Do You Know These Wild Edibles
I know what you are thinking, that’s a picture of a bunch of weeds. Yes, it is a bunch of “weeds” because they don’t belong in this part of the garden. However, every plant in the picture is edible.
With inflation causing everyone a bit of a struggle at the grocery store, I was thinking about the hard times my grandparents went through in the 30’s and 40’s and thought,” hey if I needed to I could make a salad from all of these plants.” Then I wondered how many people don’t realize their yards are already growing a good amount of edible greens for them.
Going clockwise starting in the lower left corner we have: lambs ear, amaranth, plantain, mallow and parsley (which, along with lettuce has become a weed in our garden).
Lambs ear is a wonderful little plant that is succulent and sweet and lovely addition to salads. The leaves can actually get quite large and you can eat them like spinach.
Amaranth leaves are best eaten young and sautéed, though mostly it’s grown for the seeds.
Plantain can be eaten as a salad leaf, though it’s an incredible medicinal plant ally and should definitely have a place in your home first aid kit and place in your garden. You can make salve from it and it will help aid in the healing of minor scraps, cuts, dry skin, burns and much more.
Mallow, much like plantain can be eaten like spinach. You can also harvest the seeds when green and pickle them and eat them like capers. Mallow though is a demulcent herb and best known for it mucilaginous roots, used to help soothe sore throats or dry irritated skin.
I think the key takeaway from my moment in garden is that by learning what plants grow in your yard or around where you live, you have a better understanding of the story of the place you live in. Knowing there are wild edibles and medicinal plants just outside my door is a great relief when I think of the possiblity of hard times ahead.
What edible “weeds” do you have at your house?
