Spring is the perfect time to forage for fresh ingredients
Hello, Spring!
Kyle Smith is no stranger to exploring the forests outside his home. As a professional wilderness guide and passionate naturalist, Kyle finds himself right at home hiking in the coastal temperate rainforests of British Columbia with his happy dog Chilko. Watch the video above to see what ingredients he keeps an eye out for while exploring the forest.
The transcript below has been edited and expanded for clarity.
Spring is a great time to forage around my home in Squamish, B.C. It's a beautiful forest full of life.
One thing I'm always on the lookout for is fresh green leaves and miner's lettuce. They're great on salads and on a sandwich. Miner's lettuce tastes like fresh spinach leaves and it's high in iron and vitamins A and C.
The licorice fern is a fern that never grows straight out of the ground, only out of moss. It's naturally very sweet and I use it in fresh teas. Tea steeped with licorice fern can be used to help treat coughs, colds, chest pains and shortness of breath.
The new green growths on the tips of fir trees are great in salads and in sauces. They have a fresh, citrusy taste. Many different parts of fir trees can be used medicinally also. Wilted and finely chopped new growth tips can be infused in oil to produce a lotion or salve.
Devil's club is one of the most important medicinal plants in the rainforest. The only way to harvest devil's club is to remove the nasty spines. It's been used by First Nations for thousands of years to treat many different illnesses. The bark makes a great tea and kind of tastes like carrot. The new spring shoots — before they develop those tough spines — taste delicious when sautéed in a bit of butter.
Oyster mushrooms are one of my favourites. After a good spring rain, you can find them growing on red alder. Oyster mushrooms are rich in many different minerals and vitamins. For vegetarians, they can provide an important source of B vitamins, including folate. They are also high in protein. I love to use them in a homemade mushroom gravy sauce.
Now I can't wait to go home and make some dinner.
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