sonoma………..some bad-ass terroir (aka- dirt)
In late February early March I decided it necessary
to camp in the mountains of northern sonoma county, california… I was perched
directly above the famed vine-rich alexander valley, with AVA neighbors like
the russian river valley, dry creek valley, chalk hill, green valley and
rockpile… as well as a ton of boutique
wineries producing grape juice from this vinifera……. ohhhhh the silver oak
cab……..! remembering my first California
olive oil tasting there in sonoma county with the man himself- francis ford coppola
at his geyserville estate…. sonoma olive
oil is peppery and piquant… now spending
day and night over the valley floor, gathering wood to make a fire to cook over
and foraging the majority of my edible commodities overlooking the seghesio
family vines… these wild edible commodities were plentiful in the fields and
mountains but were nowhere to be found in any fashion or mentioned on ANY
restaurant menu sonoma or napa-wide… here is a partial list of wild plants and
animals that are indigenous to the sonoma valley- california quail, venison, wild lake sonoma
hogs, bite-sized bunnies and full size rabbits, steelhead, salmon, vine
prunings for smoking, wild sage, wild fennel and fennel pollen, prickly pear
cactus (tuna), rosemary and rosemary blossoms, cattails, miner’s lettuce,
redwood sorrel, california laurel and the remains of many different mushrooms
although it was very cold some nights….
these are some of the wild edibles available, beyond organic these edibles
do not have a government sanctioned list of ‘OK’ organic chemicals to be used
on them- they are wild edibles… every area of this glorious country that I
happen upon I look hard to find what is and was indigenous to that region and
its food culture, deepening my interest in the edible wild and the history of
each item and where else it is found in the world…
In late February early March I decided it necessary
to camp in the mountains of northern sonoma county, california… I was perched
directly above the famed vine-rich alexander valley, with AVA neighbors like
the russian river valley, dry creek valley, chalk hill, green valley and
rockpile… as well as a ton of boutique
wineries producing grape juice from this vinifera……. ohhhhh the silver oak
cab……..! remembering my first California
olive oil tasting there in sonoma county with the man himself- francis ford coppola
at his geyserville estate…. sonoma olive
oil is peppery and piquant… now spending
day and night over the valley floor, gathering wood to make a fire to cook over
and foraging the majority of my edible commodities overlooking the seghesio
family vines… these wild edible commodities were plentiful in the fields and
mountains but were nowhere to be found in any fashion or mentioned on ANY
restaurant menu sonoma or napa-wide… here is a partial list of wild plants and
animals that are indigenous to the sonoma valley- california quail, venison, wild lake sonoma
hogs, bite-sized bunnies and full size rabbits, steelhead, salmon, vine
prunings for smoking, wild sage, wild fennel and fennel pollen, prickly pear
cactus (tuna), rosemary and rosemary blossoms, cattails, miner’s lettuce,
redwood sorrel, california laurel and the remains of many different mushrooms
although it was very cold some nights….
these are some of the wild edibles available, beyond organic these edibles
do not have a government sanctioned list of ‘OK’ organic chemicals to be used
on them- they are wild edibles… every area of this glorious country that I
happen upon I look hard to find what is and was indigenous to that region and
its food culture, deepening my interest in the edible wild and the history of
each item and where else it is found in the world…