Over the past few days I've actually gotten brave enough to use some of my finds.
We had a salad a few days ago and I gathered some chickweed from my garden to chop into it as an additional leavy green.
Yesterday as I was down in my garden I spotted over my neighbour's fence some onion weed. I've heard of this from various people in the past few weeks and hadn't recalled seeing any in *my* backyard so was enviously eyeing it up when I looked down amongst the weeds at my feet and spotted one lone plant overgrown with couch grass. So after clearing up the weeds around it I harvested a few stems. So those made it into our dinner in place onions.
Earlier on in the day, I was out with our homeschooling group down at a local beach and we identified a few plants and a few that looked like they should be edible but couldn't have said for sure. I took this picture and it looks very much like wild turnip or wild mustard - some sort of brassica anyway. So since wild mustard can be toxic if eaten in high levels we left it where it was.
8 comments:
Foraging for wild food sounds fun, but I would be really nervous at first! What if I am identifying the plant wrong, what if it has been sprayed with something?!!?!?!!? Eek!
I would, however, harvest anything edible off of my own property.
Thanks for the mini lesson in wild food!
We have an exceptionally large patch of wild dew berries (look like raspberries) under our large Elm in the back, but the critters always get to them as they ripen. I haven't tried very hard to be "first", but I think about it a lot. we also have other berries and cactus. I am a bit vary of wild plants. Should get to the library and find out what the pioneers/indians in the area ate in the olden days...*: )
Ah yes, it's taken me a while to do use it. I've joined a local wild foraging online group and have a local book on what was traditionally eaten, so that makes it easier.
I am amazed and very excited every time I read one your posts. My family is no where near where you are at the point of relying on ourselves for our food, but we have that plan in mind once we make the purchase of a family homestead in a few weeks. We have 1/2 an acre to grow food on and we are anxious to do this soon! Your blog is truly an inspiration to me.
Hi Nikki - I think it could be wild radish or maybe sea radish? When it gets seed pods it will definitely be easier to tell.
Primginger, how exciting for you to get onto your own property to grow things.
Johanna, ok, will keep an eye out on it. There were some with flowers, but I didn't get a pic. How confusing with all these plants lol. There was an abundance of the stuff, must find out too if the council spray up there since it was alongside a very popular track to the entrance of QEpark from my end.
Hi Nikki, found you over at emmanis blog. I was in the process of blogging about this myself, wild foods really appeal to me too and when i was dating my husband (simon) he made me a pasta sauce from onion weed - i did laugh at the time- it was a bit mild for my taste. But he managed to incorporate the weeding and dinner atthe same time!. Nice blog.
Kel
Hi Nikki - confusing all right. I get very confused with the mustard family - so many species and subspecies. And the way they look quite different depending on what stage of growth they're at. And I faintly wonder if they're hybridizing all over the place too, just to confuse us even more??
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