Green (Living) Review: edible weeds

Showing posts with label edible weeds. Show all posts

Don't weed them – Eat them

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

How to use and benefit from Dandelions

We are now entering the season where people will start to do battle again with the weeds in the garden beginning, no doubt, with the humble Dandelion. But if these maligned yellow-blossomed plants pop up in a yard or garden, there is a much better way to “control” the problem and that is by eating them. But, even though they are edible, do leave the flowers as they are some of the first nigh-nectar flowers the bees will need after winter.

Every part of the Dandelion is edible – leaves, roots, stems, and flowers. And the plants are nutritional powerhouses. The greens are rich in beta-carotene, fiber, potassium, iron, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, B vitamins, and protein. Their nutrition profile compares favorably to kale and spinach and trounces iceberg lettuce, the most widely eaten salad green in the United States.

It may sound strange to forage in the backyard for dinner, but wild greens were once a dietary staple around the world. Many cultures still eat them regularly. Apparently many people in France deliberately grow Dandelion in their gardens as a greens while we in the UK, the USA, and some other places, try our very best to eradicate this beneficial weed.

Some North Americans have caught on to Dandelion's “superfood” status. High-end farmers' markets and boutique grocery stores often sell them in small, expensive bundles. But thrifty consumers can gather Dandelions from lawns and urban meadows for free. However, not all Dandelion greens are equal. It pays to know when and how to safely pick them.

On the other hand why not harvest those in your own garden and why not, like many French gardeners do, grow them deliberately. I have been doing that for years now. I tend to remove them, as far as possible will all of the roots from where I may not want them to planters where I want them to grow.

I get great pleasure out of people – I work in a public park and garden – asking when I am weeding: “As a professional gardener...” and I already know that nine times our of ten the continuation of question will be “...what do you suggest I'd do with the Dandelions in my garden?” To which I, invariably, reply “eat them!” The looks on the faces, generally, are priceless.

Once I said that and got the usual “but aren't the poisonous, seeing they have milky sap”, etc. when a French lady stood nearby who then, when the questioner had gone, commented that she did no understand the Brits as regards to their obsession as to getting rid off Dandelions as the French grew them on purpose and used them.

The entire plant is, by the way, edible, from leaves, over stems to flowers and roots. The French use the leaves in place of rocket salad leaves or the older ones sauteed with garlic as a side dish. The Greek dish “Hortes”, meaning simply “greens” is made of Dandelion and some other wild leaves, including stinging nettle.

How to harvest Dandelion greens: First, be sure to identify Dandelion correctly, because it has a few doppelgangers. Look for smooth leaves shaped like jagged teeth. The plant's name comes from the French dent-de-lion or “tooth of lion”, that's why the German name is “Loewenzahn”. Dandelions' thick stems are hollow and filled with milky sap. Catsears – Dandelions' most ubiquitous look-alike – are often called False Dandelions. They are distinguished by hairy leaves with round lobes and wiry, branched stems. Catsears are edible, but the leaves are not as palatable as those of the Dandelion. Also it must be remembered that not every Dandelion looks alike in the shape of their leaves. Some are wider and bigger, some thinner and smaller.

When harvesting Dandelion leaves pick them from lawns, or other areas, free of pesticides or herbicides only. Avoid areas near building foundations, streets, and driveways, where the soil's lead levels tend to be highest. And always wash the greens well. Alternatively, or in addition, you could, like many French gardeners do, plant Dandelions on purpose.

For the most tender and least bitter greens, herbalists advise foragers to harvest before the plant flowers. However, it can be tricky to find the leaves before the blossom appears. Raw Dandelion greens will probably taste bitter to most people, regardless of when they are harvested. The key is to look for tender leaves and learn how to prepare them based on taste preferences.

The bitterness, however, is no reason to lose out on the benefits of this nutritious plant. There are plenty of tactics to tame the bitterness of Dandelion greens. Moreover, food preferences are malleable and based on exposure. In addition, many health experts believe bitterness is an important, often- neglected key to optimum wellness.

Bitter foods for better health: Bitter compounds are plants' way of protecting themselves from being eaten by mammals. Bitter plants are more likely to be dangerous to humans, so we are acutely sensitized to the taste. However, bitter plants are also more likely to be highly nutritious, because hytonutrients have a bitter, sour, or astringent taste. It is no coincidence that kale, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and other phytonutrient-rich foods are bitter.

Unfortunately because of consumer preference the food industry has largely bred bitterness out of our food. As a result, we lose out on more than just nutrition. Bitterness is important for liver health. It stimulates the liver to produce bile, which aids digestion and nutrient availability. Bitter foods also modulate hunger.

Eating Dandelion is an excellent way to benefit from bitterness, and Dandelion's curative powers go beyond its bitter taste. It has been used as a medicine for thousands of years for numerous conditions. In fact, its Latin name Taraxacum officinale means the “official remedy for disorders.” What kind of “disorders” is not specified.

Dandelion cures: Native Americans boiled Dandelion and drank the water to treat kidney disease, swelling, skin problems, heartburn, and stomach troubles. The Chinese use the plant to treat breast and stomach issues and appendicitis. In Europe, it has been used for fever, boils, eye problems, diabetes, and diarrhea.

Modern scientific studies are scant, but research has confirmed Dandelions as a folk-remedy diuretic. It is prescribed for edema in Germany and may be safer than other remedies because it replenishes potassium. Preliminary animal studies suggest that Dandelion may help normalize blood sugar and fight inflammation.

Recipes for the use of Dandelions can be found in large numbers in certain books and, nowadays, all over the Internet. My personal favorite is the way we used to eat Dandelion leaves as children, in a sandwich just with butter, salt and pepper. Or, if really decadent, then a good mayonnaise is substituted for the butter. Another is sauteed as greens, with garlic in oil and spices.

Here a link to a more sophisticated recipe using Dandelion greens: https://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/fresh-dandelion-spring-salad-recipe-zerz1802zmos

In the Weeds: A Beginner's Guide to Foraging

Foraging. It’s a buzzword you'll soon start hearing everywhere, if you haven't already (foraged fiddleheads or ramps are on all the hip spring menus). It's also an ancient way of gathering food.

“Foraging is not associated with Dumpster diving,” laughs Ava Chin, urban forager and author of "Eating Wildly," addressing a common misconception. "Yes, is it a kind of 'freeganism,' but no, I do not eat roadkill. Foraging is a way of learning about the edible plants that are all around us, whether in a city, a suburban yard, or a state park.”

Nowhere near the wilderness? Ava wants you to know that the "concrete jungle" actually hides many wild edibles. “You can find a variety and abundance of wild foods in a city or in the suburbs.”

A number of edible plants and mushrooms can be found throughout the country, in fact. Ava cites the wild plant lambsquarters -- a relative to spinach, quinoa, and beets, and one of most nutritious plants, she says. “It’s prized in Greek, Persian, and Bangladeshi cuisines, but here it’s a weed, hard to find to buy in even a farmers’ market." Yet lambsquarters grows “everywhere from semi-arid L.A. to busy avenues in Brooklyn.” Ava has found it on “college campuses, in friends' backyards, parks -- almost everywhere.”

The Benefits of Stinging Nettles

Stinging nettles are often thought of as a weed, but they have many health and nutritious benefits as well as being easy to grow or forage.

The basics

They lose their sting in the first 30 seconds of cooking.
They have more protein than any other edible plant I know of.
They will satisfy my hamburger cravings.
Harvest for eating before they are knee high.
The seeds and roots have medicinal value.
In the fall they can be used to make cordage - especially good for water cordage, like nets (hence the name).
Possibly the easiest plant food to dry and save for later

Jumping on the stinging nettle train

In 2001 I learned that lots of my animals liked to eat stinging nettles. In looking it up, I found that it was one of the best things they could eat. So good, that I should try to encourage growing it rather than discourage it.

Foraging for wild food and medicinal plants - Chickweed Plant Profile

While much greenery dies back in winter, there is plenty of food to forage from hedgerows and even unexpected parts of your garden. Christopher helps you to identify and use Chickweed

Winter is a challenging time when it comes to food growing, so why not take advantage of what nature provides for free? More often than not, our hardy wild plants will offer us nutritionally-high greens for the salad bowl or cooking pot (often far higher than from plants generally grown or bought), and provide us with safe, effective medicine!

Hardy winter greens

When in the garden or plot at this time of year, the otherwise-ignored wild plants will grab our attention, and naturally so, because there is precious little other growth about. The simple aim of this article is for people to think thrice about ripping these gifts out of the ground and plonking them on the compost heap. For that would be a waste of the food and medicine on offer, as well your valuable time and energy. Not very permaculture!

One plant that you will almost certainly come across, is that most tenacious of cultivated weeds, little old chickweed. Yet not too many years ago, it would have been one of the plants that we turned to for food during the darker months.

Getting to know... Chickweed

Fiskars Weed Pullers - weapons of weed destruction

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

It doesn't take long for weeds to take over a garden and removing them can be an arduous task. Until of course you are fully prepared to wage war on weeds with the Fiskars Weed Puller. It's a smart solution because it removes weeds with a quick pull and release action without the use of harmful pesticides. The tool works with four deep-reaching stainless steel claws, which grab the tap root efficiently.

Once the weed has been pulled, a quick fire ejection releases it straight into a waiting wheelbarrow or trug and off the lawn or bed you are working in. Designed to make removing weeds effortless, this eco-friendly weeding system allows the gardener to work without bending down, prevent muscle strain and backache.

As James Wong says, the steel claws of Fiskars weed puller reach down deep so you don't have to.

Tips & Tricks from James Wong

"A close relative of trendy radicchio, dandelion leaves are a spring time delicacy across the Mediterranean, from France to Italy. Containing 7x the antioxidants of lettuce, this gourmet green is so easy to grow it literally plants itself. A free farmers market on your doorstep? Boom!"

Product details

Deep reaching stainless steel claw grab roots in multiple direction
No digging or bending required
FibreComp™ shaft for lightness, strength and durability
Softgrip™ comfortable handle which enhances its ergonomic design
Length 988mm. Weight 917g
Length of blade: 90cm
Available as a telescopic model with a large D-shaped handle. Length 1000mm extending to 1200mm. Weight 1700g
James Wong fronts the Fiskars garden hand tools campaign to revolutionize gardening and inspire a new generation to get outdoors.

Fiskars garden tools are available nationwide in DIY stores, hardware stores, garden centres and online.

James Wong and Fiskars

In his new role as brand ambassador for Fiskars, horticultural celebrity and ethnobotanist James Wong injects the va va voom into gardening. With tools designed to minimise effort and James set to maximise enjoyment, it's a union that will invigorate today's gardeners and inspire tomorrow's.

Reinventing Gardening

Fiskars tools are examples of the company's aspiration to reinvent the gardening experience through the use of advanced engineering and materials. We believe that all things, even the simplest, can be made better and smarter so that work in the garden becomes easier, lighter, more efficient and simply more pleasurable - which is ultimately what gardening should be all about.

Edible weeds

Dandelion are not the only edible weeds in your garden, however. There is also Chickweed, Fat Hen, aka Lambs Quarter or Goosefoot, and quite a fair number of others. So, therefore, don't necessarily weed them but eat them; at least those that are edible, and as James Wong mentioned as regards to the nutrient content of Dandelion in comparison to lettuce many other weeds too have great nutrient values. Therefore, before you weed the weeds check which ones may be edible and use them rather than waste them.

How to Use Lambsquarter from Root to Plant to Seed

Some people might take one look at a patch of lambsquarter and yank it out of the ground to rid their garden or yard of an undesirable weed. Not wild-foods advocate and author Katrina Blair. At her home in Durango, CO, she tends to her lambsquarter and a number of other so-called weeds with the utmost care.

Why, you ask? Because according to Blair’s extensive research weeds are entirely misunderstood plants. In her new book, The Wild Wisdom of Weeds, she focuses on the thirteen plants which together comprise a complete food source and extensive medical pharmacy and first-aid kit.

Blair’s philosophy is sobering, realistic, and ultimately optimistic. If we can open our eyes to see the wisdom found in these weeds right under our feet, instead of trying to eradicate an “invasive,” we could potentially achieve true food security and optimal health.

Lambsquarter is one of Blair’s 13 “super weeds.” You can blend its leaves into a green juice, sprout its quinoa-like seeds and use them in a salad, mash its roots into a cleansing soap, and more. In the following excerpt, learn all about the edible and medicinal uses of lambsquarter and find recipes for a variety of lambsquarter-based foods and products.

Happy foraging!

Gourmet Weeds

Foraging for wild food provides a huge range of delectable delights as well as bringing us closer to nature and more in tune with the seasons.

Many of us have foraged for blackberries, sloes, elderberries, dandelion, nuts and much more, but here Katrina Blair, founder of the wild food cafe at Turtle Lake Refuge, Durango, US, explains the never ending list of wild edibles available that we can easily miss.

Katrina looks at the wide range of weeds many people pull up and discard - some with medicinal benefits, others packed full of nutrients. From cleavers, milk thistle, mallow and wild sage to

She then shares how these seeds, roots and leaves can be turned into delicious meals of 'leaf chips', flax crackers and chicory chai tea.

Katrina is genuinely inspiring and has an amazing insight into the bounty nature provides. We guarantee you will enjoy this video wherever you live!

The Five Healthiest Backyard Weeds

Broad-leaf plantain Do you have the summer gardening blues? Has the heat wave turned your cucumbers vines into rope and left your tomatoes as brown as the cracked dirt they're growing in?

Fear not. You likely have weeds in your garden or in your neighborhood that are striving in the heat and are actually far more healthful than almost anything you can grow or buy.

Far from famine food, these so-called weeds can be delicious if prepared properly. And they are absolutely free.

Just a few words of caution: Be sure to identify the weed properly. (The ones described here are easy to spot.) Avoid harvesting from anyplace you suspect pollution — such as from vehicle exhaust, lawn pesticide or doggy business. And remember that edible does not mean allergen-free.

Got your garden gloves? Ok, here we go.

Amaranth isn’t just another weed — here’s how to cook this prolific leafy green

Foraged vegetables are always more fun to cook. So our resident forager, Tama Matsuoka Wong, is introducing us to the seasonal wild plants we should be looking for, and the recipes that will make our kitchens feel a little more wild.

I used to only associate amaranth with its seed, an important staple grain for the ancient Aztec civilizations of central and south America. Rich in amino acids, magnesium, and iron, it’s still cultivated today and can be found in grocery and health food stores, along with amaranth flour, which is gluten-free.

Farmers have always appreciated amaranth’s ability to grow on parched soil. Its resilience also makes it one of the most common summer weeds — it’s among the first to grow between crops, in vegetable gardens, and on fields. Because of its Herculean growth rate, Amaranth is also know as pigweed, or by some agriculturalists, “Enemy of the State.”

There are many types of amaranth: Some varietals grow seven feet tall and are cultivated primarily for grains, whereas others are more ornamental — like the “Love Lies Bleeding” varietal, which, though edible, is used primarily to make red dye. But, in many places — including China, India, Mexico, Greece, and Africa — amaranth is enjoyed as a leafy green.

Don't waste your dandelions

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Many gardeners are horrified when dandelions pop up in their flower beds or vegetable plots and immediately set about eradicating them. Not an easy task to begin with as just a bit of root left behind, and there will more often then not be a bit left behind, guarantees a new dandelion plant. But why would anyone want to do that.

The Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) makes extremely good eating in itself and the entire plant can, in fact, be put to good use.

Taraxacum is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. They are native to Eurasia and North and South America, and two species, T. officinale and T. erythrospermum, are found as weeds worldwide. Both species are edible in their entirety. The common name dandelion, from French dent-de-lion, meaning "lion's tooth") is given to members of the genus, The name is derived from the serration of the leaves of the plant which resemble teeth of a big cat. Like other members of the Asteraceae family, they have very small flowers collected together into a composite flower head. Each single flower in a head is called a floret. Many Taraxacum species produce seeds asexually by apomixis, where the seeds are produced without pollination, resulting in offspring that are genetically identical to the parent plant.

All parts can be used. The leaves, when young, are a great salad vegetable and can replace rocket, aka rucola or, in America, arugula. When the leaves get older they get somewhat more bitter and then can be used in the same way as spring greens, best, however, sauteed with garlic.

The flowers can also be eaten, added to salads, and they can be made into wine, which is the better way to use them, probably. In addition to that they can make a dandelion flower marmalade and the roots can be roasted and made into coffee or steeped as an infusion, aka tea.

So, why would anyone want to remove and eradicate this plant, which is very difficult to do in the first place.

Aside from all the benefits that this plant has and uses it also makes for a great show of butter-yellow flowers in Spring (and often several times over during the year). So you get two things, color and food, from the same plant.

Renewed interest in wild edibles

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Wild edibles, also referred to as “hedgerow harvest”, were a good part of the diet of at least the country people and poor folks in general in year gone by. But the use and knowledge of wild edibles fell by the wayside in our recent decades of plenty.

The Great Recession and the austerity measures taken by the governments to, supposedly, reduce national debt, has led to a resurgence in the use of edible weeds and other wild edibles, especially in towns and cities, and has caused many to forage for them again. So much so, in fact, that the authorities in New York City, for instance, had to place a ban on foraging in Central Park fearing that trees and shrubs be stripped of leaves.

Foraging in the wilds needs to be done with care in order to allow enough for all and especially for regeneration of the plants.

In 2012 I saw the seed heads of Rumex acetosa (Common Sorrel) walk out of “my” park by the handfuls on a daily basis and it is surprising that the plants have actually been able to reproduce as bountiful as they did.

The majority of people who were abducting those seeds were of the Asian community in this country who use the leaves in their cuisine. I assume that they took the seeds in order to, like me, deliberately grow them in their gardens and on their allotments and sorrel is not the only edible weed which they grow in their kitchen gardens.

While removing seed heads in the quantities that they did is not something that I would ever encourage growing wild edibles for one's need in one's own garden or on one's allotment is a better choice than taking too much of it out of the wild. It is for that reason (and a couple of others) that I grow edible weeds deliberately in my kitchen garden also.

Foraging has, definitely, seen a resurgence everywhere due to the rising food costs caused by the Great Recession which is not, not even by a long shot, over as yet and food prices, no doubt, are going to rise for a long time to come still.

However, foraging should be done, like all things, in a sustainable manner and while the true foragers will do just that the new kind of forager is but interested to harvest as much as possible with as little effort as possible and without having to venture too far. This is not sustainable. The true forager lives and harvests by a code which this new kind of forager does not follow, alas.

While the gardener may take the entire harvest as, in most cases, he will start with newly bought seeds the next time Mother Nature does not garden in the same way and thus we need to leave a sustainable number of plants and especially seed in order to ensure new growth.

For that reason, when foraging in the wild we should only take a few leaves, or what-have-you, from an individual plant and then move on to the next one and not strip plants bare, as many of the new foragers do.

Leave enough so that the plants can regenerate and there will be enough for all.

Please pass the weeds

Get even with weeds by eating them!

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Dandelion, chickweed, purslane and lamb's quarters are common greens that are used, and enjoyed in some regions of the USA, as well as in other countries. In fact, in some countries Sorrel and Lamb's Quarter, a cousin to the Quinoa, are purposely grown, such as on the Indian Sub-Continent.

When you use weeds, and I very much encourage you to do so, just make sure that, if you forage for them in the wild, they have not been sprayed with pesticides or herbicides.

Toss dandelion flowers into a green salad for a touch of color and flavor! Use the young leaves as you would rocket (arugula) or cook alder leaves into a spinach dish. And that is not even all that you can do with the humble dandelion.

The Greek have a dish called “horta” which often contains edible weeds rather than garden greens, mainly dandelion leaves and those of the stinging nettle, boiled like spinach. In fact, more or less, any edible weed can go into this dish.

The Asian community from the Indian Sub-Continent grow some plants that we would regard as (edible) weeds on purpose, including on their allotments in Britain such as goosefoot, aka lamb's quarter, and also sorrel.

Last year I saw many people taking the seed heads from the sorrel (Rumex acetosa) home from the park. So much so that there were no seed heads left on any of the plants that are growing in the pinetum of the park to be found afterward.

The majority of those that took those seed heads were from the Asian community and I am certain that they took them in order to sow sorrel in their gardens to grow for food. And I know that this is not the only wild plant that those folks will “cultivate” in their gardens for use in their diet. Should this not give us some food for thought?

Sorrel can be and is being used as spinach of the cut-and-come-again type; chickweed as a pot herb and also goes well with chopped egg as a substitute for salad cress in sandwich filling, when combined with a good mayonnaise.

Goosefoot (Lamb's Quarter or Fat Hen) can be used in a number of different ways: The leaves as a spinach substitute, the stems, especially when the plant, which can reach up to three feet in height, has grown well, steamed like asparagus, the flower head, before it goes to seed, as broccoli and the seeds themselves as quinoa.

And this is but a small list of edible weeds that can be used for and are good as food. Why waste a good resource and better still why throw them out of your garden when they are that good.

So, pass the weeds and don't pass up on the weeds.

Growing Edible Weeds

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

For some time now already I have been deliberately growing edible weeds in my garden and aside from those that popped up all by themselves, such as dandelion and chickweed, both of which are very good eating indeed, I have also brought in other purposely, as plants, such as sorrel (Rumex acetosa).

Sorrel (left) and Goosefoot (right)

Why grow edible weeds?

Edible weeds, like all weeds, need little to no input and basically look very much after themselves. They only need harvesting. Some do not like feeding or such at all and thrive best when left to do their own thing.
Many edible weeds are better for us than are cultivar (leaf) vegetables, including the cultivated varieties of those weeds. Dandelion is a great salad vegetable, akin to rocket (arugula) though not a relation, and sorrel, basically, is a cut-and-come-again spinach though, once again, not a relation to the other plant.
Weeds will grow in your garden anyway and thus it is better to harvest those that are good to eat, you save yourself a lot of work that way and get great stuff to eat to boot.

But why not simply forage for them in the wild?

Some of them you can no longer get once the tree canopy has closed and the light conditions on the forest floor are too low. In your garden, even in the shade, they will, however, more often than not, keep going and growing.
Growing those wild edibles yourself in your yard means that you know – more or less – what has come in contact with them, especially as regards to animal waste matter, such as dog or fox urine and such. You also know that they have not been exposed to chemicals or car exhaust fumes, and other nasties.
All you have to do when you want some of those vegetables for your meal is to pop out the door and pick some fresh from the plant. No need to go out looking for them in the wild.

Ground elder is another, very invasive weed that many gardeners get plagues with. If you would want to eradicate you will end up spending hours or you will have to resort to chemicals. The positive side, however, it is a very valuable food and it was, in fact, introduced to the British Isles by the Romans as a food crop, and it is great eating. Therefore why bother eradicating it. Just eat it.

If you would wish to grow this plant on purpose my word of caution is to retain it in some sort of planter so that it cannot escape into the wild, or has little chance to do so.

If you have it popping up in your garden for the first time then grab it as it just develop and plant it into a container as a wild veg. Should the patch have gone beyond being able to be relocated then contain it, if possible, by sinking paving slabs into the ground to a good depth all around. Thus you may be able to contain the plants and their enormous root system and make use of it as a veg in perpetuity.

All edible weeds that you grow should, ideally, be grown in containers to prevent them spreading to where you may not want them. In generally weeds, because they grow fast, may interfere with the growth of other vegetables that you may wish to grow, and that in a number of ways.

On the other hand, some weeds make good companion plants and one especially and this is, yet again, and edible one, namely goosefoot, also known as fat hen or lamb's quarter. It acts as a sacrificial plant for the leaf miner. The bug will rather burrow around in the leaves of the goosefoot than those of your veg and therefore goosefoot, and also for the fact that it is good to eat, should not be eradicated.

Goosefoot, in the same family as quinoa, is an annual, that is to say it reproduces from seed only and not from any rootstock unlike dandelion which spreads by seed but also stays as a plant in the ground, or sorrel, or ground elder. I tried to introduce goosefoot into a container in my garden last summer but I did not get the plants to produce the needed seed to perpetuate themselves. In fact something ate them and it was not me.

Just some food for thought here as to why not just forage your yard and encouraging the wild things you like to eat to your home.

Foraging in your backyard

Growing edible weeds on purpose

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Much has been written, and talked, about foraging for wild foods in the wilds but no one, so far, seems to have considered – or if so then a very small number – growing those foods purposely in the backyard or the allotment.

When it comes to doing this on your allotment often the management of the allotment society will object to the growing of “weeds”, as some people have found out even when growing Jerusalem Artichokes (Sun Chokes). Some of those little Hitlers classify those vegetables as “invasive weeds” also. Thus growing wild edibles may only work in your backyard therefore.

However, as far as I am concerned, growing wild foods, aka wild edibles or edible weeds is a good idea as firstly many of them are more nutritious than cultivars and secondly they grow almost without any attention and many would grow without being introduced in your garden anyway and many a gardener is fighting a losing battle with the likes of dandelion, fat hen (aka lamb's quarter), ground elder and nettles. So why not let them grow and eat them rather than battling to remove them.

Some while back I decided to deliberately leave dandelion in place and use the leaves for use as salad leaves as they are very much like rocket; best when young. They can also be cooked like spinach, and then the age of the leaves does not matter much. The flowers, if one wanted to, can be used to make dandelion wine and the roots can be roasted and ground to make a coffee substitute. Dandelion is, after all, a relation to the Chicory from which the French do make a coffee.

Stinging nettle, like dandelion, is a plant that needs no introduction as to looks, and nettle is also, in the form of the younger leaves, a great vegetable as it can be made into soup, or cooked like spinach, and also makes a great herbal tea. So, again, why battle to remove it when it is that useful.

Ground elder is a seriously invasive plant and if you deliberately want to grow it – which I will be doing – it should be contained as it spreads via the roots.

It is another one of those wild plants that are very good to eat and thus well worth using, especially when the plant has decided to colonize your garden as eradication of ground elder is nigh impossible once it has established itself, and that happens fast. So, don't battle, eat.

Other great wild edibles to get into your garden are Sorrel (Rumex acetosa) which is, basically, a wild spinach and of the cut-and-come-again variety, and Ransoms, a wild garlic of which, however, predominately the leaves are used, again like spinach.

The previously mentioned lamb's quarter is a relation to the Amaranths and can be used in a variety of ways. They leaves, yet again, cooked like spinach. It is being advised that this vegetable should be eaten in moderation as it contains high levels of oxalic acid. People who use it a lot, however, consider that the acid is being destroyed in the cooking process.

The stems of Chenopodium album, which is the scientific name of this plant, can be steamed and eaten like asparagus and the mature flower heads in the same way processed like broccoli.

The Asian community in the UK likes to use fat hen, aka lamb's quarter (Chenopodium album) in curries where spinach is also used and the same wish sorrel (Rumex acetosa) and tend to grow both because of this purposely in their gardens. Chenopodium album is extensively cultivated and consumed in Northern India as a food crop, and in English texts it may be called by its Hindi name bathua or bathuwa.

This is just a small selection of wild edible and edible weeds that I am considering and I am turning over some of the beds in my vegetable garden to the deliberate growing – have done some already – of wild edibles to enable me to go foraging just outside the backdoor and will also harvest and eat those edible weeds that turn up in other beds among the crop plants.

Don't weed you weeds; eat them instead.

Now is the time to think about vegetable seeds

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Now is the time to think about which seeds to sow and plant in your vegetable garden for the year.

The choices are great but there are some varieties of vegetables that are best for all year round cropping and also don't forget the humble edible weeds. They grow better than anything else and are sure worth “cultivating” too.

This notion may seem silly to many a gardener but why battle with your weeds when you can eat them. (More later).

When it comes to the, if I may say so, ordinary vegetables to sew and plant, as said, there is a great variety out there but, alas, at times the choice is limited.

Let's look at beans: While there are many different kinds of beans that can be grown, including in the British Isles, all we seem to see if different “varieties” of runner (Lima), broad (Fava), and French beans, with a few other kinds. The rest of the great armory of beans that exist cannot be found with the great majority of seed companies in Britain.

Asking a representative of one of them one day I got the answer that there was no one interested. Really?

Also amazing is the fact that most people, including avid gardeners, have no idea that they can actually use the beans inside the runner beans after they have become stringy and can no longer be used in the way that they have become accustomed to. Those beans are the same as the dried Lima beans that are found in stores.

Other vegetables, as far as seeds and plants are concerned, also can be rather limited in Britain, and I mean here the kind that are commonly used elsewhere, including mainland Europe.

The same is true for, so at least I have found, potato varieties, but, then again, I do not, generally, buy seed potatoes and there is absolutely no need to do so. I know everyone – or almost everyone – keeps telling us that we must buy seed potatoes in order to grow healthy spuds. Really? I beg to differ here.

I have had nothing but problems with seed potatoes, especially with so-called blight resistant ones. Got a load of them from the Garden Press Event 2012 and they were the ones that, actually, the first ones that had the blight that year. The ones that I grew from cheapest Sainsbury's potatoes that had grown eyes were much more resistant. Sorry, but no more seed potatoes for me.

So, let's now look at what I mentioned before, namely the use of weeds for food. Many common garden, pardon the pun, weeds are edible and, in fact, are very good for us, and they are indeed legion.

Dandelion is one weed that, I am sure, everyone knows and regards as rather pesky. But not so. It is very edible indeed and great in salads or as spinach. I live the look on the faces of folks that ask me – being a professional gardener and forester – as to wht they are to do with the dandelion in their garden when I tell them to eat the stuff.

Another very useful weed is stinging nettle, Again it has many uses and should be used rather than wasted. Sorrel is another one which is, basically, a cut and come again spinach and I use it as it and don't just gather it in the wild, where it is mostly found, but have actually planted some of it in my garden.

Another very common weed in the garden that will take over if not checked but which is nutritious and good to eat is chickweed. And another one is Fat Hen, aka Lambs Quarter. The latter is, yet again, a most versatile one the leaves of which can be used as spinach, but also the stalk and the flower spikes can be eaten, the former steamed like asparagus and the latter like broccoli.

So think seeds and weeds for food in your garden and see how it can work out.

Eat Your Weeds

Review by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Eat your weeds is, basically, what the book “The Weeder's Digest: Identifying and enjoying edible weeds”, by Gail Harland, 192 pages paperback, at £12.95, published June 2012 by Green Books, is telling us and she makes a great pitch for using weeds which are edible, and many, indeed, are.

Readers will be surprised, of that I am sure, as to the amount and variety of common weeds )and not so common) weeds in our gardens, fields, parks, woods and elsewhere are, in fact, valuable foods and medicines.

Some of them, however, should not be consumed in large quantities as they, like many where the leaves are useful in salads and as greens, contain oxalic acid. The author, however, gives the appropriate warnings, as and where necessary, for each and every plant and thus people are put on notice.

Another point to take into consideration when using wild foods of all kinds, whether weeds or whatever, is that some edible weeds, just like some edible mushrooms, have poisonous “cousins” and lookalikes. Again the the author also points this out with great care.

The listed weeds that can be used for food by humans an d animals to a great extent are a valuable source of many minerals, vitamins and trace elements and Stinging Nettle, used like spinach, for example, has a much higher iron content than does have spinach.

This book is a gardener's dream come true. A manual of how to get your own back on pesky weeds: you eat them.

“The Weeder's Digest” is a must for anyone thinking about the possibilities of wreaking revenge on the weeds in his or her garden by eating them.

It is a lovely presented paperback book with many photos that is a pleasure to read, to use, to peruse and to consult. The £12.95 is definitely money worth invested in this book. I got my review copy of this great book free, however.

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