My first morel of 2013 After years of observing the seasons, the only conclusion I can draw about springtime in the Rockies is that it is invariably sudden. Last year, a switch flipped, and dry brown winter turned into dry brown summer. This year, it looked to be more of the same. Dry brown winter threatened another summer of devastating fires. Then something funny happened starting in March. It snowed every week, in great big wet storms. I watched as the rest of the country proclaimed spring, showing off pictures of flower buds and grasses. And every time I turned around, it was snowing, and freezing. Still, memory of the drought made me hold my tongue, as I dare not complain about blessed moisture.

After two straight months of weekly (big) snowstorms, spring finally let loose on my area.  And it did so with abandon!  Overnight, there were leaves on previously barren trees.  The land changed from shades of brown and grey to full greens and blues.

Welcome to Wild Things in May.  I have to confess that as of May 1, I had yet to decide which plant to feature this month.  I put the question up on my Facebook page, asking if Wild Things in May should be about morel mushrooms, mustards, or black locust blossoms.  I was quite convinced that people would favor morels, as they are such a sexy ingredient.  When an avalanche of people voted for mustard plants, I was surprised.  I was also pretty happy, because my own interest lies in exploring the possibilities of these common plants.

Isn't it lovely how dandelions, the featured herb for April, announce the arrival of spring with their cheery blossoms?  This month, we've got all sorts of delightful entries in the Wild Things Round Up - recipes using all parts of the plants, from the roots, to the greens, to the flowers.  Enjoy!

I rounded out of winter with a serious hankerin' for dandelions.  It's not just that they sounded sortakinda good.  I had a bone-deep craving for them.  January and February didn't cooperate.  They were very dry and the plants weren't feeling the love.  Then a weekly pattern of snow and cold set in, which further delayed the plants emerging.  But you've gotta believe that when those first tender dandelion leaves poked through the dirt, I pounced on them (I was going to make the analogy, "like a mountain lion on a jogger," but I guess that probably wouldn't go over very well.  If I only make the bad joke within the safety of parentheses, it doesn't count).

This afternoon, on the way home from work, I performed what has become a weekly ritual of late - picking wild plants to fill the fridge ahead of the next snow storm.  Despite the tumultuous spring we've had, I was able to come home with the bounty pictured above.

Spring is revealing itself in fits and starts.  We're being blessed with a pattern of sunny days broken up by a weekly storm of a few days.  The moisture is badly needed here, so we'll take what we can get, even if it means snow and cold temps.   Last year in mid-April, the growing time was in full swing.  We'd been picking asparagus for a month, and most of the spring plants were at their peak. This year, the plants are just starting to wake up, and keep getting beaten back by frigid temps.

It's only been in the last few years that I've come to really appreciate risotto. Before, I didn't get it.  Honestly, it seemed to me nothing more than uninteresting casserole.  Then, my friend Eve clued me in to how I was messing it up.  You see, I was making risotto without wine because it always seemed silly to purchase it for a single recipe.  However, wine is essential to making risotto.  Its acid keeps risotto from being bland and boring, like some middle-of-the-road casserole.

Two years ago, when Wild Things was in its infancy, I chose to highlight dandelions in April.  For the first time ever, I'm going to repeat a featured plant.  I've two reasons for this.  First, last month's theme of trees was challenging, even for experienced foragers.  Secondly, dandelions easy to identify and every part of them are edible.

Welcome to Wild Things in March! This month is a great big tree party, where we celebrate the food and medicinal potential of trees.  You won't see any entries using leaves, fruit, nuts, of pollen this time, as they will have their own months as featured ingredients.  This time, the posts will be about bark, sap, resin, catkins, and some of the more unusual trees that you wouldn't normally think of harvesting.  This is exactly what you voted that you wanted to see in March, so get out your draw knife and enjoy all of the intriguing knowledge that is so generously shared by the contributors.
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