I am interested in which "weeds" people find most edible, when you harvest and how you prepare them (do you find them best raw, cooked, etc.).
I don't spray the yard and I have dandelion and chickweed, of course, dock, wintercress, garlic mustard, cat's ear, nipplewort and others. I haven't tried them all but would like to.
Nipplewort? Latin name, pray tell...
I have been known to consume that alleged spinach substitute Lambs-quarters (Chenopodium album) on the hoof.
Other extremely edible enterprises include Daylily blooms (Hemerocallis sp.) and many Viburnum sp. fruits - also au naturel...
Lamb's quarter is quite edible both while weeding, and gathered and cooked. You'd think the petioles would be tough but is all tender when cooked.
Daylily buds are peppery to me, I have nibbled but not cooked.
Purslane is not bad.
Hairy bittercress is tasty, broccoli like, but so tiny...
Chickweed tastes too grassy for my taste.
One of our local parks has a Garlic mustard recipe contest as part of the garlic mustard weeding event.
There's 'edible' and then there's 'tasty'
Oops, nipplewort is Lapsana communis. http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Lapsana+communis
I usually forget to harvest it before it blooms. I live in the land of clay soil and it has no problem growing in heavy soil. But we have some good soil too due to decades of leaves falling from the trees in the wood behind us. Some woods, some shade, some sun.
I steam most of leaves of whatever kind. I tend to like them better that way, sprinkled with a little balsamic. The chickweed I enjoy raw in the winter, just pull and eat while I'm outside.
Thanks for reminding me about lamb's quarters. I haven't eaten much of it for some reason. I'd like to get to get a small bed of purslane going. Also forgot about the wild violets. I have a back yard full of those. http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Plants.Folder/Violets.html
Thanks for the input.
Sally, try steaming day lily buds for about 20 minutes, they taste a bit like a cross of green beans and asparagus.
How interesting!
Reviving this thread as I love wild edibles.
I particularly enjoy common wood sorrel and field garlic.
Yes, indeed.
going to add buds of Tawny Daylily to the dinner vegetable pot this summer.
Throw some on a fresh green salad for a peppery flair - and colorful at that.
will do!
I've eaten a few common violets 'on the fly' in the yard...not bad. Does anyone eat the leaves?
Yes. :)
Have eaten violet leaves in salads for decades. My sister has an area in her where violets grow lush with large leaves. Sometimes when I visit I have harvested some and added them to her salad for the whole family and they didn't even realize they were eating them. I also have made violet syrup with the flowers. It changes color depending on the pH of the food it is in contact with.
Is that a simple syrup with the violet flowers added?
Yes. For those of you too tender of years to recall the 1960's and 70's I suggest you check in your local library for Stalking The Wild Asparagus and other books by Euell Gibbons, informative and fun. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euell_Gibbons .
I learned a lot from Euell back in the day. He's still plenty relevant, IMHO.
I have a book titled "Edible Wild Plants: Wild Foods From Dirt to Plate" by John Kallas, and I like it very much too.
So far all I've eaten is dandelion (the petals in cookies) and Lamb's Quarter. The Violets, I like in the yard, but the children eat the flowers. Quoting, "Yum... tastes like grass." :)
Violets/violas make great colorful garnishes. Kids tell is like it is, don't they. :)
I suppose polk salad should be added here, altho I have never eaten it.
Once my mother, hankering for turnip greens, picked some wild ones from the pasture and cooked. She found out why people don't eat them-they are very "hairy".
I guess neither of these are really invasive. I was thinking about the edible conceot.
Poke is a bit invasive here. I have it around the fenceline. I think the poke greens need three consecutive boilings with fresh water to get rid of the bitterness, not to mention the hairiness. I've never cooked them but my grandmother did.
Poke roots get HUGE. Best just to yank out the seedlings before they get too well established. I thought the bitterness of Polk was a sign of the poison. Been told that it had to be cooked in 3 waters to get rid of poison. Bitterness does frequently mean poison, but I wonder if it is really poison. Birds certainly do not have any trouble with the seed/fruit.
All that boiling sounds like too much work for me, and poke. It's not as if I have scurvy, and desperately need the vitamins. I'd call poke very aggressive and persistent!
Wild turnip greens, wild dock etc, there are some hairy things out there, I don't know if they can be boiled enough to get rid of that.
Nettle is supposed to be great cooked! I've only found it once that I know of. Gather in plastic bag and then drop in boiling water, kills the sting, I was told.
Yes, it's toxic. My poke has been easily manageable. Comes up easily if I need to pull it. I would like more but the gal who does the yard often whacks it down with the edger. :(
I think when they had to search for their food or food was scarce, they appreciated poke greens more and definitely did the boiling. We just run to the supermarket.
Now these are not wild but a friend just told me that he takes pumpkin blooms remove the stamens, dips them in batter and deep fry, he says they taste like morel mushrooms. I have not tried these so I don't know.
Pumpkins are really a squash, and squash blossoms are battered and fried, so why not pumpkin? You can do the same with "Ditch Lily" blossoms.
You can eat Ditch Lily (Hemerocallis fulva) raw - very nice as a garnish on salad, adding a peppery taste.
I have not eaten any fried blooms, but how could it be bad? I mean it's fried, right???!!
Once my MIL and I fried some elderberry blooms. They were delicious, but then I am pretty sure fried cardboard would be good, it it was small enough pieces. heehee
When I visited England several years ago, I had lunch in a home and was served Elderberry drink which was sort of like lemonade but flowery tasting. delicious. Then later I had an elderberry cocktail and it too was good. When I got home I collected elderberry flowers and tried to make it myself. Ukk. awful. Tasted like weeds. I wondered if I got too many stems in it or the flowers were too mature. The flowers do mature faster here in the sunny south than cooler o'l England. So it is hard to get flowers that are all in the just opened stage.
I've only eaten ditch lily blossoms raw, but next year, I will try to remember to fry some. I'm not growing any squash right now. Sometimes I can find blossoms at the Farmers' Market.
When we were in England, we had something similar to that but I don't remember whether I liked it or not. We did have some funny things happen with our meals, especially in some of the pubs. High Tea was wonderful and the gardens there are spectacular. Same at the Empress on Vancouver Island, Canada.
This message was edited Jul 14, 2014 6:56 AM
Yeap you are right, if it is fried it can't be all bad. But my DH is drooling now because his favorite thing is morel mushrooms.
Our Master Gardener meeting we are suppose to bring a wild plant fixed for eating either raw and/or cooked. I am really really apprehensive about it. Short of dandelions I don't know wild plants very well and I surely don't want to pick the wrong thing.
Anyone have any suggestions for me?
We had a friend, big with the boy scouts, and he used cat tails is various forms. Sorry but I can't remember the name of the book he swore by.
I googled and found this
http://www.eattheweeds.com/cattails-a-survival-dinner/
happ, what about Lamb's Quarters (Chenopodium album). They taste similar to spinach and can be eaten raw or cooked. Do you have those around you?
mittsy I went to that site and it was great reading, which lead me to queen annes lace jelly, which sounded interesting until they said to be careful and not pick hemlock. It sounded like if you looked at the stem and it was hairy you were fine, that is queen annes lace. If it were smooth/and or blotchy that is hemlock.
Anyone have experience with that? Also said hemlock bloomed in spring and queen annes lace in summer. I have I THINK queen annes lace blooming, I need to go look for sure.
Q A Lace is currently in bloom. Umbrells are flat-topped and usually have a single, tiny purple floret in the center. Root has a carrot-like smell. Stems fuzzy.
Hemlock - Stems smooth with purple splotches, hollow.
Yeap that is what I read greenthumb, it sounded as if it was pretty easy to tell them apart if you just pay attention. Wish I knew someone around here who could go with me the first time.
Cville I am pretty wild plant stupid, so I went and looked up Lamb's Quarters, as soon as it stops raining I need to go for a walk. Luckily all the flower gardens are full of weeds. lol
:)
I just pulled a mess of Queen Anne's Lace infesting my beds - as the rain was falling yesterday evening. Smelled all of carrots. You'll never get it confused with Poison Hemlock, especially if someone points out both kinds of plants to you.
Right. The smell is a definite with Daucus carota.
For your wild plant dinner, let me suggest a blackberry pie. You will be the hit of the evening. They in fruit here now.
