Leafy greens on the trail

You could learn what the edible greens are in your area. Miners lettuce, stinging nettle, most new fern growths….are pretty ubiquitous. Have someone teach you a few basic – can't be confused – plants and you won't need to carry greens from home.
I know this does not address your exact questions, but it's a thought.

"The question I had is if anyone had any better ideas for carrying leafy greens on the trail?"

This is not very leafy, but Napa Cabbage travels pretty well.

Use that with a little Southeast Asian peanut sauce in a tortilla.

–B.G.–

Carry dried spinach. In flakes. I add it to most anything.

On not liking dried vegetables – were they home dried? Freeze-dried? Try commercial versions – you may like them better. IMO freeze-dried corn, peas and green beans are superior vastly to home dried.

Btw, with fresh? It carries better if you wrap the greens loosely in a damp paper towel. It needs some moisture or will wilt rapidly.

Did you use a normal plastic bag/tupperware? Maybe try a specific produce bag so the greens can breathe some in the bag.

"Carry dried spinach. In flakes."

At the grocery store, I buy one of those frozen packages of chopped spinach. As that begins to thaw, I throw the chunks onto my food dehydrator tray. When it gets done, I have little green flakes ready for the next trip.

The good news is that you can add that to just about any soup, or add it to white rice for color. The bad news is that it does not have much in the way of calories, and there are many foods that are richer in vitamins and nutrients. But it is easy.

–B.G.–

It does though have iron, so that is one reason I eat so much of it. I am severely anemic :-(

Btw, if one is doing just an overnight carry greens that you get in the grocery store – prebagged. That bag will protect them!!

Thanks for all the tips, guys! I think next time I'll try to pack some out in a breathable produce bag wrapped in a damp cloth. Or see if I can find source in town for dehydrated and try that route again. The veggies I've tried before were dehydrated at home by a friend of mine and just didn't seem to rehydrate.

These days I'm usually only ever out for one or two nights so I try to keep my food as fresh as I can.

Katharina, I'm still trying to learn more edible plants. I always tend to forget and can only ever identify ramps. I've been using up much of my brainpower trying to learn wildflowers and apparently only have room for so much new information to come in at one time.

I forgot where I read this, but you can bring seeds and sprout them — try radish or alfalfa.

(Now I remember!)

Timothy… maybe in my book or here where I posted instructions/photos…

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=35802

You can buy a hemp sprouting bag to do this as well but I prefer to use a hard-sided container binered to the outside of my pack. That way they don’t get bruised.

edited to add…

I buy my organic sprout seeds from Mumm’s Organic – Sprouting.com. Another good source is Sprout People and they sell the Hemp Sprouting Bag.

Bagged spinach will last up to 4 days on the trail.

Plants of the mustard family are great for leafy greens. Domesticated varieties include broccoli, cabbage, kale, brussel sprouts, etc. And of course, mustard seeds, from which mustard is made. Plants of this family are easy to recognize, once you're familiar with them – the flower always has four petals, is usually yellow or white, sometimes pink or purple. the leaves of wild varieties are often peppery in taste, and best steamed, sautee or boiled. If boiling, some authorities recommend changing the water at least once, to reduce the intensity of flavor – I've never found that necessary.

There are both native and introduced species here – feel free to pick the introduced ones as much as you like – they are essentially weeds, useful only to those who enjoy them! Limit your picking of native ones.

I don't know of any mustards (Brassicae) that are poisonous.

For pictures, descriptions, recipes, etc, if you don't have a local person who can teach you, just google "mustard plant, mustard greens, mustard flowers", and check the "images" as well.

Cooked kale dries and rehydrates well. One of our favorite backpacking dinners is Indian-spiced lentils with kale. I cook and dry them separately then combine when I pack for for FBC. Serve over brown rice or whole wheat couscous.

Kale packs well too.

One of my favorite trail dinners is mac n cheese with tuna/salmon and fresh kale added.

If you're in the midwest or out east (and not to far south), it's likely you have garlic mustard growing wild, not to mention squeezing out native plants). It's plentiful where I am in Illinois. A friend of mine made a pretty good garlic mustard pesto from what he cleared from his yard.

Reminded me a bit of the saying, "when life gives you lemons…".

Reminded me a bit of the saying, "when life gives you lemons…".

…make pesto?????

;-)

I just got this book and I'm having a great time reading it: "Northwest Foraging: The Classic Guide to Edible Plants of the Pacific Northwest."

Another that is interesting, helpful, and well illustrated: "Plants Of The Pacific Northwest Coast: Washington, Oregon, British Columbia & Alaska"

I would be a cautious wild forager, but I really like the idea, especially for adding fresh salads and greens to the uber-processed packaged foods. I'll pass on fungi— I just hate dieing!