It’s cold and
it’s rainy, here in the Bay Area, and I’ve just gotten out my
down parka. That means it must be winter. Oh wait, it’s sunny and
beautiful, open the windows.
On the one hand,
seedlings are germinating like crazy, and native and naturalized
edible greens are starting to be at their succulent best. That also
sounds like spring. On the other hand, most of the deciduous trees
and shrubs have dropped their leaves. Sprinter, or Wring, let’s
just take it day by day.
In its natural habitat, it likes seeps
and springs, high water tables, even vernal pools. But it is quite
adaptable to my regular garden regime of almost no work.
It’s amazing that
one plant could have so many virtues. Everybody likes a nice
groundcover, one that covers the ground without being obnoxious about
it, maintaining a fresh green color most of the year. (It could be
all through the year if you water, but why not give it a rest, for
the sake of our water supplies, and the joys of accepting
California’s seasons). The bright pink flowers are abundant and
show up for months.
As if this weren’t
enough, as I discovered when casually chopping it up and adding it to
a tomato salsa, the leaves are easy to like. No boiling or changing
of the waters is needed, for there is no bitter principle. A slight
hairiness appears as the season wears on, and perhaps the leaves
toughen a bit. But raw in a chopped salad or steamed or boiled, it’s
mild, tasty, and requires NO care.
In the garden, I
make a point of nibbling on it whenever I pass.
Other mallows, like
Sidalcea malviflora, are also edible, but the leaf is less
substantial; more will be required, and where I live, I’ve never
seen them in enough abundance to feel that I could harvest them.
Unlike the Pt Reyes checkerbloom, the upright checkerbloom goes
completely dormant and is reappearing with the….spring, winter,
December…..anyway, now.
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