Eat Your Weedies

Weeds & Greens

Anyone who has planned a community event knows that people will show up if there’s food.  Better yet, throngs will appear if the food is free.  Until recently I assumed this was a cardinal social rule…but I've discovered an exception.  Imagine a garden growing in a neighborhood.  It doesn't have to be planted, fertilized, watered, or cultivated.  Sadly, it grows and decays each season without much more than a passing glance or aggravated huff from the humans that share its habitat.  Why?  Because this garden is hidden in plain sight.  It is the crabapples that litter the sidewalks, the dandelions that riddle the yard, the burdock burrs that tangle Fido’s fur, and the green haze that carpets the forest floor.  Somewhere between the passage of time and the progress of society, the wild plants around us have been demoted from life-giving nourishment & health to pretty ornamentals at best and noxious weeds at worst.  I've always appreciated this garden, but now I’m beginning to study it.  Like a preschooler looking at the jumble of letters that fills an encyclopedia, I’m facing the overwhelming excitement that is the plant world in my own proverbial back yard.  Plant by plant, part by part, one culinary and medicinal use at a time, I’m learning to utilize the wild garden around me.  I don’t have to be an expert, I just have to begin.  I’m writing to share that you can, too!

Early this week I started making dinner with a hankering for salad to accompany the skillet-baked pork chops and sautéed turnips with chutney that were on the menu.  I went to the cold frame and picked the largest leaves from our succulent kale, beet greens, and chard.  During their two months of growth, I happily allowed a weed to share their soil.  Lamb's Quarter (Chenopodium album), also known as wild spinach, is a leafy green that is a bane for many gardeners.  Not to me!  It grows without my help and has the taste and nutritional value of high-end spinach sold on the market.  Spinach I don’t have to work or pay for?  Yes, please!!  Eager to add diversity to my salad, I plucked the Lamb’s Quarter leaves.  Turning on my heel, Weldon joined me to scout the yard for dandelion greens and wild onions.  We found them and a few other edible surprises.  In less than ten minutes, we’d gathered eight species of cultivated and wild greens for our supper’s salad.  Topped with our first radishes, last year’s fermented beets, and homemade dressing, the salad was delicious and well-worth the minor efforts to procure it.  It was fun…and free!

Clockwise from top left: Dandelion, Swiss Chard, Spinach, Wild Onion,
 Lacinato Kale, Beet Greens, Wood Sorrel, Lamb's Quarter

Obviously, humans can’t eat just anything growing in sight.  One of the most popular arguments against eating wild plants is, “It’s dangerous!”  It’s true that some wild plants are harmful or fatal when consumed; but that doesn’t need to deter people from EVERY wild plant.  There are many thousands of products in a grocery store and a good number of them would be harmful or fatal if swallowed.  That doesn't stop millions of people from shopping at a grocery store.  We’re not afraid of the grocery because we've been culturally trained to differentiate the products in the store.  We are confident in our skills to distinguish a gallon jug of milk from a gallon jug of bleach – location, packaging, sight, scent, etc.  Plants also have particular mechanisms to distinguish themselves from each other.  We simply need to undergo the training necessary to determine the edible from the inedible ones.  It really is that simple; but the training doesn't happen overnight.

A handful of books and a commitment to detail are the first steps to discovering the plethora of edible (and delicious!) wild plants.  Plant and tree field guides as well as edible and medicinal foraging books written by authors who have both folk and scientific training are great sources to identify and cross-reference plants.  It is imperative that a plant is properly identified before eating any part of it is considered.  Here are a few sources that Weldon and I find helpful:

Lamb's Quarter 

Samuel Thayer – The Forager’s Harvest and Nature’s Garden

Euell Gibbons – Stalking the Wild Asparagus

Randy Seymour -- Wildflowers of Mammoth Cave National Park

Peterson Field Guide – Edible Plants: Eastern/Central North America

Patricia Karitsi Howell -- Medicinal Plants of the Southern Appalachians

You will notice that some of these books are very specific to our locale (Mammoth Cave), others are regionally specific (Southern Appalachians), and still others are fairly broad. 

With a decent library tailored to your location, you can begin to identify plants in season, understand the edible/inedible portions and timing of the plant, and learn proper harvesting and processing techniques.  Wild onions, dandelion greens, day lily pods, blackberries, and lamb’s quarter are fairly easy to identify and can be eaten raw or cooked.  We implemented these into our menu early on in our foraging.  Other plants have taken us longer to locate and identify or have fallen victim to our busy life and a short harvest window.  We hope to put elderberries, autumn olives, wild strawberries, cattails, burdock, plantain, amaranth, and black walnuts to use this year.

Lamb's Quarter Frittata

Why bother?!?  Buying food at the store is much easier!  Growing a garden is effort enough!  With an abundance of food available in the Western world, it is a stretch for most people to consider rummaging in their woods, yards, fields, and pathways for something to eat.  In my opinion, foraging has a number of merits that make it worthwhile.  I’ve already mentioned the first appeal – it’s free food!  With an eye toward frugal living, it is impossible to ignore this local food source.  Second, in many respects, foraging is quite easy.  Once a specific plant is added to the memory bank, it will always be there.  It can be identified, harvested, and eaten at will.  Whether for survival or enjoyment, this is empowering.  Third, the nutritional content of wild plants can’t be beat!  I like to think of wild seeds, leaves, nuts, and roots as a custom, locally-designed part of the diet.  Think about it – without special treatment, these plants have honed their skills for survival in my particular place.  They thrive and produce energy from the exact sunlight, soil, and water that make up my own surroundings.  The diversity of species (and micronutrients available) in these plants is far greater than their cultivated counterparts.  Without much effort on my part, I can incorporate wild foods into my diet for an extra vitamin- and mineral-rich boost.  Lastly, but no less important, the intimate study of a place in order to understand its flora and seasonal rhythms has emotional, physical, and spiritual benefits.  Time spent in nature is time well spent.

“Weeds” can be a fun and beneficial addition to foodie activities.  Don’t be afraid to take a walk on the wild side!