Foraging for food in your back yard

$1.49/lb. at Stop & Shop. Free in your yard.

The debt ceiling crisis has been averted, or should I say postponed, really—although not in a way that progressives are particularly happy about. But supposing the government had defaulted and you were counting on your social security check or food stamps to buy groceries. What would you eat?

Well, you can always go out in your back yard and pick some dandelion greens.

Dandelion greens are quite nutritious. A one-cup serving provides more than the recommended daily allowance of vitamin A, plus respectable amounts of vitamin C, calcium, and iron. They can be eaten raw or cooked. They tend to be bitter, but the smaller they are when you pick them, the less bitter they'll be. Just cut them off at the roots with a paring knife, leaving the roots in the ground so the plant will grow back. Wash them thoroughly, particularly if you have pets. Let's hope you haven't been using chemical fertilizers or weedkillers on your lawn.

Dandelion greens can be cooked the same way you cook spinach. Steam the greens till they're soft, then sauté them in olive oil or butter with some wild garlic, which is not hard to find around here. It usually grows in moist (but not boggy) soil under deciduous trees, in areas that don't get direct sunlight. Crush the leaves first and sniff them to make sure the plant smells like garlic and isn't something else. The shoots, or scapes, of the garlic are also edible and can be used like chives or made into a pesto.

If you're eating the dandelion greens raw, you can toss them in a salad with some clovers. Both the leaves and flowers of clovers of all colors are edible, though the pink or red ones are the tastiest. Hopefully you've still got a few condiments around for dressing.

Clovers are a valuable survival food due to their high protein content and abundance. They can be cooked the same way you cook other greens. The flowerheads can also be dried and steeped in hot water to make tea.

And then there are always mushrooms.

Okay, at this point you're thinking, I could maybe survive for a day or two like this, but my yard's only so big, and I'm not a cow with four stomachs to be digesting all this clover. Sooner or later I'm gonna need some meat! Coming next: Stalking the wild quahog.

Author: Linda Felaco