The ground is frozen and covered with snow. But you can still go winter foraging for rosehips, crabapples and wintergreen. In fact, winter can be an exciting and productive time to forage for wild edibles. My top picks for intrepid winter foragers are rosehips, crabapples and wintergreen. Here’s the information you need about foraging for these wild winter edibles. And scroll down for my delicious recipe for Rose Hip Soup. Winter Foraging for Rosehips (Rosa species) All rose hips are edible—providing they haven’t been sprayed with something toxic and are growing in an unpolluted place. Plants near busy roads may absorb heavy metals that leach into the ground from vehicle exhaust. So, it’s better to admire them visually and harvest your edibles from a less-traveled spot. Rose hips are a persistent fruit. That means they stay on the plant for months, providing excellent nutrition to birds and mammals (including human foragers). That's why winter foraging for rosehips … [Read more...] about Winter Foraging for Rosehips, Crabapples and Wintergreen
crabapples
Got Crabapples? Bake this Crabapple Whiskey Cake!
If you had a banner crabapple year, this Crabapple Whiskey Cake recipe is for you. This cake is a great combination of sweet, tart, and boozy, and fills a 9-inch tube or Bundt pan or several smaller pans. The Crabapple Whiskey Cake freezes like a dream, so I often make three or four small cakes. Then I freeze a couple of the cakes for when I’m feeling sad and lonely. And hungry. In my story about winter foraging published here on HomeGardenandHomestead.com, I went into detail about Foraging for Crabapples. So please read that story for more information. For this story about Crabapple Whiskey Cake, we’re jumping right into the recipe. To make the crabapple sauce, you can either use your favorite applesauce recipe and substitute crabapples or do what I do. Just toss all your crabapples into a slow cooker with a little water and some sugar. Then after four to eight hours, when the crabapples are nice and soft, run them through a food mill. CRABAPPLE WHISKEY … [Read more...] about Got Crabapples? Bake this Crabapple Whiskey Cake!
