It is nearly March and it feels like autumn is already here with cooler nights and leaves starting to fall. The subject for this newsletter was 'not foraged but abundance' and I have an abundace of 'peans' which I picked today and blanched and froze them. I got them from Koanga Institute - I'm a huge fan of their work saving heritage seeds and fruit trees. If you've not heard of them have look at their website. One fascinating thing I learnt from Kay Baxter, one of the founders of Koanga is that Magenta spreen - that weed in the banner at the top of this page with pink leaves, has evolved with us over thousands of years and our DNA recognises the DNA of the plant and so it is good for us to eat. This plant is Sharon Watt's favourite 'weed' as you'll learn in the article below where I interviewed her about her love of weeds. I was thrilled to have an article written about me in the NZ Gardener Magazine for February. The link shows a photo of the cover of the magazine.
Here is my abundant harvest of 'peans'. They're a climbing plant and prolific cropper. You can eat the peas/beans inside fresh - the taste more like a bean than a pea. I mostly eat them cut up and steamed or boiled.
Further abundance recently were Luisia plums which are so delicious - if you have too many you can blend them and then freeze them in icecubes or cut up and freeze them individually, for use in your smoothies later.
Hello Everyone, I had this idea to interview someone who has taken my Edible Weed course and ask how their journey has been since the course. I invited my friend Sharon Watt to answer the following questions and found out how her views of weeds have changed, what her favourite 'weed' is, and what she does with it. 1) When …
Envirofest tomorrow - I'll be on the table with the Ooooby (Out of our own backyard) group, and then singing in the Mauao Community choir at 4pm.
This is the website for the events happening during Sustainable Backyards during March. Huge numbers of wonderful things to do and see. The Envirofest is the launch of the month's events. http://envirohub.org.nz/sustainable-backyards-goes-bay-wide/
Below is a poster listing some events coming up of a Canadian Permaculturist who is touring NZ for your interest.
Click here to add a title or text.
Who knows what this weed is??
It is Wall Lettuce and it likes to grow in shady places, and often up on things like a punga stump or in pots. It is in the same family as dandelions and is very good in smoothies or salads.
Have a great month and until next time, enjoy your weeds they're all medicine!
