This time of year there are 2 invasive plants that you can forage guilt-free for as much jelly as you want to make.
The first is Japanese knotweed, an eastern Asia native brought to North America in the late nineteenth century. It is hardy and invasive, spreading from Nova Scotia south to North Carolina. Japanese knotweed emerges early in the spring and grows incredibly quickly, forming dense thickets up to nine feet in height. The leaves are two to six inches long and broadly oval with somewhat squared bases and pointed tips. This plant is most commonly found in moist, open habitats such as riverbanks, river islands, and disturbed wetlands, along road margins, and in areas with disturbed soils.
You can eat Japanese knotweed shoots from mid-April to late May, before the plant gets tough and woody. They are best when 6 to 8 inches tall. Taller than that and you need to peel off the tough outer skin. When harvesting, cut the shoot at ground level with a sharp knife or scissors. The intensely tart, tangy shoots taste very much like rhubarb, and can be frozen if you can’t get to them right away. In addition to making jelly, Japanese knotweed can be pickled, used as a rhubarb substitute in pies and other desserts, or steamed as a side vegetable.
An important note: do NOT harvest Japanaese knotweed from roadsides. Many highway departments treat the plants with high-test herbicides in a desperate attempt to keep them from spreading.
To make knotweed jelly, place 8 cups of chopped, clean shoots (leaves removed) into 5 cups of cold water. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 20 minutes. Cool and strain through a jelly bag or cheesecloth. Combine 4 cups of the resulting juice with 1/4 cup of lemon juice or 1 tsp of citric acid. Process as usual with 2 cups of sugar and 1/3 cup of pectin. It may take awhile to get to the gelling state; if it gets ridiculous,add a titch more pectin. The resulting jelly is light and tangy.
Our second featured plant is Garlic Mustard. It’s an erect European herb with dark green, heart-shaped, scallop-shaped basal leaves, which grow up to 5″ across. The basal leaves often remain green throughout the winter. In its second year, this biennial grows up to 3′ tall in mid-spring, and flowers with small, four-petaled, white blossoms. It is generally the only plant of this height blooming white in May in the Northeast. The garlic odor is apparent when you crush a leaf, making mis-identification unlikely.
Wild garlic mustard can be found along fence lines, wooded areas, swamps, ditches, roadsides, railway embankments – pretty much any and all disturbed areas. It is an invasive species, and as such should not be transplanted or propagated.
Harvesting: When you forage the plants, try to pull the entire plant from the ground – you won’t be using the roots, but as it’s an invasive species, removing the entire plant before it goes to seed is a bonus. (The tap roots are long and can be quite resistant to pulling.) I usually harvest them into a shallow basket so that any root dirt doesn’t get all over the rest of the plants, but there’s no harm in harvesting into a bag if that’s what you’ve got on hand. I don’t recommend gathering flower stems after they’ve gone to seed, as they become more bitter as they age.
Processing: You’ll want to process garlic mustard directly after harvesting so that it doesn’t dry out on your counter or get limp and lifeless in your fridge. Start by removing and discarding any roots. For older plants with thick stems, strip and use the leaves and any flowers; younger, more delicate plants can be used in their entirety. Rinse the material thoroughly. For jelly making, chop it finely before measuring the amount needed for the herbal infusion. Like most herbs, garlic mustard can be frozen after cleaning for later use.
Uses: Both leaves and flowers are edible, with a pungent, mildly bitter, garlic flavor. Garlic mustard is great raw in salads if mixed with more mild greens. It’s also good steamed, simmered, or sautéed. In Europe, they use it in sauces; some people use it as a pesto base. Turned into an infusion, the herb makes a tasty savory jelly with a mild garlic flavor, good for roasting meats and potatoes or stirring into sour cream for a dip. (See my last blog post for how to make herb jellies.)
I take great joy in taking these invasive weeds and then using them for something delicious.
Happy harvesting!
