Blog - Page 8 of 12 - Julia's Edible Weeds

Cleavers

July 22, 2015

Cleavers – Galium aparine

There are young cleavers shoots coming up now in July. A sure sign we need this plant during winter to help clear and keep our lymphatic system in good shape and to purify our blood.

This plant is also known as biddy-bid, clivers, goosegrass or sticky willy.

Cleavers is a scrambling, weak stemmed annual considered a nuisance because it can grow up through and smother other plants. The stems and leaves cling to neighbouring plants by hook-like stiff hairs – they feel rough and scratchy to touch.

Healing with Herb Robert

June 13, 2015

Herb Robert flower and seedheads

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 garden escape found mainly in the North Island and occasionally in the South Island. Robertianum after Fr. Robert a French Abbot of Molerne, who had legendary medical skills, probably thanks to this plant.

Bold, Bright Oxeye Daisy

May 10, 2015

A bright Oxeye Daisy flower

I love Oxeye daisies – they are so cheerful along the sides of roads from late spring, all through summer and I even have them flowering now beginning of May
also known as Marguerite Daisies they were originally an ornamental plant from Europe
now wild and carefree
conspicuous with large, white, showy, daisy-like flowers with yellow centres
the name Leucanthemum is from the Greek meaning ‘white- flowered’ while vulgare (Lat.) means common
Oxeye daisy flower, leaf hugging small leaflets and young leaves

tall flower stalks up to 1 m tall which grow from a rosette of spoon-shaped long stalked leaves that have toothed margins
leaves get smaller and more elongated as they go up the stem, are without stalks and hug the stem. The photo right shows leaf forms.

Cool to touch, Hot to Taste – Nasturtium

April 21, 2015

Nasturtium – Tropaeolum majus

Nasturtium creeping over steps

Description

Nasturtium can be found wild as a garden escape
it has beautiful round leaves that are thin, a bright green colour with main veins radiating from a central point and minor veins in between
the long leaf stems are succulent and juicy snapping if you break them
Nasturtium is a native of Peru and was brought to Europe in the 1500s by the Spanish conquistadors
early on in Europe it was known as “Indian cress”
the botanical name “Tropaeolum, is Greek for trophy, referring to the shield-like shape of the leaves and the helmet shape of the delicate flowers
the plant is an annual (although in warm climates can grow during the winter, but is killed by frost)
it creeps and climbs rapidly over and through other plants or walls and it can grow in poor soil
the flowers are bright, bold colours of orange, red, yellow, and shades between
They can be single or double
I love the way the sun glows in the throat of the flowers. The extended bit at the base of the flower (you can see it sticking out to the right of the bud in the photo) is where the nectar is that bees go for and which is sweet for us to eat too
the leaves are cool to touch, but have a hot biting flavour when eaten, as do the flowers and the seeds
it is related closely to watercress which has the same hot flavour.

An Interview with Sharon who also loves ‘weeds’

February 2, 2015

Sharon & her favourite ‘weed’ Magenta spreen

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 did you take the edible weeds workshop? I took the workshop in March 2012. It was part of the Sustainable Backyards month in Tauranga.

2) How did it change the way you view ‘weeds’? My parents are conventional farmers and gardeners and I had grown up with the ingrained belief that weeds were the enemy and had to be destroyed. During Julia’s workshop I learned they are a highly nutritious source of free food, as well as being important pioneer species and dynamic accumulators in the garden. So now I view them as useful plants and have added them to my diet in the form of smoothies, salads, soups, pestos and pickles. Many of them are also very beautiful, adding colour to the garden with pretty flowers (and leaves in the case of Magenta spreen). Read more

Heal Thyself With Self Heal

January 25, 2015

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.

Self heal flowers

Prunella comes from either the Latin meaning purple as in the flower colour or from German where Prunella means quinsy, which means to cure
a perennial plant that has no smell, even though interestingly it is in the lavender/mint family
the tubular violet flowers form compact, cylindrical heads at the tops of the square stems (one of the features of the lavender family)
the bluish-purple flowers, hooded and lipped observed closely are covered in hairs
in winter the plant is compact and low growing
the leaves are oval and in opposite pairs, often with a reddish/purple tinge, which the stem can have too
the lower leaves have stalks and the upper leaves near the flowers are stalkless
Self heal has a creeping, mat forming habit and likes to grow indamp lawns, damp lime deficient pastures, forest margins and clearings
Mat forming Self Heal
Self heal is one of the great unsung healers of the world, according to Susun Weed. She says the leaves and flowers contain more antioxidants (rosmarinic acid), which helps prevent heart disease and cancer than any other plant tested
Self heal has antiviral properties and can also be used in liver, gall bladder and thyroid problems
it can also increase circulation to the head for ‘hot’ conditions in the throat, lymph glands, tonsils and eye problems, conjunctivitis, eye tiredness & strain, headaches (Burgess, I., Weeds Heal:A working Herbal)
Self heal contains minerals, including calcium, making this plant especially important for pregnant, nursing, menopausal and post-menopausal women
The leaves and pretty violet flowers can be added to salads, pestos (see recipe below) and even better added to your smoothies.

Christmas Cheer With Amaranth

December 19, 2014

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 of Purple Amaranth(photo left)
put the whole flower head in your smoothie and get the nutritional benefit of flowers and seeds

latin names viridis and lividus refers to the stem colour either green or purple

Speedwell – pretty blue flowers

November 4, 2014

Speedwell – Veronica persica  

Speedwell flower & Seedpod

Description: The Latin name of this pretty little blue flowered plant comes from a story of a woman, later canonized as St. Veronica who is said to have wiped the blood from the face of Jesus on his journey to Calvery. “Ever afterwards,” writes Julia W. Henshaw in Mountain Wildflowers of North America, “her kerchief bore the vera iconica, ‘the true likeness,’ of his sacred features.” “Vera iconica” is actually a mixture of Greek and Latin terms.

There are many varieties, also known as Gypsy weed and birdseye speedwell – see the song below.

Speedwell is plentiful now in spring
annual, sprawling plant is commonly found all over NZ grows in gardens, arable land, waste open land, rough pasture and dry river beds
small 1 cm wide solitary flowers, where the three upper petals are bright blue and the lower petal whitish or pale blue
the dainty little flowers open on sunny days on thin stalks
flowers all year round
the seedpod is heart shaped (just visible in the photo above)
leaves – pale to medium green grow in opposite pairs and are oval, short stalked, coarsely toothed or scolloped & hairy
stems are round, flexible & can grow 70 cm long, roots can form at the nodes – the part of the stem out of which the leaves grow
the stems lie on the ground with the tips curving upwards they can also grow over other plants.

Song of the Gypsyweed
Speedwell to travellers!
And speedwell is me.
My roots keep me from travelling, As you can see.
Yet all those who travel With their feet on the ground
Have noticed I’ve spread
The whole world round.
I’m too small to spy
From a car or a plane.
Yet, see me or not,
I’m here just the same.
So go on your travels.
And though they may say,
“God speed,”
Don’t pass by the gifts Of the wise Gypsyweed.
from http://nettlejuice.blogspot.co.nz

Speedwell plant – growth habit

Nutritional qualities

this plant has “remarkable medicinal powers out of proportion to its size”1
used by gypsies as a blood purifier
removes excess mucus, soothe internal tissues, treat coughs, asthma, pleurisy
a tea made of speedwell is used to clear sinus congestion, help eyesight and ease sore eyes. I had a swollen top eyelid and sore eye – bathing it with speedwell healed it quickly
Speedwell tea
goes to areas of tension, especially the neck and shoulder areas and helps relax the muscles
externally to treat skin rashes, inflammation
contains chlorophyll, minerals, vitamins, protein, antioxidants and is another plant easy to find in the garden to add to your smoothie or chop up finely and add to salads or make a pesto.
A handful of speedwell brought to the boil and steeped – drink as a tea or use cotton wool to dab one’s eyes as I did.
Additional notes on Speedwell
There are several possibilities for why the plant has been well known for centuries in England. The term either refers to the flower’s speedy healing properties, its ability to spread rapidly in tilled soils, or its use in nosegays and tussie-mussies – fragrant bouquets of flowers which were often given as farewell gifts with the warm words, “Speedwell.”
from the Appalachian Independent by Mary Spalding1 Baïracli Levy, J., The Illustrated Herbal Handbook ,1977, Faber & Faber, London, p137

Onion Weed

September 3, 2014

Beautiful Onion Weed flowers

Description

other names three-cornered leek
light green, grass like leaves and flower stalks are triangular in a cross section (photo below)
it is a perennial that grows from small bulbs 1cm in diameter
a garden escape being brought here by settlers from Europe
even I considered it a terrible weed because it is impossible to get rid of
through observation I realised it is a great ground cover in the cooler months, highly nutritious while it is there and then it dies down and disappears in the dryness of summer
I completely changed my view of it and now I delight when I see it come up in late autumn/winter for using the leaves and flowers and even the roots as tasty additions to salads, pestos and smoothies, scrambled eggs or chopped up finely in butter
roots can be dug up once the plant has died down and used like onions, spring onions or garlic
Onion weed bulbs and triangle shaped leaves
although they are small the leaves when crushed have a distinct garlic smell so it is easy to identify
the plant has beautiful bell shaped white flowers with a green stripe down the centre of each of the five petals
flowers appear in spring, flower stalks reach 20-50 cm tall

Onion weed grows in gardens often in shade or under trees (it grew under my walnut tree in Palmerston North), parks, waste places and roadsides.
Read more

All About Plantain

August 5, 2014

Broad-leaved Plantago major, Narrow-leaved Plantago lanceolata Plantago Star of the Earth or Buck’s Horn Plantain Plantago coronopus
The Māori name for plantain is kopakopa or parerarera

Description

Plantain seed-head

esteemed healers since ancient times Anglo-Saxon names Waybroad’ or ‘Waybread’ meaning a broad-leafed herb which grows by the wayside
will grow anywhere, even in the middle of pathways
found on every continent except the arctic and antarctic
they grow in a rosette form out from the centre
leaves are round or narrow with well defined veins
threads come out of the stems when a leaf is torn
seed-heads form on tall stalks and look like a slender bulrush with brownish flowers massed together (photo left)
they can be annual or perennial depending on the variety.

Magical Use – this is cute
Recipe for a charm to predict love. On the summer solstice pick two flowering spikes as in the photo left and remove pollen bearing anthers. Wrap the flower spikes in a dock leaf and place under a stone overnight. Next day if more anthers have risen erect from the flowering spike, love is assured.
Read more