Early Spring

Many years ago here in the Smoky Mountains, people looked forward to early spring when the first field greens of the season would begin to appear. For our early ancestors, who lived and farmed here in Millers Cove, these greens were the first fresh green “sallet” that they had eaten since late fall. In many cases these early greens were referred to as cleansing greens or a spring tonic.

One of the old time favorites was sassafras tea, which was considered to be a purifying tonic that cleansed the system following a long winter’s diet of smokehouse meat, cornbread, leather britches beans, and potatoes. The fresh greens brought a sense of renewal and cleansing to both body and spirit and were eaten both freshly and cooked until the first garden produce of late spring began to mature. A number of the old time spring greens that were favorites include narrow leaf dock, creasy greens, dandelions, sorrel, water cress, and wild mustard, just to name a few. Our chefs here at Blackberry Farm have given some of those old favorites a second look and have been incorporating them into a number of their recipes.

Today we no longer depend on wild spring greens for our survival, but I am glad that our chefs are making good use of a number of our ancestors old favorites.

John Coykendall, Master Gardener