Picking Wild Vegetables

I dream of fresh produce. To eat a bowl of bing cherries or a fresh peach…steamed kale or a spinach salad…incredible. Here, "vegetables" means cabbage, potatoes and the occasional carrot. When an uncle arrived from Ulaanbaatar bearing gifts of tomatoes and cucumbers for me, I almost wet my pants. The color of that tomato stirred some deep body memory. Biting into it almost made me weep it was so good. I knew it would be like this, so I brought powdered supergreen food that I mix with milk to get 3 servings of green vegetables. I have a stash of dried apricots and mangoes that I enjoy with lunch. Though these things help fill the nutritional gaps, they are not the same as fresh.
When Enhee was getting ready to go somewhere, and I asked where she was going, she used the dictionary to tell me she was going to pick wild vegetables for 2 hours. Wild vegetables! I pictured a big plate of steaming greens of an unknown but tasty variety. Can I come help? We set off. About a mile from the house, I could see a large corral, and she motioned that we were headed there. I thought, "They can’t be terribly wild if they are in a contained area." As we approached, I realized it was a community garden of some kind. I verified that they had a section, actually 4 rows, that their family cared for and harvested. It was all one crop, potatoes. We were there to weed their rows.
So, I was disappointed. No wild vitamin packed greens for me. Weeding is not as much fun as picking exotic produce, but it is something I am good at. We weeded for 2 hours, and headed home. I have been watching for opportunities to be part of the community here, and this was a great way to pitch in and help keep Enhee and Tsemgee’s winter food stores healthy. For now, the need for community is more important than fresh produce.