How to Can Beach Asparagus

"Beach Asparagus" is an inter-tidal green plant that grows on some beaches profusely in Southeast Alaska ( I have also seen this plant growing in California beach marshes). In Port Alexander there is along tradition of harvesting this plant and canning it for future gourmet feasts ---preferably served with plenty of fresh caught fish. Yesterday, my friend Sue and I set off on a beach asparagus harvesting expedition.....

The first step (after rising at 5:30 am to take advantage of the low tide) was to get into this little punt and row to the head of the trail---we planned to hike about 15 minutes to a secluded beach---locally called "Ship's Cove, because there are the remains of an old minesweeper lurking there...visible at low tide.


Here are some views of Ship's Cove-----


We used scissors to cut the beach asparagus

filled our bucket and hiked back---rowed back to the dock, and took the harvest home....we were back at the Lodge by 8:00 am....

Of course, then we had to find the canning jars, wash them and then after soaking the beach asparagus in fresh water (since it grows inter-tidal--beach asparagus can be quite salty if you don't thoroughly rinse it in fresh water)---we filled the jars, packing the greens down firmly....

loaded the jars into the canner---and "canned"them--ie: first let the canner steam awhile, then sealed it---and raised the heat until the gauge was at 1o pounds and then adjusted the stove so the canner stayed at this place until we were done....

and viola! 25 pint jars of canned beach asparagus greens for future consumption...

Although I had not done this--(or canned anything!) for about 6 years or more...the whole process was familiar to me from many years of doing this each summer...I also used to also regularly can salmon, halibut, and crab. There is something special about eating food you harvested in the wild yourself....somehow it tastes better.

“Some sensible person once remarked that you spend the whole of your life either in your bed or in your shoes. Having done the best you can by shoes and bed, devote all the time and resources at your disposal to the building up of a fine kitchen. It will be, as it should be, the most comforting and comfortable room in the house.” ---Elizabeth David (1913-1992) French Country Cooking

Mourning for the Sea and Sea/Beach-life

Human error--a large ship hits the San Francisco Bay Bridge, and oil spills out...we all pay for our oil habits--but right now the wildlife in the San Francisco bay are paying--in death and sickness.


As of Monday:
New numbers on oiled birds in care:

652 live birds
126 washed of oil
485 dead

All of the birds are being treated at the OWCN's San Francisco Bay Oiled Wildlife Care and Education Center in Cordelia.

In case you are thinking that this is not very many injured/dead birds---consider that these are only the ones the rescuers have found or captured, and how much other sea and beach life is affected by this oil spill of bunker oil. The oil is still shifting around the bay--each day we read and watch the news and another favorite beach---with abundant wildlife---is oiled. Many of the beaches impacted are in national parks --the gooey bunker oil is in football size globs---and threatens the dungeness crab fishery in the bay as well as wildlife.

I find myself saddened and in mourning for what we do--in the name of "civilization" to our ocean and planet. If the oceans are in trouble--and there is increasing signs that this is so--we are in deep, deep trouble in terms of human survival on our planet. After 20 years of a livelihood on the ocean as a commercial fisherwoman, I feel deep empathy and affinity for the ocean, and so I feel her pain when we mistreat her.

If you have been reading my blog for awhile, you know that I no longer own a car. After I saw the Al Gore movie "An Inconvenient truth" I got rid of my car (and did that feel good!), and joined our local City Car Share. I urge you, dear reader, to consider your carbon footprint and what you can do to curb your use of oil---and please take a moment to say a silent prayer for San Francisco Bay.

In the words of Bay Area folksinger/songwriter Malvina Reynolds:

"The sea, the sea, the fragile sea,
Our source, our provider and our road to liberty,
Now we use it for a dump hole in this mad economy,
And we never will survive a dying sea."

San Francisco Bay resources and nonprofits that need your money and help:
Baykeeper
Oiled Wildlife Network
Save The Bay
International Bird Rescue Research Center