How to pick spring greens that don't taste bitter

To get the best flavor of your garden lettuce or dandelion greens you have to get them picked between dawn and sunrise.

I'm not sure the science behind it but I know from experience that the white sap is bitter. If you collect the greens early in the day before the flowers open on dandelions there is little to no white sap in the leaves. My guess is that the sap comes out of the roots and opens the flowers. At night the sap goes to bed in the roots. You could collect the leaves in the time between dusk and sundown also but I find 10 pm to be a bit late for a salad. But if you have a schedule that doesn't allow for early morning green collecting. By all means grab a light or lantern and go out between dusk (evening) and sunrise. Or anytime the flowers are still closed.

Now with all things wild and foraged...

1. Be smart, don't collect wild forage from an area that has been sprayed with pesticides or herbicides.

2. Don't collect and eat anything unless you have researched it and know it is the variety that isn't poisonous.

3. Almost every edible plant has a poisonous look a like plant.

Now that is taken care of let's continue with what is available in the northern midwest to eat. Just a few of my favorite salad greens in early spring.

1. Curly dock

2. Dandelions

3. Lambs quarter

4. Wild lettuce