May Harvest Totals

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!

Meals From the Pantry: Strawberry Lemon Frozen Yogurt with Chamomile

I am getting to the point where the garden is coming to life, and I am harvesting quite a few wild plants so the recipes here are going to start to focus on more seasonal ingredients, but I wanted to post one more recipe to my Meals from the Pantry series before fully switching gears.  While Frozen yogurt might not strike you as a "use up what you already have" type of recipe, the key ingredient here is jam or preserves, and I have quite a bit of that from the past canning season to use up!

I love making jam.

There's just something about commingling the different flavours that I really enjoy.  I like to add unexpected herbs, or combine flavours you might not have thought of.  Marisa McLellan's Food In Jars was my gateway to creative preserving, while still keeping all the guidelines for safe food preservation in the forefront.  If you are going to do something like this, it is very important hat you make sure you follow the protocols to keep whoever is eating your preserves safe from botulism and other issues.  One problem with my love of making jam is that I have now made so much more than I or my family can ever eat!  I have given some away, but I am still left with quite a backlog, so I've been trying to think of different ways to use it all up.  One day it struck me: frozen yogurt!

I used an ice cream maker, because I have one that I love, but there are methods out there for freezing ice cream without one.  I think you can put your mixture in a container and remember to stir it up every hour or so until you like the consistency.  I'll link to the ice cream maker I use if you're in the market for one.

While full fat yogurt, and heavy cream might require you to make an extra purchase, they are staples in my fridge.  When making frozen yogurt or ice cream, it is important to get enough fat into the mixture, so because yogurt usually doesn't contain that much fat, it is important to add a bit more so that when your mixture freezes you don't get an unpleasant mouthfeel.  The same is true with sugar.  This recipe doesn't have any extra sugar, because we are using very sugary jam.  A lot of people think of frozen yogurt as something healthy, but it really isn't.  That doesn't mean you shouldn't indulge, but I'm not going to pretend like it's any healthier than a bowl of ice cream.  Indulge in moderation (or not - I have zero moderation when it comes to ice cream).  As always, if you try one of these recipes let me know!  I'd love to see your posts on social media tagged #aforagerspantry, or drop a link in the comments!

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Strawberry Lemon Frozen Yogurt with Chamomile

Ingredients

• One 500ml container of lemon yogurt with as high a fat percentage as you can find.
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 cups strawberry chamomile jam or preserves

Takes 30 minutes, serves 4.

Instructions

1. Whisk all the ingredients together in a bowl trying to incorporate as little air as you can.
2. Freeze mixture according to your ice cream maker's instructions, or using whatever method you prefer.
3. Scoop out of the bowl of your ice cream maker, and freeze in a container for a couple hours if you want it to be harder than soft-serve consistency. I like using a bread pan for this purpose because of the shape, but I'm looking for something that has a lid without being plastic.

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