This post was delayed because of internet issues. Sorry!
On a recent day trip a few hours from home that was mentioned on Day 16, I was taken to an out-of-the-way part of an out-of-the-way town in Alabama. The primary purpose of the visit was to view the devastation caused by the tornadoes of April 27, 2011 but while there, an unlikely bright spot appeared.
It is no secret that I am a fan of foraging and do it often. From berries and fruit trees to wild edibles, there is a bounty to be enjoyed in the wild. On this day though, there was an unexpected find just a few feet from the road. The photo above doesn’t do well to show perspective, but what you see is a large cluster of turnip greens. Large. Here are more photos:
Here you can see the sink full of greens that have been trimmed and separated from the stems. The sink basin is 2/3 full.
This is the cluster of turnips from the plant. As you can see it was bigger than my hand and weighed just over 3 pounds at this point. Once cleaned and trimmed the turnips alone still weighed 2 pounds.
The remaining stems were cleaned and stored for adding to stock later, and the parts that remained were added to the compost. In all there were about 5-6 pounds of food foraged on that day. The greens were definitely more bitter than younger leaves, but a longer cook time with a bit of sugar and vinegar made all the difference and there are several pints of turnip greens canned to enjoy later.
