Do you ever buy that clear plastic container of “Organic Spring Mix” at the grocery store for your salads? Priced at $3.98 plus tax for 10 oz., we are paying almost $7.00 lb. for greens!  Consider what else $7.00 per pound will buy: filet mignon steak, Brie cheese, Belgium chocolate… it seems an awfully lot to pay for salad greens. Now is the perfect time of year to harvest your own organically grown salad greens…for free!

Where to look? With spring rains, you’ll find free greens in your lawn, in your garden patch, in the fields, in a vacant lot, and in parks with naturalized areas. Wash them up and they are yours! The only word of caution is to make sure the area where your greens are picked from is not contaminated. I wouldn’t pick greens from the cracks in the pavement of a parking lot, or a previously poisoned lawn.

Not sure what you’re picking? Double-check if in doubt by entering the names of plants into a google search and clicking on “images”.  You’ll find enough photos to help you make sure what you’ve got is what you think it is! If you have a smart phone, there is an app to help you identify greens: download Wild Edibles created by  a botanist who gives edible-plant tours in New York City’s Central Park.

What’s out there for the taking?

One green that you won’t mistake is dandelion! Dandelion greens are best when the leaves are small and new. They get bitter as the summer heat comes on and they mature, so springtime’s cool weather  is the best time for harvest!  I pick the innermost tender and sweet baby leaves, but the whole thing is edible, even the flowers.  Did you know that dandelions have more beta-carotene than carrots?

Lamb’s Quarter is my favorite because it so mild you won’t know it is there. Pick the leaves and tear them into a salad, or shred them half and half with lettuce to add to tacos.  No one will be the wiser, and they are far more nutritious than lettuce or spinach!  Lamb’s Quarter, also known as “wild spinach” or Goosefoot, is easily distinguished by the frosty look on the inner leaves. It volunteers itself in the garden patch in spring.

Amaranth (also known as “pigweed”) is in the same family as quinoa. It appears in spring as a seedling, and doesn’t distinguish itself until summer when its characteristic central seed stalk forms.  But if you learn what it looks like, spring baby amaranth leaves are a delicious addition to salads too!  They are commonly eaten in Jamaica, Asia and Africa.

Purslane grows everywhere, seriously!  It is found in every state in the Union, even Alaska and Hawaii.  It is very easy to recognize and grows in the most unhabitable spaces.  It is that leafy mat growing along the edge of your driveway, with succulent super-nutritious leaves.  Once you identify purslane, you’ll never miss it. Add some to your salad.

I go out and gather, then wash up the greens and add them to my recycled “Organic Spring Greens” plastic container along with the small outer leaves picked from my garden baby lettuce and spinach.  Now this is truly organically grown spring green mix! For free!

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