Weed Pesto (Julia’s Version)

Weed Pesto 

Play around with this recipe and invent your own version with whatever plants you have most of and love to eat. 

 5 rosemary sprigs 12cms (approx) long
handful of parsley
big handful of chickweed
handful of NZ spinach
4 large nasturtium leaves
handful thyme sprigs 5cms long
few dandelion leaves
Small puha plant
10 oxeye daisy leaves
8 plantain leaves
5 sage leaves
6 cloves garlic
1 tsp sea salt
1/8 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil (start with 1/4 cup and increase if needed)
1 tsp honey or more according to taste
juice of one lemon
1/2 cup walnuts

 Method

 Strip the leaves off the thyme, rosemary and NZ spinach.  Wash any leaves that need it.

 Put the whole lot into a high speed blender. You can also make this in a food processor.

Use the tamper to push the mix down and blend until nice and smooth. 

 Spoon into containers and store in the fridge and/or freezer.

Enjoy!! 

God and Grass

Thought all you gardeners would enjoy this conversation between God and St. Francis. It is funny because it is so true.
 
GOD:
Frank you know all about gardens and nature. What in the world is going on down there on the planet? What happened to the dandelions, violets, milkweeds and stuff I started eons ago? I had a perfect no-maintenance garden plan. Those plants grow in any type of soil withstand drought and multiply with abandon. The nectar from the long-lasting blossoms attracts butterflies honey bees and flocks of songbirds. I expected to see a vast garden of colors by now. But all I see are these green rectangles.
 
St. FRANCIS:
It’s the tribes that settled there Lord. The Suburbanites. They started calling your flowers ‘weeds’ and went to great lengths to kill them and replace them with grass.
 
GOD:
Grass? But it’s so boring. It’s not colorful. It doesn’t attract butterflies birds and bees only grubs and sod worms. It’s sensitive to temperatures. Do these Suburbanites really want all that grass growing there?
 
ST. FRANCIS:
Apparently so Lord. They go to great pains to grow it and keep it green. They begin each spring by fertilizing grass and poisoning any other plant that crops up in the lawn.
     
GOD:
The spring rains and warm weather probably make grass grow really fast.
That must make the Suburbanites happy.
     
ST. FRANCIS:
Apparently not Lord. As soon as it grows a little they cut it, sometimes twice a week.
     
GOD:
They cut it? Do they then bale it like hay?
 
ST. FRANCIS:
Not exactly Lord. Most of them rake it up and put it in bags.
     
GOD:
They bag it? Why? Is it a cash crop? Do they sell it?
     
ST. FRANCIS:
No Sir just the opposite. They pay to throw it away.
     
GOD:
Now let me get this straight. They fertilize grass so it will grow.
And when it does grow they cut it off and pay to throw it away?
     
ST. FRANCIS:
Yes Sir.
     
GOD:
These Suburbanites must be relieved in the summer when we cut back on the rain and turn up the heat. That surely slows the growth and saves them a lot of work.
     
ST. FRANCIS:
You aren’t going to believe this Lord. When the grass stops growing so fast they drag out hoses and pay more money to water it so they can continue to mow it and pay to get rid of it.
     
GOD:
What nonsense. At least they kept some of the trees. That was a sheer stroke of genius if I do say so myself. The trees grow leaves in the spring to provide beauty and shade in the summer. In the autumn they fall to the ground and form a natural blanket to keep moisture in the soil and protect the trees and bushes. It’s a natural cycle of life.
     
ST. FRANCIS:
You better sit down Lord.. The Suburbanites have drawn a new circle. As soon as the leaves fall they rake them into great piles and pay to have them hauled away.
     
GOD:
No!? What do they do to protect the shrub and tree roots in the winter to keep the soil moist and loose?
     
ST. FRANCIS:
After throwing away the leaves they go out and buy something which they call mulch. They haul it home and spread it around in place of the leaves.
    
GOD:
And where do they get this mulch?
     
ST. FRANCIS:
They cut down trees and grind them up to make the mulch.
     
GOD:
Enough! I don’t want to think about this anymore.
St. Catherine you’re in charge of the arts. What movie have you scheduled for us tonight?
     
ST. CATHERINE:
‘Dumb and Dumber’Lord. It’s a story about….
     
GOD:
Never mind I think I just heard the whole story from St. Francis.
 
 
 
 
 

Shakespeare and Weeds

What has Shakespeare got to do with weeds you might ask?

It turns out Shakespeare was very familiar with the wild flowers and folklore of his home town of Stratford-Upon-Avon in Warwickshire here he was born and grew up. He assumed his audience would know the plants, their common names and vulgar associations as well.

Amazingly over one hundred species of wild plant are mentioned in his works, and many of those are the commonplace plants, full of meaning that we call ‘weeds’.

From 11th-20th March 2015 being performed at the wonderful setting of Te Puna Quarry, Te Puna, Tauranga is Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Nights Dream.  This play written in the late sixteenth century is known as a comedy but how many people also know that this is the “only play in the English language whose plot hinges on the potency of a weed.”

The plot is deceptively simple.  A big wedding is planned by Egeus, an Athenian nobleman, for his daughter Hermia to marry Demetrius. But she refuses the marriage because she loves another man called Lysander.  So she flees to the Athenian forest, which is clearly an English landscape (the location isn’t literal) with her best friend Helena who is secretly in love with Demetrius.  But in the woods there is mayhem already. Oberon, King of the fairies, has had a fight with his queen, Titania, because she refuses to give him a changeling boy (stolen by her fairies) as a page.  So Oberon has his fairy odd-job man Puck, squeeze the juice of love-in-idleness into Titania’s eyes while she is asleep, so that when she wakes up she will fall in love with the first creature she sees.  Here are Oberon’s instructions to Puck:

Fetch me that flower; the herb I showed thee once:
The juice of it on sleeping eyelids laid
Will make or man or woman madly dote

Titania upon waking saw an ass and fell in love with it.  While Titania was under the spell and not her normal self, Oberon got the page boy from her he wanted and then feeling guilty for his cruel spell, he lifts it with another herb:

Be as thou wast wont to be;
See as thou wast wont to see:
Dian’s bud o’er Cupid’s flower
Hath such force and blessed power.
Now, my Titania, wake you my sweet queen.

The plant to undo the spell was thought to be wormwood, which has the botanical name artemisia after Artemis, the Greek goddess of the chase, or  Diana to the Romans.  The name Dian’s bud was thought to be invented by Shakespeare for the play and it  is more potent than love-in-idleness.

What is this play’s famous wild plant love-in-idleness?  It is the little heartsease pansy viola tricolor!  At that time in the middle ages pansies were love tokens and they enchanted people, stirring up romantic imaginings.  It is easy to see why – the pansy’s flowers resemble a face.

Heartsease pansy

In English parishes people saw two faces kissing and nicknames arose like “Kiss-and-look-up” in  Somerset, elsewhere “Kiss-behind-the-garden-gate”, “Kiss-me-quick”, “Leap-up-and-kiss-me” and “Meet-her-in-the-entry-kiss-her-in-the-buttery” in Lincolnshire. Other quaint names were “Three faces under a hood” and “Tickle my fancy”.  It was in Warwickshire, Shakespeare’s home county that used the melancholy name “Love-in-idleness”.  He also the only writer to call it “Cupid’s Flower”.  The three lower petals were seen as a woman flanked by two lovers; a flower that therefore represented frustrated, fruitless, ‘idle’ love. And it was this sense that Warwickshire’s most shining play-write wove from his knowledge of plants, from Classical myth, Midlands vernacular and his own rich imagination an extravagant poetic fantasy.

I am so intrigued by a play being written around Heartsease pansy which also happens to be an edible and a healing ‘weed’, both the leaves and flowers can be added to smoothies, salads  and tea can be made from it also, that I’m indulging in a dose of culture and going along to enjoy the multi-layered language of Shakespeare.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 11th-20th February 2015 at Te Puna Quarry, Te Puna, Tauranga. Book here

 

References:
Mabey, R, Weeds: In defense of nature’s most unloved plants, Harper Collins, London, 2010
Kerr, Jessica: Shakespeare’s Flowers, Penquin Books, Harmondsworth, 1979

Dove’s Foot Geranium

Dove’s Foot Geranium – Geranium Molle

 Description

 I hadn’t met this plant until 2012 and now I seem to have it everywhere in the garden.  It seems like a very friendly plant with incredibly soft grey-green leaves reflected in its name molle (Lat) for softly-hairy, that are round and dissected into lobes which

Dove’s Foot Geranium – Mature plant

go about a quarter of the way towards the stalk.  It has pretty pink flowers in pairs, each about 1cm in diameter and these are followed by fruits with a long beak that looks like a cranesbill. Its name Geranium is Greek for cranesbill.  Dove’s foot geranium is an annual, grows in a rosette, is semi-prostrate, but can reach up to 30cm tall when in flower. Run your fingers up the stem which can be a reddish colour and you’ll feel the long soft white hairs growing there. The whole plant seems to be inviting us to touch it and feel its softness.

This plant likes to grow in lawns, cultivated areas, waste places and open pastures. It can grow in the sun but also likes shady places. I have them under a korokia hedge and in a south facing bed that gets no sun during winter.

 

Young Dove’s Foot Geranium plant

Dove’s Foot Geranium Flowers

Nutritional Qualities

I haven’t found the exact nutritional qualities for Dove’s Foot Geranium yet but I am including the leaves in my smoothies as I know they will contain minerals, vitamins, antioxidants, fibre, and chlorophyll without knowing the specific makeup of this plant.

In my research I looked up Wikipedia and came across this excerpt from Nicholas Culpeper written in 1652 about the healing qualities of Dove’s Foot Geranium which are substantial. I added the words in italics. What an amazing plant!

“It is found by experience to be singularly good for wind cholic, as also to expel the stone and gravel in the kidneys. The decoction thereof in wine, is an excellent good cure for those that have inward wounds, hurts, or bruises, both to stay the bleeding, (astringent qualities) to dissolve and expel the congealed blood, and to heal the parts, as also to cleanse and heal outward sores, ulcers and fistulas; and for green wounds, many do only bruise the herb, and apply it to the places, and it heals them quickly (vulnerary qualities). The same decoction in wine fomented to any place pained with the gout, or to joint-aches, or pains of the sinews, gives much ease (anodyne qualities). The powder or decoction of the herb sinews, gives much ease. The powder or decoction of the herb taken for some time together, is found by experience to be singularly good for ruptures and burstings in people, either young or old.”

Culpeper, Nicholas, The English physitian: or an astrologo-physical discourse of the vulgar herbs of this nation. London : Peter Cole, 1652

New Recipe – Thick’n Creamy Green Smoothie

Greetings everyone,

I was in a hurry the other morning and couldn’t do my usual morning wander so just grabbed 4 plantain leaves, 4 dandelion leaves and 4 kale leaves and used what I had in the fridge and came up with this yummee smoothie.

Thick ‘n Creamy Green Smoothie

1 small handful of celery leaves
4 branches of parsley (under rather than overdo it – it can dominate the taste)
4 leaves each of plantain, dandelion and kale

Blend the greens in 3-4 cups water
Add:
1 banana
1 cup blueberries (frozen)
1 kiwifruit
1/2 avocado

Hmmmm Enjoy!

 

 

 

Winter Health Boosting Smoothie

Here’s a smoothie recipe for increasing your nutrition in winter

Winter Health Boosting Smoothie (The photo below shows the quantities of weeds I used)
(for a description of these weeds and their health giving properties go to my Blog) 

1 small handful of cleavers
4 violet leaves
1 handful of chickweed
3 or 4 stems of red dead nettle
1 small handful of bitter cress
1 big handful of bok choy, kale or silver beet
1 banana (peeled)
1 apple (washed and if organic whole without stalk, otherwise peeled)
1 mandarin (with peel if organic otherwise peel it)
1 or 2 kiwi fruit (peeled)
1 small avocado or 1/2 large 
2 cups water (or more if the blender is struggling)

Method
Wash all the weeds and greens.
Place in the blender and chop up a bit with scissors
Add the water
Blend on low to begin with while the blender breaks the greens down, then turn it onto high speed until well blended.
Add the washed fruit and avocado
Blend again on low to begin with and once all integrated, turn up the speed and it will become creamy and smooth.
Cheers!! 

 

Winter Health Boosting Weeds

 

 

 

Winter Health Giving Weeds

Cleavers

There are a number of weeds that provide lots of nutrition in winter. Well over my cold covered in the last Blog, in this edition I feature 5 health boosting weeds I’m enjoying in smoothies at the moment.  

To the left is Cleavers or Galium aparine that incredible lymph, kidney and blood purifier which is growing well in the cooler weather. The leaves start out small and get bigger as the plant grows and scrambles up through other plants for support by clinging with hook-like hairs.  Cleavers has lots of Vitamin C, silica, antioxidants, chorophyll and fibre. Cleavers is easy to identify because it has square stems with whorls of 5 to 8 narrow, lance-shaped leaves pointed at the tips at each node. If you stroke the plant it feels rough to the touch. This is a great plant to include in your green smoothies.

 

Bitter Cress

Bitter Cress or Cardamine hirsuta is another plentiful winter green.  It is a small plant that grows in a rosette with lobed leaves and a tall flower stalk with tiny white flowers. The long seed pods have two valves that split open explosively and curl upwards which scatters the seeds.  Right now in early August bitter cress feels that spring is in the air as the plants are all going up to flower and producing seed for their next generation.  It takes a lot of energy and nutrition for a plant to go up to flower and produce seed so this makes them extra nutritious and with their hot spicy flavor it is warming and a good tonic for us in winter.

 Violet Viola odorata

Violet leaves and flowers

Violet’s nourishing qualities have been known for centuries right back to ancient Greece.    Packed with nutrition – just two heart shaped leaves of the violet plant contain as much Vitamin C as an orange!   All this nourishment daily supports the liver, gall bladder, digestive and urinary systems.  It also assists in the healing of cancer tumors. At this time of year violet plants are flowering and offer us their beautiful scent.  You can definitely add the leaves to your smoothie and scent your room with the flowers or use them as decoration on winter salads.  This is a must have plant in the garden. 

Red Dead Nettle Lamium purpureum

Red Dead Nettle

 

Don’t worry this plant’s name refers to it not having a sting.  It belongs to the Lamiaceae or mint family and like every member of this family has square stems and two-lipped flowers. The leaves are in opposite pairs, on long leaf stalks. This highly nutritious plant is flowering at the moment and is full of fibre, chlorophyll, vitamins, iron and other minerals. 

You can use the whole plant – flowers and leaves in your smoothie. 

 Chickweed Stellaria media

Chickweed


Chickweed is the final plant in this combination of winter weeds I’ve been having in my smoothies lately. See the recipe for using them here

It has tender pale green leaves with weak stems. The whole plant is a rich source of Vitamin C, calcium, chlorophyll, carotenes needed by the liver to produce Vitamin A, folic acid, essential fatty acids and protein.  Chickweed is a nourishing, calming and strengthening food and is used to relieve fevers, infections e.g. bronchitis, sore throats and inflammations, and can help ease the pain of arthritic swollen joints.  It’s a great plant to have lots of in the winter to ward off colds and flu and if you do happen to catch the flu or get a cold use handfuls of it in smoothies or make a tea of it.

I Have a Cold

I have a cold and am in bed resting.  Before I came down with the cold I juiced 3 lemons and 6 mandarins to make a raw hummus (recipe will be posted another day).  I couldn’t bear to throw out the beautiful Vitamin C loaded yellow and orange skins so I soaked them in some water with the idea to drink it.  In the morning I got another idea to blend them up and that created a thick citrus liquid. It looks a bit like lemon curd. It tastes actually not too bad in fact much nicer than I expected.  I put about 1/2 cup in a glass and some grapefruit juice from 3 grapefruit (off our own tree) and made a vitamin rich drink. Below is how the blended citrus looked – lovely golden colour. 

Then I made a green smoothie with wild edibles of puha, plantain, fathen, speedwell, mizuna, bok choy and broccoli leaves and about 1 litre of water ( I wanted to make 2 litres of smoothie to take to our Ooooby – Out Of Our Own Backyard meeting where like minded gardeners gather ) I added some of the citrus ‘soup’.   But I didn’t want to over power the taste. After adding 3 apples, 2 bananas, 1 pear and 1/2 avocado which made it creamy I poured it into my beer glass with some thick citrus in the bottom and I got this lovely layered effect. I was delighted and the smoothie tasted great. Basil mint and Hearstease pansy for deoration. I am positive this concoction is chasing my cold away!

Layered Smoothie

Yarrow – Achillea millifolium

Yarrow flower

Yarrow flower

This feathery leaved perennial grows in patches on cultivated land, road sides, lawns or in pasture. It has a pleasant smell and sends up tall flower stalks about 50cm high with clusters of white or occasionally pink flowers. It grows on arable land, waste areas, road-sides, and lawns and spreads by creeping underground roots.

Nutritional qualities

Yarrow has been used medicinally since the time of the warrior athlete Achilles and it is named after him. He is said to have healed his battle wounds with yarrow and carried it with him to bind the wounds of his soldiers. Yarrow has astringent (meaning “to bind fast”) properties for healing wounds. It is also used in the treatment of all fevers, hemorrhages, diarrhea, respiratory illnesses and rheumatism.

Yarrow leaves

Both the leaves and flowers of yarrow are edible and highly nutritious. The plant has several phytochemicals called flavonoids, which have anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, anti-tumour and antioxidant properties. These flavonoids also improve digestion and appetite by increasing the secretions of saliva, bile and other stomach acids, thus helping ease heartburn and acid reflux.

As a traditional herbal remedy, the flower stalks with the flower heads were gathered during the summer months and allowed to dry. Women made yarrow tea to relieve heavy menstruation, also period pains, and children drank the tea to alleviate hay fever and sinusitis. During the winter months yarrow tea helped relieve the symptoms of colds, coughs and flu.

This ancient healing plant is a good one to include in your smoothie.

My Food Garden

growing food

These images are all from my garden. I grow wheatgrass in small containers and I have 6 going at once from freshly sown to tall. I start a new one about every week. I cut a handful per day for my smoothie. I let it regrow and then cut it again.

After the second cut I tip out the earth onto the garden, refill the container with potting mix, some worm casts from my Can O Worms and then sow the seed thickly so that they are touching one another but not overlapping.

In winter when it is cold put them on a sunny windowsill or in a mini plastic house. I found some you can buy through Amazon.

I also grow peas as microgreens and put them in smoothies or in salads. My niece made the ceramic container with Basil mint.

The small seedlings are red cabbage and broccoli.

The blue rubbish container is to show you that you can actually grow edible fruits in an inexpensive container. This grapefruit plant produces quite well. There are holes made in the container about 2 inches/5cms from the bottom to retain water when it is dry and to stop the roots going into the ground.