It rained, and it rained, and it rained. These days, Winnipeg is starting to remind me of Piglet’s tree. There’s only one good thing about it – everything is turning a brilliant, startling, emerald green.
Spring in Manitoba is a brief affair. The winter will usually last six months in a good year, and this was not a good year – we had snow on the ground from November until May. That’s a long time. Now that the snow is finally gone, everything that grows outside is in a tremendous hurry. There isn’t much time to grow leaves and flowers, set fruit, drop those leaves and return to hibernation by next November.
We didn’t get around to cutting the grass before the rain started, and pretty soon we might be losing small children in it. We prefer to use a push mower, but chances are the grass is already too tall for it. We hate that old gas mower, but we may be stuck with it, at least for this time around. If you want to do things the old-fashioned way, you have to pay attention to what is going on. Nature doesn’t wait for our convenience.
One thing that makes me very happy is that that lush green grass is dotted with dandelions. In the past, my husband would poison them – when I made him stop doing that, he bought a tool that pulls them out by the roots. Using that thing is lots of fun, but now I have an even better plan. The bunnies and I are going to eat them.
We don’t have pet bunnies, but our yard is full of wild ones. I’m hoping the dandelions will tempt them to stay away from my strawberries, but there are enough to share. Dandelion greens are wonderful in omelettes or with other greens, especially when they are fresh from the garden. With local pastured eggs and smoked salmon, it is a breakfast fit for a queen.
What is your favourite hyper-local food?