Eating Weeds

[ElizabethB]

My sweet George mowed the grass yesterday. He did not weed eat around the Satsuma tree or my garden boxes. This afternoon I pulled Weeds from under my garden boxes.
Lots of dandelion . HMMM? I have heard of eating dandelion but have never tried it.
Harvested a large bunch of dandelion greens . Had a bunch of beet greens .
Washed both. Sauteed 1/2 medium yellow onion diced with 1/2 serrano pepper cored and minced in 1 TBSP EVOO and 1 TBSP butter . Cook until onions are translucent . Add a pinch of nutmeg.
Added the greens with only the water clinging to the leaves. Taste. Add sea salt and fresh ground pepper. Wow. I love beet greens . Adding the dandelion greens adds a peppery taste to the sweet beet greens.
So yard weeds can add a nice touch to your basic greens. I will try using dandelion greens in other applications.



Saute until greens are tender .

 

[rascal]

Not a fan of weeds, I do like iceberg lettuces, I grow them.

Russ

 

[CraigC]

You would be surprised at how many edibles are in the bayous!

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I used to ready a lot of the wild plants in and around the 2 acres we lived on in rural Surrey. Dandelion ,nettles, hops, cleavers, shepard's purse, wild ramsons and hawthorn leaves (actually many young fresh tree leaves are edible in early spring but lime leaves (not lemon and lime but lime trees) are very good) to name just a few. I also used to sew a lot of things like beetroot, rocket, various lettuce, carrots, spring onions and many others all mixed up and sewn at the same time. I'd then just go out with a pair of scissors and cut a ready mixed salad...

I am a huge fan of nettles, they are great.

 

[Morning Glory]

Food for free! Yes I like to forage though I haven't done so for a while. Wild fennel grows near here and I can get wild garlic in the Spring if I take a very long walk. There are lots of edible flowers as well as leaves - such as daisies. The petals look very pretty added to a salad.

 

[epicuric]

Foraging is a great idea and there are many old recipes available for wild plants. Wild garlic is one of my favourites, but the only place I know where to find it round here is near the ninth hole of a golf course that I haven't played in a while. Nettle soup is something I plan to have a go at this year - if I get round to it before the nettles get too woody.

 

[epicuric]

By way of coincidence, I moved a tarpaulin in the garden on Saturday to find this growing underneath:

I had completely forgotten that this had been planted last year. Doh! I feel a pesto coming on...

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

By way of coincidence, I moved a tarpaulin in the garden on Saturday to find this growing underneath:
View attachment 23277
I had completely forgotten that this had been planted last year. Doh! I feel a pesto coming on...

I miss wild garlic. I don't think it's made it to Australia. I'll have to check because the conditions could easily suit it.

 

[Morning Glory]

I miss wild garlic. I don't think it's made it to Australia. I'll have to check because the conditions could easily suit it.

Apparently it did make it: Allium vineale - Wikipedia

Seeds are also available but I gather it takes 3 years before you can pick them.

 

[medtran49]

One of the markets we go to has had dandelion greens for sale the last few weeks. I've been contemplating...

 

[ElizabethB]

@medtran49

One of the markets we go to has had dandelion greens for sale the last few weeks. I've been contemplating...

Go for it. Strip the leaves from the stem. Wash well. Melt butter . Saute onions if you want. Wilt the greens with the water clinging to the leaves
Salt and pepper. A little bitter with a pepper under tone
I liked them with the best green. Sweet and buttery off set the bitter.
I did not tell G what the greens were until after he ate them and raved about the flavor.

 

[GadgetGuy]

The only weeds that I'd ever eat are alphalfa sprouts!

 

[CraigC]

The only weeds that I'd ever eat are alphalfa sprouts!

Come on down and I'll introduce you to gourmet Everglades survival eating!

 

[ElizabethB]

Please share. What do you harvest and how do you prepare it.
I live "in town " and rarely have the opportunity to harvest wild greens.
The Atchafalaya Basin and Henderson Swamp are only 20 minutes away. I would love to take the boat out and harvest wild greens . I do not know what to look for.
Any suggestions?

 

[Mountain Cat]

I do like dandelion in salads... just get young tender leaves. Depending on where you live, this may be ready about now. The larger the leaves, the more bitter they are. (Also be sure you aren't spraying with pesticides.)

Dandelion wine would be fine, but I have to research a recipe.

A friend of mine made dandelion wine one year, but I have no idea how to go about that.

I've also harvested wild onion - a very mild onion flavor, with a grass-like consistency.

Purslane is supposed to be extremely nutritious and indeed this year I am seeding some for a condition it was recommended for, but mind you this is NOT health advice. Just what I am choosing to do. In this case, simply can't hurt. Again in salads.

I have wild highbush blueberries which came with the property -- the berries on mine are small so this year I'm pruning, and I will add acidic organic amendments to the ground beneath (old pine cuttings, and perhaps a commercial amendment as well).