The weather has begun to warm up here in Topanga Canyon. I am a naturalist guide at Malibu Lagoon State Park and it’s really starting to get hot standing in the sun at the beach for long stretches. Consider a new strategy in keeping cool for the upcoming warm season….Oxalis spp. coolers! The Oxalis will be harvestable virtually all year long and is a wonderful thirst quencher, sometimes likened to lemonade, during the hot summer months. The kids (K-12) are absolutely enthralled that I am drinking this plant that we are seeing all over the place.

Every day in the US more than 60 million plastic water bottles are thrown away!!! I use my Oxalis cooler in a glass mason jar as a teaching tool for those kids. It’s madness to be paying for water, which has lower water quality standards than that coming from our tap, in expensive earth-damaging plastic bottles. Click here to visit the Container Recycling Institute website. They have a real-time clock running as to how many beverage containers have been thrown away in the US this year alone. Click here to read a recent article in the San Francisco Chronicle about the real cost of water. Click here to visit BIOTA Spring Water. They are the first company here in the US to manufacture a 100% biodegradable water bottle (except for the cap).

In virtually every wild food book, you will see a warning message about not consuming too much Oxalis because of its oxalic acid content. Those suffering from kidney stones, gout or rheumatism definitely need to be aware of over-consumption of this chemical. But we do not receive warning messages every time we purchase a bunch of parsley, chives, or rhubarb….and those foodstuff also contain oxalic acid. So, what seems to be a resounding theme in life…everything in moderation. Don’t let fear keep you from an amazing food source. Listen to your own body and see how your own body does with this plant. No one I have ever known has had a problem with it.

Oxalis Cooler
1 quart water
1/2 cup Oxalis leaf/stem/flowers/seedpods
1 T agave nectar or honey
dash of salt

Mix all ingredients in a blender. If possible, let sit overnight in refrigerator and enjoy!

The countdown to St. Patty’s Day is on. Eating potatoes covered in ‘shamrocks’ seems to me like the quintessential Irish meal. There are about 850 Oxalis spp around the world, so this is one plant that I use either the name oxalis or wood sorrel. Kids adore this sour plant, commonly called sourgrass, and I always think of these natural treats as the precursor to sour patch kid candies. Below is a picture of the most common oxalis I have found here in the Santa Monica Mountains, Oxalis pes-caprae, which originates from the Cape Region of South Africa.

Many people confuse this plant with clover. The photo below shows an Oxalis pes-caprae leaf on the left and a white clover leaf on the right. The wood sorrel leaf will always have three heart-shaped leaflets. This trinity of leaves, the stems, flowers and seedpods can all be eaten. To harvest, it is easy to take a scissors and clip them from the bottom. If you are trying to eradicate it from your lawn, then pull it up from the roots as soon as it begins to flower.
I’ve got some Irish blood from both sides of my family. My Mom’s side came over during the potato famine. On my Dad’s side we had the first Irish-American citizen of the United States. It doesn’t matter if you’re Irish though, the sourness of the Oxalis with potatoes can be enjoyed by all. You’ve got 10 days before St. Patty’s Day to find your Oxalis patch…then you’ll be Luvin’ Potatoes too!

Luvin’ Potatoes
potatoes
Oxalis spp. leaves/stems/flowers, chopped
garlic, crushed
oil
salt & pepper

Wash and cut your potatoes into bite-sized pieces. Place them into a pot with water and place on stove on high heat. Bring to a boil and continue boiling for 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 425°. Liberally oil an edged baking sheet with cooking oil (I like to use grapeseed oil). Place your drained potatoes on the baking sheet and mix them around so they are well coated with oil. Place into oven for 45 minutes, stirring them after about 20 minutes. Chop Oxalis, leaving a few heart leaflets aside as garnish for top, and get your garlic ready to crush (mince finely if you don’t have a crusher). Remove potatoes from the oven and add Oxalis, garlic, salt and pepper. Stir and place back into oven for 3-5 minutes. Garnish with hearts and enjoy!

Today is a full moon eclipse. It is said that the energies of a lunar eclipse reveal something. When I teach others I feel like I’m helping uncover something, as if the curtain to the theatre of the natural world has been lifted and we are all participating in an amazing show. Not only do we get to watch the show, but we get to feel it and smell it and taste it.

Thanks to a fun group of people today. We called in all the local Red Rock birds with our acorn cap whistles, talked about a lot of plants, and shared a meal of chickweed/arugula/oxalis salad topped with a choice of 2 juniper berry salad dressings, miso soup with curly dock greens, flaxseed crackers, local cheeses, and some Toyon berry fruit leather.

The oxalis is cheering us all up with it’s bright yellow flowers, the manzanitas are in bloom, the wild roses and black walnuts are leafing out. Is this normal? I don’t know, I just moved to Southern California from northern Minnesota a few months ago…..but according to The National Arbor Day Foundation things are changing. They recently completed an extensive updating of U.S. Hardiness Zones, based upon data from 5,000 National Climatic Data Center cooperative stations across the continental United States. Many of the hardiness zones have now officially changed.

Click here and hit play to view an animated map illustrating how the hardiness zones have changed from 1990 to 2006. Click here to type in your zipcode and find out suggested trees to plant in your area. Consider planting trees that are edible in some way, support your local nurseries by buying trees from them, and start planning for April 27th (National Arbor Day – and my birthday too!).

Looking for something wild to throw in your kids’ lunchbox? I’m a single mom, and trying to keep up with regular cooking is always a challenge. Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia) berry fruit leather helps fill hungry stomachs and always seems to be a hit with the kids. High fructose corn syrup is found in fruit roll-ups, so you can feel good about limiting it in your child’s diet. It interfere’s with the brain’s ability to release hormones letting you know you’re full. Toyon berries are also used by the Chumash in the treatment of Alzheimer’s (click here to read more). So, good brain food for us all.

I like to tell my son he’s a big bird when he’s eating his Toyon fruit leather. We take a minute to look at all the birds who come to feast on the Toyon trees across the creek. These berries are a midwinter treat for the animals, especially birds like: California thrashers, robins, cedar waxwings, mockingbirds, purple finches, flickers, warblers, song sparrows and more.

The Toyon berries are just barely hanging on. So if you have some in your yard, be sure to get out there and gather some before they’re done for the season. Fruit leather can always be dried in a nice sunny location outdoors, but I only get 2 1/2 hours of direct light a day where I live. It also happens to be the rainy season, so I use my dehydrator. If you are serious about putting up your own food I would highly recommend purchasing a high-quality dehydrator. Click here to visit the Excalibur Food Dehydrator website. If you can swing it, they’re a nice investment…but they are spendy and do need electric power.

Toyon Berry Fruit Leather
1 c roasted Toyon berries
2 c unsweetened applesauce (Solana Gold unsweetened organic applesauce from Sebastopol, CA found at Topanga Market)
2 T honey
2 t cinnamon

Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. Spread out as thinly as you can onto Teflex dehydrator sheets, or onto baking sheets. Set dehydrator to 115° and set timer for roughly 10 hours (check regularly). If you are using the oven, place baking sheets into oven at 250° for roughly one hour. I let the fruit leather cool on the pans, and then slowly peeled it off. Store in airtight container and enjoy.