Wild Spring Delicacies- Ramps, Morels, Fiddleheads, Birch Sap 

Dang I truly feel blessed where I live. Wild leeks and morel in my backyard. My father in law came back with a salad bowl filled with morels the past two days. Illinois may be broke but it's rich in forage goods.

I come back to this video every spring to remake your wild leek soup recipe. I have the leeks and fiddleheads within a 5 minute walk of my home and because of you I now have books on foraging. Thanks so much!

Thank you for including the bit about leaving solitary/small patches of leeks alone to replenish! As ramps grow more popular, they're becoming more and more rare because people who don't know better over-harvest them.

Just wanted to make sure to thank you and your wife for sharing the delicious looking leek soup recipe! Everytime I talk to one if my online friends, she tells me about having some leek soup and I've always wanted to try it because everytime she goes out to dinner, leek soup is all she seems to talk about having. Thank you again for all of your wonderful, informative videos!!

Excellent video. "Life's like that. Gotta savor what you have." Thank you!

I first encountered ramps in West Virginia 50 years ago. Many of the towns had ramp and bean festivals. It was well worth seeking them out and going. I haven't been back but I will seek them out here in New England. I understand they grow here also. Your soup recipe looks great and I do like leek soup when I see it on a menu. Thanks for the memories.

Like most people, I watch a lot of videos that just make me feel just a little bit dumber for having watched them. I love it, however, when videos just like this one leave me just a little bit brighter than when I had clicked play. I glow more afterwards, feel better and want nothing more than to engage nature myself. Another great video!

Not only do you build your own house, albeit with your dad, but you also are very knowledgeable about what mother nature provides. I live in the mountains of north Georgia and we have some of the same edibles here too. I leave the wild turkeys alone. I have found them to be to stringy, even after soaking them in buttermilk. I can't wait to see the next log cabin videos. Happy building and foraging from the sunny south. 🌞☮

I love the sound quality in your videos, and audible step by step directions and description of the plants & mushrooms. you both are great!!!

Two years ago in Washington state, I harvested over 4 lbs. of morels in a 3 day period. They rehydrate really well. My favorite way to eat them is seared in butter as you showed but love to use them in a savory bread pudding.

You hit it out of the ballpark with this mini-playlist, Outsider! Nice to "meet" Mrs. Outsider, too. Keep up the great work!

Love fiddle heads,chicken mushrooms,hen of the woods,and many others.Good stuff to know about.

Oh my gosh.... I made this soup and it is FANTASTIC! Thank you so much for sharing the recipe. Just last year we tasted ramps for the first time; frying them in some bacon fat. But this soup is so awesome--I will make it again and again.

ramps, fiddleheads, and morels are 3 things I always keep my eyes open for while out walking with the dog, fishing, and metal detecting in the spring.

GREAT job on the leek soup thank you for the video... we want more videos from Mrs Outsider please 🙏

Excellent presentation of the soup And Morels, I lived in southern Indiana and Kentucky and Morals are common fair in the spring.

Birch sap is a staple of Russian countryside life in spring time. During the USSR the birch sap was collected on the industrial scale and sold in stores because of the health benefits it provides.

Lovely recipes, and lovely to be outside in the woods again. Thanks to your wife for sharing, and I hope she gets involved more, and cant wait to meet your daughter. Thanks for uploading and sharing.

I'm impressed and very pleased by the clear, thorough, informative, way you present the bounties of Spring! You and your wife are very pleasant. I've put off tapping trees due to the need for spikes, so thanks for showing me how to make my own! Also, this is hands down the best video I've seen on fiddleheads. Great job! You've gained a subscriber! I'm busting with anticipation, especially for morels!

Thank you to your wife! I never even thought of leek soup, my family and I collect them on our hikes. We love them.

I'm so fascinated by this. I always wondered what it would be like to gather something myself and cook and eat it, I imagine it feels a little more gratifying.

Really wish I had more time to learn more about wild edibles and go out to forage for myself. Thanks for the video!

All the episodes are great, very informative. I like your conservative and caring approach. Waiting for more !

Love your channel! You and your whole family. I too live in Ontario, Canada near the Bruce trail system in Dufferin and Grey-Bruce Counties. These wild vegetables are all around me along with fireweed, wild raspberries, wild strawberries and asparagus. Thank-you for demonstrating the sustainable methods for how to harvest these wonderful natural edibles in our forests, and thanks to your lovely wife for the wild leek soup recipe. Simply delicious! There are not many books out there specific to our area for these plants. Fortunately for me I learned from my dear Mother many years back when we explored the forests together. I would just like to share a good tip with you about boiling the fiddleheads or any green vegetables. Add a tablespoon of olive oil to the water; regular or light tasting and it will keep the bright green colour and vitamins in. Very little chance of them going grey if you overcook them by accident. Enjoy, from the Galley Cook

Nice job! Try throwing the fiddleheads into already boiling water and shock cool them with cold (icy) water. That will fixate the chlorophyll and make them healthier and taste better (and much greener) :)

That soup leek looks so good! Thanks for sharing.

In Arkansas our morels appear about the same time as the emergence of the may-apple plants, and they occur principally under our sycamore trees and apple trees. The part about the fiddle-heads answers some questions I had. This video is excellent!

I like to fry my fiddleheads in butter, then I add salt, pepper, garlic, parmesan cheese, and breadcrumbs, making sure there is still a good amount of butter in the pan before I add the parmesan and breadcrumbs. This method is delicious and I use it to make brussel sprouts, string beans, cauliflower, asparagus, and pretty much every other green vegetable of that type, it works wonderfully.

I'm not a 100% sure but I think what you call wild leeks here in the UK we call wild garlic, sure does look the same and of course smells of garlic, that soup looked brilliant

Good one. I'm on the lookout for leeks this spring!

EXCELLENT Vlog ~ Packed with most useful info & truly enjoyable watch. I'm a Canadian from Ontario living in Australia now, & am literally planting a forest of the trees we have in Ontario to diversify the area as well as starting a black out mushroom tunnel to go along with all the other things growing on our permaculture farm we are developing here. Thanks for all the great info & INSPIRATION !

Very informative video, thanks! I like how responsible you are (and also that you saved the slugs).

Awesome video. Thanks so much from Ontario

Fiddleheads are really popular where I was raised in New Brunswick, Canada ..my parents and us kids would pick them during FH season..And us kids would come home from school, mother would send us kids out to pick them at the old creek near my parents place. Now I am living in Montreal and FH will set you back a small fortune if you want to buy them, which I never do, but just odd seeing how expensive they are here. Great video !!! Enjoyable stuff you post. Really happy I stumbled onto your videos.

Another "sweet" and refreshing video,thank you! It's Spring here on the southern coast of Oregon and your presentations give a boost to go out and collect some treats!

This video is getting us REALLY anxious for "our" spring. We still have about 2 feet of snow on the ground in our neck of the woods, with another foot predicted next week! Love the videos Outsider! 👍

Love from India. Thanks for the lovely recipe. May God bless you. I really learnt so much.

The Outsider Oh my, what a treat it was to see the morel mushroom! My dad and brothers knew exactly where to find them in Indiana, where there was a rather heavy forested area. They would usually find a large cloth bag of them, and what a wonderful delicacy they are, to be sure. The taste is very unique, and not to be found in any other mushroom. Thank you ever so much for sharing the video of that one morel mushroom you found up in Canada. I am sure you savored every delicious nibble. May you find more morels next Spring. :-)

You both are awesome and compliment each other's contributions to the video 👍 I can't wait to find some wild leeks

I grew up eating fiddleheads and picking them. Also collecting sap. They are soo good thanks for the video! Didn't know about the leeks or Morel.

I found one Large white morel on our property one year, never got one again. It was delicious........

Thanks for all the videos inbetween your cabin videos. I can't wait to see your next update.

Like how y'all are as easy on the environment as possible. Keep it up

This is shortly becoming my favorite channel. Thank you for doing these!

This reminds me so much about Stardew Valley...

I found a couple morel patches last year and I'm looking forward to checking them out again in a couple months when spring comes. There is no better tasting mushroom than a fried morel cut in half longwise! They're sooooogood!

Your recipes looked delicious! We just went ramp foraging in Massachusetts then cooked up our picks for dinner. Ramps are a fantastic, native, spring edible!

That looks so good! I don't have leeks but I'm going to make some potato soup this morning with all the other ingredients for dinner and supper! Still a little cold here today. Yum! Morels are the best but I am old now and my husband passed away so my foraging partner is gone! He was the mushroom champion! He could find them when no one else could! Sharp eyes! I always washed as you did but with a little salt in the water. Then dip in an scrambled egg solution, then dredge through corn meal lightly and cook in butter and a little salt and pepper! Gosh makes my mouth water just to think about how good they were.

I found ramps, cranberries and morels yesterday (about 45 so far this year) Two comments I would add are morels can actually last quite a few days in a paper bag and be re-hydrated some if need be and blanch the fiddleheads for 2-3 mins then plunge them into an ice bath. Now they are ready for the fry pan.

Thanks for sharing never knew Will give it a try, as soon as Winters grip leaves us here in Michigan

I live in Vermont in an area forested by red oak and maple, some yellow birch and hemlock and where the morels (they ARE weather dependent) and ostrich fern grow in my yard. was nice to see all of this put together in one video, thank you!

You have lovely dishes and yourself as well as your wife have great voiceover voices!

Your channel is wonderful and informative! I would suggest drying the morels especially if you have a bumper crop. They taste so good in winter soups and stews- and you only need a small piece of the dried mushroom.

those wild onions are great to find when camping. ive cooked some in a cast iron pan with some beer and some salt. pretty good.

OMG I can't wait to do all of those short videos!!!thank you guys❣️

Very educational and extremely helpful thank you so much for sharing. Its the caring thats even better bravo for leaving and letting nature to replenish and including that in your video to remind us of how to forage and benefit from nature without hurting or draining it.

My Dad and I and sometimes my friend go to this one huge park on a hill, there is a huge forest path and we find tons of morels. one year we came out with almost 2 pounds! We saute them an will eat them with Eggs, wild asparagus and sometimes just eat them by themselves, they are awesome.

Wow. That's crazy. Usually when I've been out collecting morells them I end up filling a 5 gallon bucket easy

I loved watching this. I learned a lot. I really like how you took your time and explained everything. I can't wait to see more. Thank you

What an awesome video! I can't wait for spring!

Very nice video and well done.

"You wouldn't want to accidentally step on a morel" should've been "You wouldn't want to accidentally crush your morel" Missed oppuntunity

Wow, does this ever look delicious! I can’t wait to try it. I was walking in our woods yesterday and saw all kinds of leeks!👏👏👏🤗Thank you so much!

I found a large ramp patch. I took out about eight or nine plants, all the roots included along with the local dirt. I planted them in my brother and sister-in-law back yard that is heavily shaded and quite moist. This is the fourth year now and the patch of nine is now several feet in diameter and we will take our first harvest. I can’t wait. Ramps are so nummie! They had never heard of them until now. Rookies.

Here in south western Virginia we call Morels Murkles and we cook them in batter. At least my family does lol. I recommend trying it.

My mom makes potato leek soup it's really good :)

Thank you for your excellent info! This is the best I’ve heard!

You're both wonderful and explain things so well. That must have smelt amazing while cooking. Thanks again

why would you give this video a thumbs down?? I subscribed.

Since the whole plant is edible, can U just cut the leeks free of their roots, so they can grow back, instead of uprooting them?

I loved watching this video during COVID-19 lockdown in Indonesia. It was so calming and spoke to me of health and nature. Thank you so much.

We take our morels, cut them in half, and put them in a bowl of water with a generous amount of salt dissolved into it. Let them soak for several hours, then rinse thoroughly and put them in a strainer to shake off most of the water. I then put them in a ziplock bag of flour and shake gently. They can then be fried in butter, or spread on cookie sheets and frozen. After freezing overnight, they can then be stored in freezer bags for a several months. All you have to do is drop them frozen into a skillet of melted butter and fry them as you would if they were fresh! I came up with this idea several years ago when I happened to harvest more than I could eat in a couple of days. I have kept them for at least 6 months, and they were still just as delicious as they were when fresh!

Great video.

a black squirrel...that's new...and it's angry at you...how cute.

Thanks for the Leek soup recipe, I'm going to have to give it a try! We hunt ramps and morels every year. Last year I dehydrated about a quarts worth of ramps and I use it for seasoning. Its perfect in everything that you would use onion or garlic powder.

I absolutely live your video. Suoer clear amd very informative. Keep them coming!!

+1 Sub for relocating the slugs

i have a forest right in my backyard, and if you go far enough in, the ground suddenly is covered with ostrich ferns. i'm sure i could find some fiddleheads there, and thanks to your wife for the great recipe! also, don't believe anything that says it can detoxify the body. that's literally a laxative.

Thank you so much for your video! It’s so informative and fun to watch! 👍🏻

My grandmother was Crow indian and we used to go and collect them outside of Pendleton Oregon. She was so wise and knew so much about traditional wild foods. We used to collect morels and cauliflower mushrooms. She has gone to heaven and we haven't collected them in 40 years! When you don't use this knowledge you lose it.

You should make a trip to Missouri in mid April if you want some Morel mushrooms. We find them by the pounds in a good year. Nice video

Thanks man, cool outdoor vid. Unfortunately, I'm in the southeast. not as lucky when it comes to those finds. But I got all the rat snakes and possum you'd ever want to seen.

That soup looks amazing!!! Made my mouth water a little lol

That's a lot of useful information. Leak soup is one of my family's favourites . Thanks ever so much. Brian 76

I am really enjoying your videos! I can't get enough of them lol! Where are you located? I'm in the state of Georgia near Atlanta. Thanks!

That soup looked so delicious and I love leaks hope I can find some wild ones and try it!

Very nice video! It's really heartwarming and informative at the same time.

This soup! 😍 can't wait to make this in the spring. I usually make a stew with them but this time I'll use your recipe. Thank you. A tip for anyone who might be lactose intolerant or vegan, you can make a delicious heavy cream using half cup hulled hemp seeds to one cup water, blend till creamy.

"I'm just walking in the woods today, to see what I can see."

My wife made your recipe up boy it went good

I just made your wild leek and potato soup! Excellent! I live in Pennsylvania mountains where we have many in the forests. Thank you! It was sure bliss!

I just love your foraging videos!

I found leeks, but now I need to find a wife to make leek soup. I will go up to a girl i like with leek bouquet.

hey man. your trail boss head is looking real loose. sand off the varnish for about 4 inches below the head. soak a rag in boiled linseed oil. wrap it around where you sanded. tie it with a string. Place in a zip lock bag, and close it as much as you can. leave it sit for 10 days. Boom! remove rag. you have a tight fitted axe head.

As a kid I grew up in the wilds of Upstate NY which is no different than my time in the south. We would get up at the butt crack of dawn to go explore, climb tree's, avoid quicksand and be in the woods for hours on end! Our snacks were spring onions, fresh spring water and chewing on Birch tree bark which was just like gum! Then we'd roll our shirt's up and put berries of all kinds in it...and what we managed to save we enjoyed with quick biscuit's and fresh cream! Lot's of stained shirt's and plenty of adventure!

Looks wonderful..yum..beautiful wild leeks..

ya missed stating the 4th and 5th characteristic of fiddle heads the fact they grow in a round clump in colonies of clumps not by 1s and 2s and ya should not take every head from a clump as this will harm the plant leave 1/2 to grow and thus feed the root for next years crop I refer to the clump in this vid @ 16:55

what a beautiful place you live in. love your naration voice it reminds me of childhood nature cinema films

This was amazing. I love mushrooms, ill be super stoked if i ever find a morel of my own!

Thank you for making this video!