Raspberries grow in zones 3-9 with good results.  They also come in many colors, varying between yellow and dark purple. 

In culinary applications raspberries can be used in various products.  They can be put in pies, placed on cakes, pureed as jams, ground to powder for tea.  They come as fresh and IQF.

Raspberries are very nutrious.  They have vitamin c, fiber, vitamin a, beta-carotene, calcium, magnesium, anti-oxidants, mangese, copper, and vit b 1-3.  They have phenolics and flavonoids, which decrease your chance of certain cancers. The darker the fruit, the better.  Pale or yellow raspberries have less of these nutrients.

They are low in sugar and fat.

In my video, I made raspberry / blackberry iced tea.  I ground the leaves to make a powder. The tea was brewed in a special tea maker machine.  Add 4 tbsp of powder per 2 qts of water.  Add 1 cup of sugar or however you like the sweetness.  Stir, chill and drink.  Refreshing! 

Plain yogurt mixed with raspberries, honey and freshly ground mint is delicious eaten as is or used as a topping for waffles or pancakes.

 Mix ice cream and fresh raspberries as a desert.

 Make strawberry shortcakes, but use raspberries as a substitute.

Oriental Style stir-fried wild vegetables

Ingredients :

 1 – 2 bunches purslane

 ½ - 1 bunch lambs quarters

 ¼ bunch pepper grass (to make ½ tsp ground pepper)

 1 small onion  ( or chopped wild onion )

 ½ tsp chopped garlic

 1 tbl spoon soy sauce

 ½ tsp sugar

 ½ tsp sesame oil

 2 tbl spoon vegetable oil

1.Wash wild edibles and shake dry.

2. peel off peppergrass seeds and dry in oven,

 3.peel off lambs quarter leaves and chop fine.

 4. break off hard lower stems on perslane and discard, chop perslane semi fine.

5. Chop onion.

6. After pepper grass is dried in the oven, grind into a fine powder.

7. Heat oil on med to low temp, add garlic, onion, pepper grass, cook until fragrant.

8. Toss in greens, stir fry 1 – 2 minutes.

9. Add sesame oil and soy sauce and mix quickly.

10. Add salt to taste.

   Pepper Grass

        Lepidium virginicum

  A substitute for  black pepper.

 Plant has protein, vitamin A & C

          Purslane

        Portulaca oleracea

  Contains essential fatty acids,

calcium, potassium, and vitamin A

        Lambs Quarters 

These are my own creation, home made english muffins, from scratch, with Millet, Flax, and Quinoa. These grains are a favorite of many herbalists. They are considered super foods by some , due to the high protein, omega 3 "s and nitriloside (B17) content. Diets high in these nutrients were common in peoples of the past and returning to a simpler diet high in natural nutrients, without artificial chemicals may be the key to lower cancer rates as well as many other modern ailments. 

 1 ¾ cup milk  (scalded 180 degrees)

4 tbsp butter

1 ¼ tsp salt

2 tbsp honey

1 lg egg, beaten slightly

1 packet yeast   (1 ¼ tsp)

2 cups ap flour

1 cup ww flour

1/3 cup millet ground flour

1/3 cup quinoa ground flour

1/3 cup flax ground flour

cornmeal for dusting

1. grind all flours that are whole to flour . measure.  Measure all other ingredients and put in small cups or bowls.
2. scald milk.   DO NOT BURN!  WATCH VERY CAREFULLY!!
3. Pour into bowl, stir in butter, salt, and honey.  Mix until butter is melted.  Let cool until 105 degrees.  Stir in egg and yeast, stir in all flours and mix to form a rough ball.
4. turn onto floured  table and knead 5-8 minutes until smooth.  Then place into large bowl, and cover with a clean cloth.  Let rise for approx 1 hour in a warm area until doubled in bulk.
5. turn out the dough until a floured table and roll until ½ inch thick . use a 3 inch cookie cutter that is circular.
6. place onto a cookie sheet, sprinkle with cornmeal, rest 20 minutes
7. heat a griddle or cast iron skillet over low heat.
8. place cut muffins cornmeal side down, cook 6-8 minutes, flip cook 6-8 minutes  brown DO NOT BURN
9. TEST BY TOUCHING SIDE IF IT STAYS INDENTED, COOK A LITTLE LONGER, IF JUST SPRINGS BACK IT IS FINISHED.
10. cut lengthwise and enjoy with butter or jam
11. you can freeze extra English muffins with no problem

           Millet 

(Pennisetum glaucum)

source of vitamin B17,

anti cancer properties

            Flax

(Linum usitatissimum)

Source of alpha linolenic acid (ALA)

Omega-3Fatty Acids

          Quinoa

(Chenopodium quinoa)

Protein content is very high (12%–18%)

Canning fiddle heads and asparagus

Canning fiddle heads and asparagus

• Fiddleheads are an early spring delicacy. These can be canned along side asparagus

o       Wash both asparagus and fiddle heads trim off all scales and cut off the bottom tough ends of the stems.

o       Cut asparagus to fit your jars (remember to leave room for at least 1 inch of headspace)

Cooking Fiddleheads

You can cook fiddleheads using two different methods - boiling and steaming.

o       Boiling

Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil and add ½ to 1 tablespoon of salt     ( this is for the equivalent of 1 – 2 quart size jars or 2 – 4 pint size jars ) add washed fiddleheads. The water should fully cover fiddleheads when cooking. Cook at a steady boil for 15 minutes.

o       Steaming

Bring a small amount of water to a boil in your home steamer,  Add your washed fiddleheads and steam for 10-15 minutes.

Preparation for canning

1.                           Add fiddleheads to a pot of boiling water, boil for 3 to 4 minutes. Strain off water.

2.                           Pack the fiddleheads tightly into your canning jars.

3.                           Boil water with vinegar and salt added ( aprox. ¾ cup white vinegar and 1 – 2 tbl spoons of salt per pound of fiddleheads

4.                            Pour in canning jars so that liquid reaches headspace, then place lids, be careful not to over tighten. Process in pressure canner. –

For asparagus, you can cold pack or hot process before putting in the canning jar

Prepare as you would fiddleheads, add boiling water and leave headspace.

Fiddleheads may also be frozen

1. Clean and cut fiddleheads.
2. Blanch a small batch of fiddleheads for 2 - 4 minutes in 4-8 cups of water. Add fiddleheads to water when it reaches a rolling boil.
3. After blanching, cool down on an ice bath immediately for 5 – 10 min.
4. Pour off water, pat dry and put into freezer bags.
5. Date bags and put away in freezer.
6. When ready to use, thaw out in refrigerator and follow cooking direction for most fiddle head recipes before serving.

Fiddleheads are high in vitamin C, A, fiber and contain omega-3 fatty acids,

Vitamin B-17 (nitrilosides) are substances are found in a number of plants, seeds, sprouts, beans, tubers, and grains. many of these can be used in food preparations.      

One of the most common nitrilosides is amygdalin. Amygdalin C₂₀H₂₇NO₁₁, is a glycoside initially isolated from the seeds of the tree Prunus dulcis also known as the bitter almond.   This nitriloside also occurs in the kernels of other seeds  practically in fruits. The seeds of apples, apricots, cherries, peaches, plums, nectarines, as well as  alfalfa sprouts, apricot kernels, bamboo shoots, barley, beet tops, bitter almond, blackberries, boysenberries, brewer's yeast, brown rice, buckwheat, cashews, cherry kernels, cranberries, currants, fava beans, flax seeds, garbanzo beans, gooseberries, huckleberries, lentils, lima beans, linseed meat, loganberries, macadamia nuts, millet, millet seed, peach kernels, pecans, plum kernels, quince, raspberries, sorghum cane syrup, spinach, sprouts (alfalfa, lentil, mung bean, buckwheat, garbanzo), strawberries, walnuts, watercress, yams. Unfortunatly one of the best sources of B17 is no longer available in the U S A. It’s the Bitter Almond Tree, Prunus dulcis,  Prunus amygdalus. This tree was banned from the USA in 1995.

The dietary intake of ancient man and many fruit-eating animals was very rich in nitrilosides. They regularly ate the seeds (and kernels) of all fruits. These seeds also are rich in protein, polyunsaturated fats, and other nutrients. Seeds also contain as much as 2 per cent or more nitriloside. Nitriloside containing food is used widely as a non traditional herbal anti cancer preparation in many cultures. There are groups of people living through out the world being studied, whose diet is traditionally high in nitrilosides also assosciated with these groups is very low rates to no casese of cancer.

Many reasearchers list the mode of action of b17 as  Amygdalin being broken down into its component parts as a result of the action of beta-glucosidase. The enzyme is found in abundance in cancer cells, and is relatively deficient in normal cells. Consequently, the cyanide is released only at an active cancer lesion.