SOUP, SUMMER HERB PLANNING, SPRING BENCHMARKING
I made some bison soup with allspice. I had some must-finish veggies in the fridge and threw them together with the browned ground bison and had a delicious outcome. Recipe and some spring benchmarking photos below.
While letting it cook I worked on some herbal planning lists while kiddo listened to music and watched out the window calling out birds to me.
"Mama, come look at this bird!" I quietly walked over and we looked out the window together to see a bird with a short stubby beak and a reddish head and neck sitting on our neighbors roof. Kiddo surmised it could be a robin or a sapsucker. He was so excited to see it. We looked through the bird book when if flew off and he looked at sapsucker and robin and said, "no... no...". He eventually found House Finch and was sure that was it! He was right! The empty lots and "community gardens" around our house are just filled with milky oats! Unfortunately they are too gross to harvest from and I'm making plans to drive out to some cleaner areas to harvest! I realize it's time to start a cycle I've done for several years of milky oats, quickly followed by albizia and st. johns wort. I like to think of these three in sequence at the beginning of summer, try to get them made before we head out of town for as much of the end of summer heatwaves and fires as we can afford! These three are a wonderful trio to work with because they are so abundant and I can responsibly forage them. Lots of herbs on our land are ready too, including some Lemon Balm that I look forward to making into popsicles for the kids, especially my one year old who is teething.
In benchmarking news: in addition to the house finch we're seeing lots of mocking birds though the singing has quieted a bit from the exuberant song that was going off a month ago. The oxalis is almost done, the yarrow is blooming with more to come, the oaks are fully leafed out and lush, the redbuds are gorgeous all around town. Here the western redbud bloomed scantily and is now leafed out. The eastern redbud is full of dense clusters of buds and first leaves are just starting. Dutchmen's pipe vine has lots of new growth on the vines though the flowers are well over.
1lb ground bison
1 onion
1 bunch of dino kale
1 cup of shiitake mushrooms
2 large carrots
1 cup of chopped cabbage
1 fennel bulb
2 stalks of celery
2 tbsp coconut oil, ghee, butter
1 teas. salt
1 teas. allspice
Warm 2 tbsp of oil or ghee in a large soup pot (wide bottom).
Put onions into the warmed oil and saute for ten minutes.
Meanwhile in a skillet, brown the ground bison.
Add the chopped carrots, celery, mushrooms, fennel bulb and saute on medium heat for 15 minutes. (Add other veggies like broccoli or whatever you have on hand).
Add 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon allspice, juice of one lemon and saute for 5 more minutes.
Add 3-4 cups of water and bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer and simmer until carrots are soft. Stir chopped kale and browned bison in and simmer for 1-2 more minutes.
Enjoy with warm bread!