November is for... weeding and feeding

Yesterday I spent the afternoon taking photos of my weeds. Not because I want to show off my neglected areas, but because I'm making dinner. I've recently been reacquainted with my local library, and on the top of my book pile is The Weed Forager's Handbook by Adam Grubb and Annie Raser-Rowland.

I've been inspired to take a second look at the plants I usually pull up and throw out. There are a few reasons for this.
1. I've just finished my university module on weed science, and the first lesson is that a weed is simply a plant growing where you don't want it; the definition is centred on people and their ideas of plants. When you can use something, it stops being a weed.
2. I'm big on reducing my waste around the house, and recycle as much as possible. Weeds usually shouldn't go in the compost, otherwise you end up spreading their seeds back on the garden, and so they are put in my rubbish bin and carted away for landfill. That seems a bit silly to me.
3.  Some of these plants are highly nutritious and even better for you than many of the other greens we pay good dollars for, or make space for in the veggie patch.
4. They grow, well, like weeds! this means food for very little effort.

So I embarked on an adventure yesterday- making my favourite fetta and silverbeet quiche supplemented with as many edible weeds as I could find in my garden. And there were more than I expected! The book outlines top 20 useful weeds, their benefits and any notes of caution. As a trained horticulturist, I sure know my weeds! But if you are unsure of any identification, it's best to leave them. Following the first rule of weed foraging, I picked some greens thinking they were probably Fat Hen, but didn't use them because I just couldn't be sure. If anyone can confirm for me, I will include them next time.

Beside this, I found dandelions, milk thistle, oxalis, purslane, angled onion, and amaranthus.

 

 

 

I cooked these up with a few good handfuls of silverbeet from the garden, mixed them with eggs, fetta and a bit of sour cream, filled a half baked shortcrust pastry shell and popped it all in the oven.

The onion weed was a great onion substitute, and the other greens added a nice depth of flavour to the silverbeet.

If you are interested in eating some of the weeds near your place, I do recommend the book as a great place to start. Nutritional and identification information is very helpful, and handy tips for which parts are the tastiest, and how to best use them. I don't use many chemicals in my garden, but also be aware of any pesticides etc. your weeds may have been exposed to.

I have purposely held off posting for 24 hours to ensure there were no ill effects, and I'm happy to report that I'm still alive and well! Next time I reckon I'll try a weed salad, maybe with some edible flowers for decoration...