#pepperweed

There was a sign at the car park, described the coastal turf plant communities that are supposed to grow on the clifftops along the south coast of NZ, and explaining how they're largely unbothered by sheep-grazing because they grow so close to the ground. If that's the case, they need to get more sheep in, because almost the entire reserve was engulfed by knee-high introduced pasture grasses.

One of the threatened coastal turf species the sign said to look out for is this one, but the only place I found any growing was underneath the wind-pruned Monterey Cypress around the former lighthouse keeper's house site.

Probably extinct on the North Island. In the South Island known from Oamaru south to the Foveaux Strait. Surprisingly, it seems to do BETTER where humans go stomping around, to the point it was once a weed in Oamaru, but has vanished in areas where carparks and paths that were once used to access the coast have since been removed.

The flowers are tiny and lack petals.

I am spreading my Midsummer festivities from Corpus Christi (which fell the day before the summer solstice this year) through Midsummer Day/the Feast of St. John the Baptist (Kupala). Tonight I made the first of two věnce—this one to be left at the creek as an offering to Morana.

Czech midsummer věnce are most usually made with nine herbs, though the number can vary from region to region. I plan on using nine since that is the most common, plus the number nine shows up symbolically in other Czech traditions such as the nine strands in a vanočka (braided Christmas bread), and nine course Štědrovečerní večeře (Christmas eve) dinner, and Morana’s nine brothers in folk song.

“The nine St. John's herbs are suitable not only for a wreath, but also for your green pharmacy, from which you can draw all year round.”

“The herbs are definitely not to be thrown away and will come in handy all year round. Herbal mixtures made from the nine flowers are used for digestion, relaxation, and even for colds.”

Tomorrow’s wreathe will be saved for medicinal and magical uses.

I used muscadine as the base, sunflowers to represent the sun, sheep sorrel for medicinal benefits as well as personal connection, shiso, mimosa, blackberry, burnmouth vine, pepperweed, and American beautyberry. All have medicinal uses, topically and/or ingested.

“Water, dear water, as you run through rocks and roots, run through me and cleanse me of all evil so I might be wonderful as spring, beautiful like the fair zorza, full like autumn and rich like earth itself” —from @slavicafire ‘s wonderful post about Kupala Night.

… the afternoon sun, the best photo filter….

The mustard family, Brassiaceae, is an enormous family of flowering plants comprising over four thousand accepted species. As such, members of the mustard family are found nearly everywhere on Earth! The family includes such common cruciferous vegetables as broccoli, turnips, and kale, but also produces seeds in many of its species that have been used as a pungent spice. These seeds have a significant amount of folklore attached!

In Texas, one may find 186 members of the mustard family-- most commonly, the shepherd’s purse (C. bursa-pastorum), the bittercresses (Cardamine spp.), the wallflowers (Erysimum spp.), and the pepperweeds (Lepidium spp.). There are two local edible species I recommend using: the shepherd’s purse and pepperweed. 

Much of the folklore around the mustard seed is derived from its smallness. Jewish scholars compare the knowable universe to the mustard seed to demonstrate its insignificance-- how can we think so highly of ourselves when we are so small, and part of small things? Similarly, the Christian Parable of the Mustard Seed is a story Jesus tells about faith, saying that the kingdom of heaven may be like the mustard seed, but when planted becomes large and fruitful. The Ḥadīth recount Muhammad warning that a person with even a mustard seed’s worth of pride in their heart would not be able to enter Paradise. 

A 5th century BCE Buddhist tale concerns a mother who has lost her only son, and brings his body to the Buddha to seek a cure. The Buddha prescribes that she go from house to house in her village, looking for a handful of mustard seeds to being back from a household that has never lost a loved one. She realises how selfish she is being when she cannot find a single family in her village who has not lost anyone. Death is a part of the human experience. 

Several nations around the world, including India, Italy, and Denmark, have folklore stating that mustard seeds may be sprinkled around the boundaries of the home to keep out evil spirits. German folklore prescribes that mustard seeds be sewn into the hems of wedding dresses to ensure a happy household. In the United States, jewelry incorporating a single mustard seed, usually kept in a glass vial, as a symbol of faith, as in the Biblical parable, or as a signifier of perseverance and hope. 

One of the two recipes that inspired my soup, calls this lettuce soup. In her book Danube, Irina Georgescu titles the soup: Ciorbă de Cuie and refers to it in English as “Vitamin Soup.” When I put “Ciorbă de Cuie” into google translate it came back literally as “nail soup.” I wonder if it is because it is high in iron? I love to call it nail soup though because of the folk tale.

Both versions use lettuce, but for mine I used freshly foraged greens that are currently abundant, approximately 3 parts green amaranth, 2 parts sheep sorrel, and 1 part wild lettuce (the pictured bowl holds 8 cups of water to give you an approximation).

Before I even started the greens, however, I infused 3 cups of chicken broth with a large handful of Virginia pepperweed (leaves, stems and seed pods). After a half hour I took it off the medium low burner and cooked up 4 slices of bacon, sliced into squares.

Then I removed it from the rendered fat and fried up two green onions, white and green parts, and a couple of teaspoons of minced garlic. Then I added the greens and coated them in the bacon fat.

I poured the chicken broth through a strainer to remove the pepperweed, and then added enough water to cover the greens well. I added a little salt to taste. I cooked the greens in the broth for 30 minutes.

While they were cooking I made an omelet from 1 egg, 1 egg white(reserving the yolk), a 1/4 cup milk, and salt and pepper. I then broke the omelet up into bite sized pieces.

Then I combined the the yolk with another 1/4 cup of milk, a 1/4 cup of sour cream, and salt and pepper.

I turned the burner to its lowest setting and gently ladled in the egg yolk, sour cream and milk mixture into the soup. I allowed it to cook no more than a minute, before I removed it so the egg wouldn’t curdle.

I then added the broken up omelet, a 1/4 cup grated Parmesan, and bacon to the soup and ladled it into bowls and served with sliced green onions.

As to the term “vitamin soup” my version has a lot:

Amaranth is a good source of protein, fiber, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, and manganese, and is also a complete protein source.

Wild lettuce, while not as rich in vitamins as some other greens, does offer a good source of vitamins A and C, along with minerals like calcium and iron.

Sheep sorrel is a nutrient-rich herb known for its high levels of vitamins A and C, as well as its antioxidant properties.

Pepperweed is a source of vitamins A and C, antioxidants, and minerals like calcium, magnesium, and potassium