Learn how to turn edible weeds into delicious, nutritious food!
A sure sign of spring is the new nettle shoots that are growing on the perennial nettle Urtica dioica (below left) . Urtica urens (left) is the other common variety which is annual stinging nettle or dwarf nettle which I have been eating all winter. It doesn’t mind cooler weather. Annual nettle is common in gardens, under trees […] Read more
I hear some groans with the mention of this plant because it is so hard to get rid of in the garden. Up until now I’ve not valued Oxalis at all as an edible weed. I’ve viewed it as containing too much oxalic acid for eating (the same substance in silver beet and spinach which […] Read more
I recently came across some interesting research revealing how dandelion, that plant with golden yellow flowers, many try to get rid of in their lawns, is a potent cancer fighting medicine. Dandelions have long held a top spot in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) as a remedy for digestive upset, inflammation, and kidney disease, being boiled […] Read more
The mallow family contains over twenty edible species of herbaceous plants that can be annual, biennial or perennial. A number are considered weeds while others like hollyhocks and hibiscus are treasured garden plants and marsh mallow is a well known healing plant. All contain large amounts of mucilage which makes them uniquely special as food […] Read more
Nipplewort – Lapsana communis You have to agree this plant has a weird name. If it could it would probably change it. There are two reasons for the name. One is that the seed capsules resemble a nipple in shape and secondly being an astringent plant it probably helped heal chapped nipples or breast ulcers. […] Read more
Borage – Borago officinalis Loved by bees this plant is both a weed and one we want. If you don’t have it, direct sowing of the seeds in spring and summer is best in its final position, as it doesn’t like having its long tap root disturbed. Or sow the seeds in individual pots and transplant […] Read more
Bittercress Cardamine hirsuta I love this little compact, rosette shaped annual with lobed leaves, small white flowers and upright seed pods that explode, flinging the seeds far and wide when ripe and you touch them, hence one of its names ‘shot weed or ‘flick weed’. Other names are ‘lambs cress’, ‘spring cress’, and ‘hairy bittercress’. […] Read more
Young plants of Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum) are flourishing all over our garden and bush edge as I write in May. A few mature plants are still flowering. This is an old medicinal plant common in Europe. The name Geranium is Greek for ‘cranesbill’ which is another name for this pretty annual or biennial […] Read more
Self Heal – Prunella vulgaris This is a gorgeous little plant flowering profusely now in January, in full sun or shade. I love it and want to share more about it along with a delicious pesto recipe I whipped up. Prunella comes from either the Latin meaning purple as in the flower colour or from […] Read more
Amaranthus viridis – Green Amaranth or Amaranthus lividus -Purple Amaranth cultivated in Mexico since 4000BC – making it the oldest known food crop summer growing annuals found in disturbed, impoverished places the flowers are densely clustered small and green grow at the terminal or tip of the stem or in the axils of the leaves […] Read more