A couple weeks back, I stumbled across a novel summer drink idea utilizing an ingredient many people have access to: sumac. In our neck of the woods (and most of the northeastern US), it’s mostly staghorn sumac, but there are different species all over the country that can be used just as well. You might not realize it, but you’ve almost certainly driven past some (we see it on roadsides all over up here) – I knew what it was, but not what I could do with it. (And for anyone concerned about mistaking it for poison sumac, don’t be – poison sumac is a completely different plant, and while the leaves are vaguely similar, the berries of poison sumac are white, not red. If you get them confused, I’d recommend a vision screening, or just sticking with Kool-aid.)

Credit: www.eatcology.com

The idea of making a drink with the berries is only new to me, as people have been using it for ages (our predecessors tended to be a bit more resourceful than we are). As I prefer, the process is simple.

Pick several clusters of berries (6-8 clusters for a half-gallon of water). Put them in a pitcher with some cold water and let them soak, periodically squishing them in your hands or with a potato masher to extract more juice. I let mine infuse for a few hours, but taste it every once in a while to test the strength of the flavor. When it’s suitable, strain using cheesecloth (the berries are covered in little hairs) and drink up. You can add sugar if you’d like, but I didn’t think it needed any.

It has a pleasant flavor, reminding me of a lemon iced tea. That citrusy tang is from vitamin C, so it even has some health benefits. This isn’t something we’ll have around all the time, but it’s a fun addition to our drink options during the summer heat.

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Remember last year, when I planted some ramps from the market in the woods?

Don’t remember that level of detail from my life? Well, I did.

Earlier this spring, when green stuff first started poking up, I went out to check my two patches, and happily, I found some ramps peeking out. Eventually, I had just over a dozen come up in one patch (the other patch, I either forgot exactly where it was, or nothing survived because it was so dry last year). We didn’t pick anything to let them get a bit more established, but hopefully in a few years, we’ll have a nice supply. One more food item we’re growing, and one less food item to spend money on!

Syrup season’s over here. Not that sap isn’t still flowing (though it’s been a little warmer lately, so that should come to an end soon too), but we just did one big boil this year. The weather was much nicer than last year, so I didn’t have to deal with snow and wind. I haven’t yet made this a permanent structure, so I had to re-level and assemble everything. Pretty smooth process though, definitely quicker than boiling it all on the stove. We ended up with somewhere around a gallon and a half, which should last us through next season, unless we start bingeing on the stuff.

Anyone with a garden knows about weeds, but most people don’t realize that a lot of them are not only edible, but actually pretty good, and even more nutritious than the green stuff that we grow intentionally. And of course, they always seem to do better than the plants that you’re trying to pamper.

I picked some lambsquarter and sorrel to go with dinner; most greens can be used in pretty much the same ways that spinach would be – in a salad, sautéed, steamed, etc. Lambsquarter is “low in Saturated Fat, and very low in Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Niacin, Folate, Iron, Magnesium and Phosphorus, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol), Vitamin K, thiamine, Riboflavin, Vitamin B6, Calcium, Potassium, Copper and Manganese.” (Nutritiondata.com). Sorrel has a unique taste to it, almost citrusy (which is actually due to oxalic acid, so don’t go eating bushels at a single sitting), and is a great source of vitamin C. These were both used extensively in earlier years, but have gone out of favor as people tried (in vain) to achieve perfectly manicured landscapes.

For this dinner, I sautéed the greens with some butternut squash, onion, garlic, and an apple, and tossed it all with some farro.

Lambsquarter.

Sorrel.