Eating weeds

[RosieTR]

Anyone try this? I've eaten nettle before, from a CSA, but last year got a book on wild edibles. So now that it's spring and the dandelions and mallows are coming up I decided to try it. I'm thinking sauteed in garlic with lemon juice, or shredded and wilted then added to pasta alfredo.

[herbgeek]

Nettles to me are an acquired taste. They remind me of black currants in a way. I know they are super nutritious, as well as helping with allergies but it takes a lot of willpower for me to drink the tea, I can't imagine eating them as greens and trying to choke them down.

[IshbelRobertson]

We visit Greece, islands and mainland at least twice a year. We buy horta in supermarkets and from roadside sellers. Essentially a mix of weeds and herbs. It's delicious.

[KayLR]

There was just an article in our local paper today about a chef here in our city who even forages in the scrubby parking strips. He was big on dandelion greens especially and I remember he mentioned plantain. I do know how to identify them, but do any of you know what plantain tastes like? They're the long, oval leaves which have parallel veins.

We have a forager at our farmers market, too. Yesterday we bought maitaki mushrooms from him. I've also bought fiddleheads from him. He sells stinging nettles for tea, but also big bags of it for those who want it for salad greens. He's amazing to talk to. He always has about 4-6 types of mushrooms.

DH and I are signing up for a 1-day how-to foraging walk through our community college. Can't wait!

[Tiam]

I've only ever used plantain for beestings and bugbites. There is lots of chickweed coming up, which is supposed to be quite good as well as bedstraw, but I've never tried either. Purslane is pretty good though.

[RoseFI]

I have always wanted to start eating more weeds, especially this spring when I saw bunches of dandelions for sale at the large co-op. I knew it would come to that some day, but still can't get over it: people paying $4 for a bunch of dandelions!! But when I'm out weeding, I never seem to get them inside and cooked fast enough before they wilt and look quite unattractive. Clearly, I need to go out when I'm actually preparing a meal so I can use them immediately. But I have sorrel growing on purpose in my garden and most people consider that a weed these days -- it's delicious. It's cousin Western dock is the bane of my existence, though. I spent quite a while trying to figure out how I could use that prodigious weed, especially it's root. But it seems it's only use is as famine food, and to chew and spit on nettle stings.

Speaking of which, nettles are easier than dandelions for me, because they don't wilt quite as fast, though require more careful processing. Herbgeek, we've found our two favorite ways to use nettles are when fermenting our kombucha (in place of tea) and in soups, in place of kale. Much more palatable in those forms than as tea itself.

[ApatheticNoMore]

I've eaten most of them many times when walking in nature, but I haven't gone out of my way to make them a part of my diet otherwise. Nettles yes (not raw), epizote, plantain (not to be confused with the banana plantain) - recognizable by it's veins and I even find it in the most urban areas - but the flavorable was unmemorable, purslane, mallow, lambs quarters (there is some debate about the edibility of this, it definitely won't kill you, but it may concentrate toxins in droughts).

[Mary B.]

KayLR, I expect the big bags of nettles are intended for steaming. I can't imagine eating them raw -- I think they would be way too stingy.

They're great steamed, though. Tonight I made a frittata with steamed nettles, mushrooms and a bit of cheddar cheese on top -- it was a big hit.



There was just an article in our local paper today about a chef here in our city who even forages in the scrubby parking strips. He was big on dandelion greens especially and I remember he mentioned plantain. I do know how to identify them, but do any of you know what plantain tastes like? They're the long, oval leaves which have parallel veins.

We have a forager at our farmers market, too. Yesterday we bought maitaki mushrooms from him. I've also bought fiddleheads from him. He sells stinging nettles for tea, but also big bags of it for those who want it for salad greens. He's amazing to talk to. He always has about 4-6 types of mushrooms.

DH and I are signing up for a 1-day how-to foraging walk through our community college. Can't wait!

[Gardenarian]

Lots of stuff for foraging here usually - but the usual miner's lettuce, dandelions, mustard, and chickweed aren't coming up because of the drought. My husband has tried using sorrel, but the oxalic acid in it upsets my stomach.

[bae]

All the time, but I don't view them as "weeds". I live in a forager's paradise.

(Nettles make great pesto, btw.)

[Mary B.]

(Nettles make great pesto, btw.)

bae, do you have a recipe? i'm keen to try nettle pesto but alarmed at the prickliness of it.

[Cypress]

Depending on where you are located, one of the more common "weeds" is sheep sorrel. I grow a cultivated French Sorrel as a perennial green. But, it also grows in the lawn. It's got a sour lemony flavor and wonderful addition to fresh daily greens. Also, I harvest fresh small dandelion leaves in season. My lawn has been converted to an organic lawn and after four years, many edible "weeds" are returning. Violets are also edible.

If anyone knows if creeping jenny, or lawn ivy is edible let me know as it grows too well in my yard.

[SimpleSarah]

We had a organic farmer up the road that grew something called something like 'orchut' but I don't think that is quite right. It was good, sorta like a spinach/chard mix. Anyone know what it is actually called?

[gwendolyn]

SimpleSarah, I think you mean orach. Wow - I was just searching and found this amazing colored orach: http://www.rareseeds.com/red-orach/. I've never had it, but have noticed it in catalogs for the last few years.

[SimpleSarah]

Thank you! That was going to drive me nuts :)

[Tiam]

Lots of stuff for foraging here usually - but the usual miner's lettuce, dandelions, mustard, and chickweed aren't coming up because of the drought. My husband has tried using sorrel, but the oxalic acid in it upsets my stomach.

Maybe not as thick as some years, but Chickweed and bead straw are doming up. Plus dandelions and sorrell. Asparagus in the fields. Cotton wood and comfrey and willow buds for making salves.

Has your rain improved?