The Ggma Chronicles, Part 12: Green Pickin’ Time in the Hill Country
Of Dandelions, Lambsquarters, Pigweed, Pokeweed, and Their Uses
This was written by my maternal grandmother, Alice Green-Kollenborn (1911-2005).
Spring comes quickly to the hill country. One night, mounds of snow heaped on rooftops, icicles glistening like crystal chandeliers along the eaves, may become a slushy mass of melting snow and water by morning. New grass, nurtured by the warm rays of the spring sun, protrude from the brown earth. The cardinal’s cheery whistle becomes more melodious as he joyfully announces the arrival of Spring.
This is the beginning of green picking time in the hill country. How well I remember Mama, clad in her long calico dress and Mother Hubbard apron, sunbonnet atop her head, scanning the open fields for the first new greens of the season.
My sister and I, thinking we were being helpful, tagged along, each carrying a shiny lard pail in which to put our pickings. Mama patiently pointed out the edible types as we repeatedly asked the question, “Mama, are these poison?” We raced to see which could be first with a full pail. Neither of us ever won.
There was no mistaking the familiar dandelion, the frosty-green lambs quarter, the pink-tinged pigweed, and the red-striped pokeweed, growing in thick clusters close to the ground. We also picked the curly dock weed which grew in abundance through the fields; but it was a little difficult to identify.
Perhaps the easiest greens to recognize, and one of the earliest, were the prolific and handy dandelions. Picked for greens when the leaves are small and tender, they make a delightful dish, but we preferred them mixed sparingly with other wild greens. It is one of the most versatile of all the wild greens, in that every part of the plant is palatable, even the soft yellow flower can be used for the well-known dandelion wine. The unopened buds, Mama often served raw in salads. The roots of the young plant were often boiled and eaten like carrots, or roasted in the oven and ground for a tea. This tea was supposed to be a good spring tonic.
Strangely enough, an improved strain of the lowly dandelion is listed in most seed catalogs. I’m sure this breed, growing in neat cultivated rows across the garden, is not as tedious to harvest as the wild strain sprinkled profusely across the fields, in yards, and along the roadsides.
Our preference was the pokeweed, which stays tender and mild longer than any of the other greens. Even when the plant matures, before the young stock becomes pithy, Mama would cut it into round slices, soak it in weak salt water for about an hour, drain it and dip the rounds in flour, or a batter, and fry them in butter, just as she did the wild mushrooms.
There are many advantages to eating wild greens, not the least of which is their abundance and availability. They are some of the earliest plants to appear in the spring, and are also a rich source of minerals and vitamins.
After a long winter without fresh green vegetables from our garden, the tender young shoots were, not only nutritious, but were also a tasty treat on our table. And, they were free for the picking.
Back in the 1920s, green picking was as traditional to the hill people in the spring as sorghum making was in the fall. If you have never picked and eaten wild greens, you don’t know what you missed.