[traditional journal entry] You put your weeds in there
This is a traditional annual entry marking the first day that I ate something from the garden. It's the third week in April and looking back on my years of journal entries, this is the way of things.

My dream garden is one that you don't have to plant, water, or weed. Just harvest. I call it a garden. Hannah calls it our vacant lot* since the only edible plants that you don't have to plant, water, or weed are either weeds themselves, or exhibit weed-like characteristics such as uncontrollable proliferation.

The day-lily is not a true lily (true lilies are toxic), but a member of the asparagus family. Their blossoms are sweet like butter lettuce, but at this time of year, their young shoots are like a mild-tasting asparagus especially when pan fried in butter. The garlic chives are also up. I had a day-lily shoot/cheddar/chive omelette for supper.

Soon the chickweed will be up which can be substituted for lettuce in sandwiches, added to salads and omelettes. Sow thistle is also salad ingredient. The jerusalem artichoke is a relative of the sunflower that grows sweet-tasting tubers to use in place of potatoes.

They're all considered weeds. The weed-like plants are raspberries, strawberries, rhubarb, wild asparagus, and sorrel; weed-like because they'll all produce without any work or attention. Our strawberry plants are so old though that they hardly set any fruit at all. But the leaves are a) high in starch and b) contain a heat-sensitive toxin. If you deep-fry strawberry leaves it de-natures the toxin. Salt them lightly and they're almost like potato-chips. They're also good in a light tempura batter with a dipping sauce of soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sesame oil. Sorrel is a lemony-sour leaf that is really only good in a cheese sandwich.

[* denotes artistic license. Hannah doesn't actually call it a 'vacant lot', but she does think it's messy. ]