I'm not a fancy person. This is about tops for me. And you know it's got a wild food in it, too. What is it? Spruce tree needles.

This photo is from a nice evening last summer. A glass of local Willamette Valley wine. A fresh garden harvest of zucchini, sweet banana peppers, and cherry tomatoes. A crusty bread with fresh mozzarella cheese. And a side of olive oil and balsamic vinegar -- made from my Englemann Spruce Tree (Picea engelmannii). What are the little bits of minced green on top of the mozzarella cheese? The spruce needles that I used to make the balsamic vinegar. Yep, spruce needles.

How good are those spruce needles and the balsamic vinegar? That spruce tree balsamic vinegar won a blue ribbon at our local county fair last year. Yep, it's worth getting to know a Spruce tree! And you can watch my YouTube video to get a live taste review. Here it is:

What Do You Think?

Have you ever eaten a spruce tree? I would like to know!

And if you have any thoughts about foraging, or experiences to share, write a post a be sure to use the Foraging tag. See what other folks are foraging by following the @foraging-trail, where all posts are SteemTrail-curated.

** Haphazard Homestead **

*** foraging, gardening, nature, simple living close to the land ***

All content is 100% Haphazard Homestead - photos and all!

I participate in Operation Translation. All my posts are available for translation under the rules listed on the linked post from @papa-pepper. Logo provided by @oepc85. Post goes 100% to Steem Power! Logo provided by @merej99