Winter Annual: Hairy Bittercress (*Cardamine hirsuta*) A Fine Forage!

One of my favorite "weeds!" This one is such a good addition to salads, as edible garnish, or as a leafy green to stew or sauté if you have enough! Even just as a volunteer in a garden, it is a very interesting little friend! It belongs to the Brassicaceae family which usually have edible and fairly bitter leaves.

It's quite easy to identify due to its basal rosette (rising from the middle of the plant and speading outward with age), leaflets, exploding seed pods and tiny white flowers. It's located on both coasts of the United States and the southern most states as well. It's absent from some of the plains states though. They favor shade and disturbance usually, or you can find the largest specimens in those conditions!

If you wish to harvest prime specimens just pull straight up! The long taproot makes this plant easy to extract.

Sources:

-- https://www.bbg.org/news/weed_of_the_month_hairy_bittercress

-- https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=cahi3

-- http://www.wildfooduk.com/hedgerow-food-guide/hairy-bittercress-1-hedgerow/