STALKING THE WILD ASPARAGUS

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Why? There's nothing smart about eating poor food and getting gypped in the bargain, when nature is offering much better fare for the taking. If I followed one of those buxom Italian women home, I'll bet I would get a much better dinner than I would if I had to eat the force grown, sprayed, processed, refrigerated, devitalized products for which the suburban housewife thought it smart to pay good money.

The suburban dweller seldom bothers to identify the plant which the immigrants are so eagerly collecting. Such knowledge is strictly for squares. He is satisfied to refer to it merely as "some weed the Italians eat." We have come to a poor pass when we think that allowing ourselves to be bilked because of our own ignorance contributes to our status. And still we think we have a mission to teach the rest of the world "the American way." Heaven forbid this kind of thinking. We do have some things to teach, but we also have many things to learn from other cultures. Unless we realize that cultural exchange is a two-way street, we shall fail, and much of the ancient and precious wisdom now residing in the simple peoples of the world will be lost.

Wow! Who would have thought that such a sermon could be dug out of an insignificant plant of the Mustard Family?

Barbarea was so named because it was formerly the only green plant that could be gathered and eaten on Saint Barbara's Day, which falls on the fourth day of December. The specific term vulgaris merely means the plant is common. Barbarea verna sounds like a contradiction of terms, for the Barbarea refers to early winter and the verna refers to spring, but this term very nicely indicates the season over which the plant is good for food.

Barbarea has many common names, being known as Winter Cress, Spring Cress, Upland Cress and Yellow Rocket. Many country people refer to it merely as Mustard Greens, and it is a member of the Cruciferae, or Mustard Family, but I dislike this term, because it tends to confuse this plant with the Brassicas.

Barbarea verna is often cultivated from New York southward, appearing on the market as Scurvy Grass or Bell Isle Cress. The canny truck farmer sows the seed in the fall and reaps a crop when his land would be useless for any other purpose.

B. vulgaris is found in low rich ground, often near streams and ditches, while B. verna finds its favorite home in fallow fields and cultivated lands. In rich garden soil, I have found the two species growing together. They look much alike, have the same season, and both species are equally good for food, so they can be gathered indiscriminately.

These perennial members of the Mustard Family form thick clumps of smooth green leaves, growing six to eight inches long and springing directly from the crown of the perennial root. They have an extraordinary ability to grow vigorously during any warm spell in winter and from them the forager can often gather fresh salad material or boiling greens in midwinter if the ground is free of snow. However, it is in late February and early March that winter cress becomes best and most abundant. It forms dense, bright green clusters before any other green thing shows.

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