In northern New Mexico, you know spring has really sprung when chimajá emerges from the ground – it’s one of the first plants to make an appearance. It’s not considered medicinal, but it’s highly favored as a seasoning for beans, stews, and just about anything you want to sprinkle it onto. In English they call it spring parsley (Cymopterus glomeratus), but I grew up knowing it as chimajá, which was obviously adopted from its Tewa name T’simaha.
I’ll never forget the first time my parents took me out to pick chimajá when I was a kid. The only reason it’s so memorable is because the night before, a friend had come to my house for a sleep over. That next morning my parents took us out to eat breakfast and then we were going to take her back home. But before we dropped her off, we first had to run a “quick errand”, i.e. drive down a long dirt road to a nearby arroyo to walk around for a while to pick chimajá! My friend was sooooo bored out of her mind and kept saying, “umm are you gonna take me home soon?” She was way more into Barbie than plants. My parents eventually acquiesced to her complaints and we took her home.. probably in a thirsty state! To this day, my family still laughs about it.
Hey I get it – not everyone is into spending their free time walking around the warm spring desert picking plants. But I am so grateful my parents introduced me foraging (and gardening) when I was little. It sparked a lifelong interest in and relationship with plants. Through years of foraging for it in the nearby hills, we collected seed pods that we spread in our front yard. So now we have multiple patches of chimajá growing right outside our house. It’s always a win win when you can cultivate native edible plants in your own landscape.