If you drive through a rural area on your daily commute you are likely to come across the occasional farm truck flotsam and, no matter where you happen to reside, there is most definitely a particular crop that could be found in abundance just off the shoulder if you only knew how to spot these hidden gems. In Northeast Georgia (Rabun County to be exact), the typical find this time of year is the Road Cabbage. While many foraging neophytes obliviously zip right past a veritable feast each summer day, the technique for spotting these elusive orbs is actually quite easy to master. As we all know, cabbages are round, they roll, and sometimes a considerable distance from their initial point of impact on the roadway. Fortunately, this roundness also facilitates their propensity to exit speeding farm trucks on their way to the local market; and most particularly at sharp curves in the road. Thus, this vegetable is always readily available in roadside ditches during harvest season. These green globes
of goodness are however very difficult to spot when hidden in tall roadside weeds as you drive past at highway speeds. Even so, if you know exactly what clues to look for, you will have no difficulty filling you larder with more cabbages than you would dare consume. You must keep a keen eye trained on the side of the roadway at each curve and when you spot a wilted outer cabbage leaf on the very edge of the pavement (see bottom photo), you can be sure that you are just a stone's throw (or a cabbage's roll) away from pay dirt. As the cabbage smacks the pavement at 55 MPH, the outer leaves explode from the more compact solid inner core and the center continues to roll in the
direction of the truck formally hauling your quarry. Thus, as soon as you spot the outer leaves at the roadside, you can be certain that a succulent cabbage heart can be located approximately 30 yards down-road from your current location. Check out my photo montage of a recent successful hunt
here. Happy harvesting…
While similar in appearance, mud bugs are far cheaper to nosh upon than their distant ocean cousins; the lobsters. These freshwater dwelling delicacies compare quite favorably to any edible ocean critter with a taste very much like shrimp. The best thing about mud bugs is that they can be harvested by the bucketful from most bodies of water in the foothills area. Any lake, pond, river or stream is literally crawling with these crustaceans and they can be easily be caught by hand, net or trap. I typically use a minnow trap that I purchased from Ace Hardware but a homemade trap would work just as well. In the evening, I simply remove several fish heads from the Ziploc bag that I keep hidden in the back of the freezer (hidden because I really do not want to see a big bag of frozen fish heads every time I reach for the ice cream); bait the trap; and toss 
it into the creek in my back yard. Early the next morning I am rewarded with a nutritious and hearty breakfast. If I am not particularly hungry for mud bugs with my waffles, they can be kept alive and saved for later in the sink or bathtub. Do not put them outside, even in a covered container. They will be gone when you return as they seem to be a magnet for raccoons who also consider them a delicacy. To cook, simply bring a pot of water to a rolling boil and drop them in – just like a lobster. After boiling for about five minute they are ready to eat. Simply break off the tails and peel like a shrimp. The large front claws also contain some edible meat but sometimes are not worth the effort unless they are exceptionally large. One of my favorite mud bug meals is a creamy chipotle crawfish alfredo over elbow macaroni (I always choose elbow macaroni because, for some reason or another, it is 
always about $0.25 cheaper per pound than the "premium" shapes). Down in the bayou, the locals swear that the best way to savor the subtle flavor of the mud bug is to “suck the head”. While I do admit to trying this twice (after more than one beer), I will never do it again...
