Dear reader,

Hello Wild Edible friends in February 2019!

This is my first newsletter for the new year!  How the weeks slip by and here I am in Nelson in February!  January was busy with a family reunion and sorting out a new car when my beloved Prius was written off!!  Now I have a little hatchback Kia Rio called Goldilocks named by my Dad.  You'll see why below.

I've just run a very successful workshop in Collingwood at NgAngA's Cafe Gallery.  I always learn things from the knowledgeable participants and this time was no exception.  A wonderful German woman called Astrid, who is an avid forager back home in Germany, where she had to eat wild foods after WWII, showed us how to use plantain leaves to unblock wax in the ear, for ear infections and to help deafness.  She simply rolled up a leaf and inserted it gently into her ear. She also said she strips off plantain (Plantago major or lanceolata) seeds, dries them and puts them on cereal or salads in winter.  I love learning new ways to use the wild edibles.

Below is a very beautiful poem, an interesting article on plants having feelings and a Ted Talk by Alan Savoury, a famous ecologist, on how to green the planet. And lots more. I love sharing inspiring things to keep us all positive.  I only have to look at the 'wild plants' to feel uplifted as they show how resilient they are even in extreme dryness.  I saw this in Nelson beside a footpath in a stony bed and then in the dry lawn where the dwarf mallows were still green (the grass brown) and flowering. 

Workshops coming up:

Picton: Saturday 23rd February, 10-2pm, 58 Hampden Street, Picton. To book go here.

My Place, Tauranga: Saturday March 16th, 10am-2pm, 289 Chadwick Rd, Tauranga. To book go here.

Dargaville in the pipeline for May.

My latest blog on Japanese wineberry or Wild raspberries

Above growing in a stony bed beside a footpath in parched Nelson were Fennel Foeniculum vulgare, Amaranth and Black Nightshade Solanum nigrum.  These plants are green despite no care from us - are these not the survivors we may need to turn to?

Above is Dwarf mallow Malva neglecta still green and flowering in a brown, dead public lawn. Mallow leaves are mucilaginous and soothing to our digestive tracts and pleasant to eat in salads, smoothies and pestos.  Another drought survivor.

Workshop at Kelmarna Organic Farm, Ponsonby, February 9th 2019

Kelmarna Organic Farm right in the heart of Ponsonby was the site of a lively workshop earlier in February.  There were 19 keen foragers eager to learn all about the wild edibles and there are all of them growing happily at Kelmarna.  Above is the group in the garden and below that a photo of the greens Kelmarna volunteers sell in the market with young weeds Galinsoga parviflora and Amaranthus viridis inbetween. These 'weeds' are going to be added to the leafy green bags for added variety.

An interesting article to get you thinking

 Above photo is of Magenta spreen (Chenopodium gigantium) with the pink leaves growing happily beside Chia (Salvia hispanica) in Suzanne's garden in Motueka.

An inspiring talk

Here is a wonderful Ted talk by an excellent speaker/ecologist Alan Savoury on how to green the planet. See his talk here.

A wonderful poem

Which flowers do bees really prefer?

Dandelions Taraxacum officinale are important for many pollinators including bees and mason wasps Pison spinolae as seen above on the Dandelion flower.

My new to me car 'Goldilocks'

Harvesting Magenta spreen and Hawthorns

My friend Suzanne harvested these Hawthorns Crataegus monogyna near Takaka.  We also picked Magenta spreen to dry in a cool oven - 100 degrees with a wooden spoon to keep the door ajar.  Hawthorns are an excellent tonic for the heart and made into a tea are calming.  I have hawthorn and raspberry leaf tea every night for a peaceful sleep.

Coprosma berries ripe now

This is Coprosma lucida I photographed in Collingwood.  The berries are sweet and very edible - you just have to spit out the seeds.  The plant has shiny leaves and likes to grow near beaches in sandy soil.

Weeds beautifying concrete alleyway in Paeroa

I couldn't help myself with this scene in Paeroa!  Here in a concrete alleyway the wild weeds were making it a softer looking environment - if only they could be appreciated for growing there by lots of people besides my two gardening buddies Sharon, Nicole and I.  We went on a girls day out and I was so excited when I found a nice patch of tall Oxtongue plants Helminthotheca echioides outside Environmental ferilisers in Paeroa.   We get our natural fertiliser from there called Nature's garden. 

My beehives in the meadow of waving grasses

It's been a strange year with my bees - they have been super busy out gathering but I didn't get much honey and now it is so dry there isn't much nectar because it has dried up on the flowers.  Local beekeepers are finding their bees winterizing early.

A final note