Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/130547
g for food food," says David Catzel of Glorious Organics Cooperative, which sells harvests at farm markets throughout the Lower Mainland. Along with lettuce and kale, this company serves up the wild greens that sprout alongside crops in the fields of Fraser Common Farm. Salads that include sheep sorrel, wood sorrel, shepherd's purse, dandelion, oxeye daisy, chickweed, watercress, lamb's quarters and purslane have been a big hit with customers. "Whether or not we realize it, in both a practical and viseral sense, we are supported in being here," says Kyle Patton who runs the Urban Herb School offering courses and workshops in both Vancouver and Nelson about the "wild abundance in the concrete jungle." Called Garliq by his students, he teaches them to "never look at 'weeds' the same way again," encouraging an intimacy with the life cycle of the plant." Knowing what to eat when goes a long way to successful foraging, says Patton. "Chickweed, for example, is nice to eat in the early spring, but dry and woody in May," says Patton. For those seeking to find food such as hawthorn, salmonberries, salal, thimbleberries and nettles in the Vancouver area, he has created an Urban Edibles map at urbanherbschool.ca. "Learning to forage cultivates a connection with the land where we live," says Patton. "Recently I moved to a new property and even before I had a chance to plant, I was able to harvest what nature had provided in our yard. Right now we have a huge patch of violets that have sprung up on our lawn . . . and some of them will be part of dinner tonight." ■ June 2013 BC HOME & GARDEN | 25 p18-25_Le Marche/ForagedFood.indd 25 13-05-09 10:00 AM