Good Green Tidings

A view of a sluice with the tide on the rise, I’ll walk along the edge of the salt marsh till the waters sway me dykeward.

Here is the plant I’d like to show you today, Ligusticum scoticum (Scotch Lovage). They are recently making somewhat of a comeback as a food of interest.

These plants seem to like it midway up these small dykes, the salt water will almost reach them by the looks of things today.

Another photo from where the view of the sluice took place, here the sluice only appears to be gone and soon it will only appear to back, it is amazing what can appear to happen when you pick a few greens by the shore. ciao

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Salt marsh salad greens

It’s low tide now though the muddy area which is approximately 40 ft  below the grassy salt marsh in the photo will be covered in salt water twice a day, everyday, here in the Bay of Fundy, home of the world’s highest tides. This salt marsh and the surrounding dykelands have provided me with numerous summer salad greens and pot herbs over the last 3 decades, so I’ll show you just 3 that are starting to make an appearance now.

On the salt marsh side of the dyke’s bank, here is a common edible plant which grows throughout  much of N.A. and is known as Sow-thistle (Sonchus arvensis).

This one is also on the dyke’s edge and is rarely foraged in the maritime provinces, it is a coastal plant in north-eastern N.A., though I’m going to introduce it inland into my garden this year, Scotch Lovage (Ligusticum scothicum).

There are a few different varieties of Orache out here on the salt marsh and I’ll stick with the most common name used I suspect, Atriplex hastata. There are well over 10 other good edibles greens growing out in this area which I will show you this summer as they appear, many can go directly into salads un-cooked and also make excellent ingredients in stir-fry as well.