Urban Foraging

Susan Marie sat back on her heels, flexing her aching neck and pressing her palms into the small of her back. She shifted a bit on the tripled-over shop towel she used as a kneeler, then bent back to the work at hand: digging up dandelions.

At five cents a plant it wasn't going to make her rich, but Gramma said that's what she had been paid for doing this chore so that would forever be the going rate. Ever and ever. Bar the door. Not going to pay anymore. Amen.

The digging had to be done carefully, only a rooted flower would earn her pay. And not just some root, it had to be substantial root. That lack of particulars didn't bother Gramma any, but Susan Marie would have liked a little more detail. She was pretty sure substantial was more than a nubbins, anyway, so she dug in with the forked gardening tool and put muscle behind levering up the stubborn things.

The blooming and already-bloomed plants were the easiest to find, but Gramma was particularly interested in the not-yet bloomed. So much so that they had a sack all to themselves. Blooming and spent blossoms in the yellow Dollar General bag and plants with no blooms in the white Kroger bag.

Susan Marie was getting better at finding the not-yet-opened plants, and better still at levering them up with a 'substantial root'. It took a sharp sideways thrust of the hand tool, and then a quick downwards plunge, followed by a rapid wrist twist and smooth steep leverage to bring the plant out of the ground with the root attached. Working in small arcs and moving in an arc that was within arm's reach she worked her way across a small strip of the yard.

Since she had her head bowed and was focused on her work she was startled when a shadow blocked the sun's rays just as she flipped yet another non-bloomed plant into the white plastic grocery bag. Hearing the little cracks and pops in her neck, she lifted her face to see Gramma's little six year old neighbor, Georgina, watching her intently, one small finger twirling and twisting a strand of her red curls.

"What are you doing? Are you praying? Why are you dirty? What's your name? Does Ms. Taylor know you have her towel in the dirt? What's in the bags? Do you have any gum?" The questions came our fast and excited; Susan Marie wasn't sure any answers were expected, but she volunteered her name and waded in.

"I'm Susan Marie, Ms. Taylor's granddaughter. She gave me this towel. I have dandelions in the bags and I am digging them up because she asked me. I don't have any gum, and if I were praying it would have been for company like you."

Georgina flopped down on the ground, her little fingers opening the bags and pulling out the drooping plants. "Can I dig, too? I can help. Ms. Taylor says I am a good helper", she explained.

Sorting the plants back into their color-coded bags, Susan Marie couldn't see a good reason to say no. She had been pulling the plants since she was six herself, so surely Georgina could handle the task.

Figuring that pulling the blooming plants would be the easiest, she gave the little girl a bright yellow Dollar General bag of her own and explained that her job was to dig up the bright dandelions and pop them in the bag. There was even an extra forked dandelion puller in the garage for her to use, and Susan Marie demonstrated the technique of CAREFULLY prying the plant out of the ground, shaking off the dirt, and tossing it into the bag,

Checking her watch, Susan Marie saw that they had about 30 minutes until the sun grew too hot to work in the unshaded front yard. She had the little girl show that she could follow the steps and deposit her first plucked dandelion into her bag. They both bent their heads and got down to work making the front yard a dandelion-free zone. Repositioning herself on the folded towel Susan Marie moved off to the left of the yard, leaving Georgina to work her way around the right side of the house. She figured she would clean up the still non-bloomed plants left in that area after lunch.

Time moved quickly and she was startled at 11:15 when Georgina stood bedside her holding a bulging yellow bag and announced that she had finished and wanted to go home. Impressed at how quickly she had filled the bag she slipped her hand into her jeans and pulled out a dollar figuring the little girl had well earned it, even though Gramma had long ago stopped paying Susan Marie for dandelions. She liked the idea of making this a fun memory for Georgina.

Getting to her feet she gathered the three bags and took them inside her Gramma's home. Careful to move quietly she took the familiar 15 steps through the hallway and into the kitchen. This was the first time she would carry out the dandelion ritual herself, and if she moved quickly she should be able to get everything done in time for Gram's lunch.

Starting with the white bag, she dumped the 'substantially-rooted' plants into the wide and low kitchen sink, spraying away the dirt. She set the oven to preheat to 200 degrees, and with a sharp paring knife she clipped off the spindly roots, tossing them in a bowl to deal with later. The greens were also carefully clipped away and placed in a colander for more intensive cleaning. The thicker roots were chopped into chunks the size of her thumb, then popped into the hot oven for their first baking.

Pulling out a large flat-bottomed skillet she added coarsely chopped bacon and let the small pieces cook slowly into yummy and fragrant slivers. Susan Marie propped open the kitchen window so that any smoking wouldn't set off the smoke alarm and then she set to rinsing the teeny root pieces before covering them with water and setting them to summer.

She added two tablespoons of salt to a large deep bowl filled with cold water and submerged the greens, swishing them through the water vigorously then put them in a salad spinner and turned the crank several times to dry them. Back to the frying pan- she removed the bacon with a slotted spoon and placed the pieces on a paper bag to drain, then added diced onion and chopped garlic to the pan to slowly heat.

Remembering the roots in the oven, Susan Marie grabbed potholders and jostled the pan back and forth to turn and tumble the roots, allowing them to brown and toast evenly. She had about ten minutes to go before adding the dandelion greens to the skillet, just enough time to deal with the flowered stalks in the yellow bags. Pleased, she tipped both bags into the sink for their first cleaning before being turned into dandelion lemonade.

Except.

Except there were more than dandelions in the bags. Georgina's yellow Dollar General bag contained a mix of dandelions and mellow yellow marigolds. Pulled up carefully by the root, smashed, and drooping in the hot kitchen. Gramma's lovely marigolds, carefully planted by the side of the house to discourage pests from eating the rhubarb, were past replanting. What a waste!

"What's that I smell, Susan Marie? Oh! And what's that I see there?" Susan Marie spun around to see her Gramma in the doorway to the kitchen, sitting in her wheelchair and laughing. "Honey, haven't I taught you the difference between a dandelion and a marigold by now?"

Susan explained how helpful their little neighbor had been, apologizing as she added the washed and now dried dandelion leaves to the onions and garlic in the pan. She settled a lid on them, then removed the roasted roots from the oven and set them aside for now. She'd give them a roast this evening and then grind them for Gramma's evening cup.

"I just feel bad about the waste of your beautiful flowers, Gramma! I didn't realize she would mistake them for dandelions." apologized Susan Marie as she searched for the vinegar. "It will be just a moment and I'll have wilted greens ready for lunch."

As Susan Marie stirred in the vinegar, some sugar, and all of the bacon into the pan, her Gramma just laughed and told her that nothing would be wasted. After lunch they would learn how to use the 'Poor Man's Saffron' to make a nice marigold leaf potato salad for dinner. It would be just the thing with the dandelion lemonade.

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