All of us appreciate the natural beauty of these abundant plants, but most of us don&squo;t realize that many of these amazing plants are Edible&ellip;and quite nutritious too!

Last Saturday I offered a Wild Edible Plant workshop. Twelve participants and I headed out to a local field and collected an entire meal consisting of ALL wild plants. We brought them back to my house and prepared a salad, a stir fry, wildflower fritters and washed them all down with sassafras root tea …YUM! Everyone had a great time and vowed to include more wild offerings in their daily diet. The truth is&ellip;we&squo;re surrounded by an abundance of wild food. We walk past them every day with hardly a glance. I realize that most of us don&squo;t think about wild edibles very often, but I&squo;d be willing to bet that if you tried them, you&squo;d LOVE them. We affectionately refer to them as weeds, but our ancestors called them food. &bsp;

With the economy the way it is, perhaps it&squo;s a good time to re-connect to that ancient wisdom. And, the really great thing is&ellip;they&squo;re FREE. That&squo;s always a good thing!

Wild Edible Plants available this time of year include&ellip; Dandelion, Plantain, Chickweed, Wild Onions, Ramps, Cleavers, Wild Violet, Sheep Sorrel, Wood Sorrel, Wild Mustard, Ox-eye Daisy, Wild Carrot and even Bamboo shoots!

Remember&ellip;proper identification is the key. Never eat any wild plant unless you&squo;re 100% certain of its identity. For those

interested, I&squo;m offering a &dquo;FREE to the Public&dquo; Wild Edible Plant Walk this Sunday April 19, at FENCE from 11 a.m. to

12:30 p.m..

We&squo;ll meet at the Trail Pavilion near the entrance. See you there!

In Wildness, ~Richard

Richard lives in Tryon and teaches outdoor programs at Earth School. He is a self-trained Naturalist and a local fishing

and nature guide.&bsp; For info about his programs visit www.LoveTheEarth.com&bsp;&bsp;