Sunny Savage, host of Hot on the
Trail, is a wild foods expert who takes viewers of her television show
on foraging adventures to exotic destinations, preparing delicious dishes from
found botanicals.
She recently came all the way from her home in Maui, Hawaii to visit my
garden and talk about foraging in the back yard. Delightfully enthusiastic,
Sunny trekked through my traditional Midwestern garden pointing out many edibles
and herbal remedies such as rose hips (tea), catnip (sedative), daylily (stalk,
tubers, bud - all edible), echinacea, wild geranium, milkweed, dandelions
(flower, leaf, and root - all edible), thistle (root and stems taste like
broccoli), oxalis (heart shaped leaves taste lemony), prickly pear, native
Solomon's seal (rhyzome is edible), sweet potato vine (roots and greens -
edible), and many more.
When she saw the roses in my garden she said, "I love to make tea infusions
from many things in the ordinary garden, especially rose hips, simply pour
boiling water over the rose hips, letting them steep overnight. Strain the
seeds (that have small hairs on them) and leaf material out in the morning, and
you will have a beautiful tea infusion."
For 30 years, Sunny has been traveling the world learning all about how wild
foods are edible. She has also committed herself and her family to a personal
challenge directly aligned with her show's vision: for one year, she will cook
and eat only foods grown within 250 miles of her home. What an incredible green
idea which can save a lot of money as well as carbon-offset. Sunny's video blog
is fascinating, to learn more about Sunny and foraging in your back yard, go to Sunny's blog - http://www.veria.com/sunny-savage-blog.html, and of course, check out her creative new television show - Hot
on the
Trail (on Veria TV - Channel 218 on Dish Network and
Channel 162
on Verizon FiOS).
- http://www.thecasualgardener.com,
- The Green Blog - http://www.gardeningnude.com, or
- The Garden Blog - http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com
- and The Community Help Blog - www.grow1world.com
Filed under: Food & Health, Save Money
