Asterisk Denotes Foraged Item

Chamomile: 9 g
*Dandelion Greens: 394 g
*Dandelion Petals: 120 g
Douglas Fir Cones: 120 g
Green Garlic: 12 g
Lemon Balm: 7 g
Lettuce (Volunteer): 6 g
*Lilac Flowers: 482 g
Mint (Mojito): 8 g
Mixed Greens: 145 g
Pansies: 3 g
Pea Shoots: 10 g
Rhubarb: 151 g
Sage: 1 g
Strawberries: 11 g
Tarragon: 2 g
Thyme: 1 g
*Wild Lettuce: 180 g

Total: 1.662 kg

This month was an interesting one for me, because usually the bulk of what I harvest in May is wild Asparagus, and this time for some reason I never made it out to my spot to gather any. Initially the smaller harvest total was a bit discouraging, because ideally I'd like my self sufficiency to increase over time. However, when I looked at last year's harvest total and subtracted what was asparagus, I found that this year I'd quadrupled my non-asparagus harvest! The other thing that amazed me was that last year my "May" totals were actually April and May combined. This year we were able to gather enough earlier that I tallied everything up for March and April's harvest so this year is already bringing in a more plentiful and diverse harvest.

One of the most interesting new things added to my spring harvest totals are these Douglas fir cones (pictured below). I picked these while they were still green, and they have the most beautiful aroma. I'd seen a few people posting on Instagram that they were using them for flavouring, so I decided to blend them up into a flavoured sugar. They have the most beautiful aroma and a bright citrus/crabapple taste with forest notes that is really hard to describe. I'm imagining making Christmas cookies this winter from sugar flavoured with a Christmas tree! I also think these would make an incredible sorbet flavour too so I'm hoping to get out before they mature too much and gather some more to experiment with.

What are you harvesting these days? Leave me a note in the comments and I'd love to hear how this spring of gardening and/or foraging is going for you!