Julia's Edible Weeds March 2017

Dear reader,

Hello there,
it's already March of 2017 and here on the farm we have farewelled my brother Ian and Malene back to Denmark where they will land smack back in winter, with spring to look forward to. They both came to the workshop I ran in Welcome Bay and I so enjoyed having them there. Ian said the workshop helped him have a new appreciation of 'weeds' and reconnected him to the plant world, which he admitted in our busy lives we can often take for granted. Malene gave me positive feedback and some good ideas that are being incorporated into my presentations. Thank you both SO much!

It is feeling like autumn already with colder nights and lots of dew and some leaves turning colour and falling. Most of the weeds are going to seed like wall lettuce, nipplewort, chicory, amaranth, puha, galensoga, oxtongue and all the dandelion family. Hawkbit Leontondon taraxacoides one of the dandelion look a likes is the feature plant of this month's blog. The strange name is related to Hawks and eyesight, so have a read here .The weeds all need to provide seeds for new plants next season. I'm avidly collecting them which is time consuming but in the process I get to make close observations of the plants and insects. A photo below is of what I thought was a butterfly but which I'm told is a moth - it was lovely to watch it sipping nectar and quivering the whole time - was that in delight? On a dandelion I spied a native solitary bee. These observations makes me marvel at the incredible diversity of life all around us!

I have workshops coming up I wanted to let you know about:

Sunday 12th March Papamoa, home of 'Teacher in the Paddock'. See more here
This is part of the Sustainable Backyard events that run through March.

Saturday 18th March Titirangi, Auckland. For more info and bookings go here

April sees me going to Christchurch to stay with my friend at Wyenova Organic farm and run a workshop from this incredibly productive property
Sunday 9th April, Broadlands, Christchurch, To learn more go here

I then fly up to Nelson and travel to Golden Bay. I'll be running a workshop Thursday 13th April in Collingwood at the MAD Skool (Making A Difference) Cafe. Weeds definitely fit into this theme and will make a difference to your health, your energy and your life. Contact NgAngA 0211076312 or the website for bookings and more information here

Saturday 29th April, I'll be at Beryl and Terry's property, just out of Hamilton. To book go here

I looked up how to identify a butterfly from a moth and butterflies have long thin antennae with a bulb at the end and they hold their wings vertically. Moths have saw shaped or wide antennae and hold their wings like a tent over their body. Apparently moths though can look like butterflies. It's left me a little confused - I guess because I liked the idea of this being a butterfly. It is on an oxtongue Helminothotheca echioides flower.

I believe this little native bee is of the Lasioglossum species. It is busy on a dandelion Taraxacum officinale flower.

Recently the Pyes Pa gardening group met at a property that has a small patch of bush with dead mahoe trees growing masses of woodear or Jews ear or Pigs ear fungi/mushrooms. The latin name is Auricularia polytricha. These fungi were an important and lucrative supplement to the earnings of the pioneers early on in this country. They were dried and sent to China where they know the value of nutrients these fungi contain. I use them in soup and I created a recipe for using them that was very tasty. These fungi grow thick and rubbery after rain and we'd had lots of rain. The fungi to the left are oyster mushrooms Pleurotus ostreatus. See here for lots more images. These are also edible.

Wood ear Mushroom Stir fry
Cut up 2 cloves of garlic and a shallot or onion
Cube a cup of pumpkin or marrow
Stir fry the garlic and shallot
Add the pumpkin and 2 small tomatoes chopped and some water to stop it sticking and let that cook
Add salt, pepper, turmeric to taste
Finally add in the wood ear which you have thinnly sliced
Cook until the mushrooms and pumpkin/marrow are soft. Voila. I ate this with an omelette I made with beans, tomatoes and herbs.

The sunflowers this year are GIANTS! You can see how much taller they are than the corn! Jerusalem artichokes amongst the rhubarb. I intend to get the artichokes out this winter guided by the stalks to locate them. Good luck I hear you say!

Purslane Portulaca oleracea grown here as a microgreen as we don't have any in the garden. It loves hot, dry weather and now is a good time to be eating it for all the omega 3s it contains. You can also pickle it to have over winter by filling a jar with the plant material and then pouring cider vinegar over it to the top, capping it and leaving it on a shelve until winter.

This is Kuaotunu beach north of Whitianga where we had a family holiday for a week in February. All of my 4 siblings came together for the first time in 6 years. It was a special time for the whole family. The beach is covered in a red sea lettuce type seaweed.

Seaweed flower made my Malene. The light green spiraling one in the centre of the flower I ate, I also dried some and brought it home to re-soak and put in my smoothie. I have since learnt that almost all NZ seaweeds are edible! There's one that is not edible around the coast of the South Island and which is poisonous. It is called Desmarestia ligulata (native) It is golden brown when alive, turning bilious green as it dies, and discolouring other seaweeds that touch it. It grows around the Tree Kings Islands, and it doesn't grow much past the Cook Strait according to Andrew Crowe in 'A Field Guide to Native Edible Plants of NZ'.

Sea rocket or European rocket Cakile maritima This plant is in the brassica family. It grows in the dry sand above the tide line at Kuaotunu. Leaves, stems, flower buds and immature seed pods can be eaten raw. They can also be cooked although cooking makes them very bitter. However, they are rich in Vitamin C. Their root can also be dried and used. I didn't get to actually try it unfortunately.

Yes I am really eating seaweed and I like it!

This is how I'm keeping the cabbage white caterpillars off the brassicas and it works a treat. See how magenta spreen pops up in various places - the plant with pink leaves.

I'll leave you with this gorgeous view of the wild flower mix Dad planted. I enjoy eating nasturtium Tropaeolum majus leaves and flowers nearly every day. They are full of vitamin C. It is a tonic plant and a blood purifier. It grows so readily in our gardens it makes sense to eat a leaf or two every day to benefit from its wonderful qualities.

I wish you a great month of health and happiness amongst your plants!!

Love and blessings
Julia