This is a repost of a blog entry I wrote back in March 2012. I figured that since I have been noticing edible weeds merrily growing in the pastures, it was time to remind everyone that, even if there aren't veggies growing in your garden, you can still get your greens!
One
of my new favorite early spring meals is homemade naan bread topped
with sauteed greens. At this time of year, there really isn't much
growing in the garden except for sorrel, onions, and some of the hardier
perennial herbs (such as parsley and chives). Of course, I incorporate
all of this into the sauteed greens. However, this often is not enough
to satisfy my lust for veg (and one never wants to eat too
much of sorrel, since it contains oxalic acid - same as spinach - which
isn't good for you in large quantities). Since we are lucky to have 5
beautiful acres to roam around on, with plenty of pasture, I have begun
taking long walks around the property, munching my way through the
fields!
I have received a great deal of interest and questions when I talk about searching for edible greens.
I preface all of the following with: I am not an expert! In
no way should you attempt to taste any unfamiliar plant unless you are
absolutely certain of your identification (or have already had an expert
identify it). There are a great deal of poisonous plants, many that
can be easily mistaken for other, edible plants. It's easy to make a
mistake in identification, and sometimes that mistake can be FATAL.
Please be careful!! Also, please make sure that wherever you decide to gather your wild edibles has not been sprayed with pesticides!
That
being said, I thought folks would enjoy a blog post briefly discussing
some of the wild edibles in my own pastures and how to identify them.
Let's start with the easiest of all - that "pest" the infamous
DANDELION!
The
poor little dandelion gets such an undeservedly bad rap. This
so-called "weed" is actually a wonderful edible, full of vitamins and
minerals, and has even been used for centuries to make dandelion wine!
Dandelion leaves are higher in beta carotene than carrots, and have a
higher iron and calcium content than spinach. It is an excellent early
spring tonic plant, helping to "flush out" the system of its winter
blues. The name dandelion means "lion's tooth" in Old French for its
long, lance-shaped (or "toothed") leaves, which grow around a basal
rosette.
Dandelion
leaves can be anywhere from 3-12 inches in length, depending on the
"happiness" of the plant. Dandelion is easily identifiable due to its
well-known, sunshine yellow flowers. Because of this, and the fact that
it has no poisonous lookalikes, dandelion is an excellent wild edible.
You can eat both the leaves and flowers.
The leaves are actually best
before the plant flowers - less bitter - but I think they taste great all season long!
MINER'S LETTUCE
Miner's
Lettuce is a succulent wild edible, related to purslane (which makes it
a bit easier to identify, in my opinion!). If you have ever harvested
wild purslane (and we definitely do on our property), you'll notice that
purslane and miner's lettuce have leaves that are quite similar in
textural appearance.
Miner's Lettuce can grow anywhere from 3-12 inches tall, with leaves that are a wide oval shape with a pointed tip.
Miner's
Lettuce was a major food source during the California Gold Rush, and
one bite will show you why! Both the leaves and flowers are edible
(currently, it's too early in the season for our plants to be blooming).
The leaves are best eaten raw, but can be sauteed as well. Miner's
Lettuce is an excellent source of vitamin C!
(ENGLISH) PLANTAIN
One
of the great things about plantain is that it is easy to identify, and
has no poisonous lookalikes! Here on the farm, we have English plantain
growing wild in our fields. English Plantain plants grow in basal
rosettes and have long, slightly hairy, lance-shaped leaves that grow
upward as though standing at attention.
The
leaves have very distinct parallel veins running lengthwise. English
Plantain is one of the earliest spring edibles to come up, braving the
cold weather before anything else. The smallest, youngest leaves are
the tastiest - larger, older leaves are quite fibrous and tough to chew.
Both the leaves and the seeds are edible.
According
to Steve Brill & Evelyn Dean in their book, "Identifying and
Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants in Wild (and Not So Wild)
Places," Plantains were inadvertently brought from Europe by the first
settlers, and by the early 1700s, people already thought of them as
native plants.
PURSLANE
Ah, tasty
Purslane! My personal favorite! Most people treat this as a vile weed, pulling it up from
their garden, and then wander over to the Farmer's Market and pay a
premium price for it as a salad green. So the next time you see this
wonderful little bit of green growing amongst your veggies - leave it
be! Instead, pick a few leaves to add to your salad, use in soups as a
thickener, or (my personal favorite) use as a delicious garnish for cold
zucchini soup! The seeds can also be ground up to make a bread/baking
flour.
Purslane was an esteemed food in its native India and Persia. Archeologists have found evidence of it being used for thousands of years.
Purslane is a low-growing, smooth, almost waxy-textured (the leaves are very similar in texture to Miner's Lettuce) annual. The paddle-shaped leaves can range in size from .5-2 inches long, and have a slightly salty, sour taste that is quite delicious. Purslane has tiny yellow flowers that bloom in mid-summer. There are no poisonous lookalikes - However, sometimes poisonous plants (such as spurge) can grow with purslane (so be careful when you are harvesting the plants).
For
more information on identifying and eating wild edibles, I do highly
recommend the book by Steve Brill & Evelyn Dean, "Identifying
and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants in Wild (and Not So Wild)
Places"
