folks used fresh stems of Nettle to practice so called self flagellation: hitting the arthritic parts of the body with this uric acid containing medicinal. Yes, it stings. Hence the name: Stinging Nettle. However, applying it topically to sore or numb body parts will bring much needed circulation (healing) to the affected area. 

Beat Spring fatigue with a bowl of Green Soup. A post by my friend Leslie @Lunarlesile reminded me of gathering some young Stinging Nettle as a base for this ever changing, nourishing green goodness.

• I started with some onions, of course, sauteed in butter.
  
• I added some first-of-the- season Asparagus, along with Garlic Mustard,
  
• Thickened with a few potatoes.
  

Served with a dollop of Kerrygold, or even better, a spoonful of ghee ( from my dear friend Joannie) and you’re taken care of.
Nettle is a must have on this homestead: it’s part of almost all daily infusions; I’d rather drink my vitamins and minerals than pop a fancy multivitamin.
Nettle is rich in Iron, Calcium, Silicon (hair and nails), Chlorophyll, Vitamin C and A. Nettle was once extensively grown for its fiber which is similar to that of Hem or Flax. (Practical Herbalism). And guess what: you can even make beer out it!
Even my chickens get some powdered Nettle in the winter to make of for the lack of summer greens. My adolescent seedlings and grown plants also benefit from a dose of Nettle infusion.


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