Spring on the other side of the world
Spring rests placidly on Leipzig. Bärlauch has begun to flower in the nearby forest. Leipzig has 2500 hectares of flood plane forests, the largest such designation in Europe, and the area nearby is carpeted in bärlauch, known as ramps in the United States. Ramps, aka wild leek, has broad leaves and is not onion-like in appearance. We harvested a bagful on our morning hike. It’s tasty on cauliflower soup and can be dried for later.
Nettles are reappearing alongside the bärlauch. On my previous visit, I ate nettle noodles for dinner. I appreciate the medicinal properties of nettle tea, so in my Madison County refrigerator last winter, I stratified nettle seeds so I could also be Germanic, but— woe is us— no luck this time. Perhaps I can smuggle some German nettle leaves past customs.
Lowenzahn is the German name for dandelion. It means lion’s teeth. Leipzig lowenzahn behaves like Arkansas dandelions — sprouts on fussball (soccer) fields, along sidewalks and assorted unexpected places. So far, I have not encountered lowenzahn noodles, but I’m ready. It contains important vitamins plus eisen, kalium and zink, and you don’t get all that in fries from France.
Also, just like around Eureka Springs, purple dead nettles sprout in wild places such as the bank alongside the fussball field. And sprouting with it — nettles (no relation).
We drove south toward the German Alps and found spring gray and rainy. Just north of Munich is the Hallertau Hop Region, the most productive hop-growing area in the world. Probably only ten percent as many hop farms exist in Germany compared to 50 years ago, but most of those remaining are in this area on nearly15,000 hectares. They produce 90 percent of German hops. Besides its importance in brewing beer, hops are used medicinally for calming one’s nerves and helping with insomnia. This year’s hops crops are just getting started.
South of Munich is Garmisch Partenkirchen, a centuries old German community at the edge of the Alps. We hiked a narrow, well-worn trail for six miles with the highest peaks in Germany in full view. Within 30 minutes of our climb, layers of clothing were shed on the sunny spring day. My hiking companions early on began counting how many different wildflowers they saw along the trail, and during our adventure, the count eventually passed 20 including, at all altitudes, lowenzahn. Your yard, my yard, trails in the Alps— dandelions.
A distinctive feature around Garmisch Partenkirchen are elaborate murals representing historical, religious or mythical figures and events. Ludvigstrasse is a narrow cobblestone street lined with typical businesses in historic buildings adorned with mural after mural.
The 1936 Winter Olympics were held there, the first with alpine skiing. Garmisch Partenkirchen is closer to Innsbruck, Austria, than to Munich. Just south of town is the King’s House on Schachen, an elaborate “hunting lodge” adjacent to an alpine botanical garden with more than 1000 plant species from similar altitudes (2000 meters) around the world. Lowenzahn grows along the pathway (your yard, my yard…)
Just north of town is Glentleiten, an expansive 40-hectare open air museum. Seventy historic farm buildings from Bavaria were relocated to the picturesque bucolic rolling hillside to provide a picture of what life was like for folks like us who lived there through the centuries. For one thing, folks like us worked hard, but we were ingenious in how we met the challenges. Homes, barns, coops, granaries, mills were replete with clever adaptations for heating spaces or conveying water. Even the conical haystacks were cleverly designed, and surrounded by, you guessed it, lowenzahn.
You can make dandelion fritters, you know. Batter and fry the flowers. Some folks say they taste like mushrooms. Springtime treat, all over the world.