Edible weeds & no-fuss food plants

© Alice Hamilton - garden.geekgirl.net.au

Dandelions, Chickweed, Wood Sorrel, Mustard/Wild Brassica, Berries, Ground Cherries, Borage floweres, Clover, Nasturtium, …

A fresh new look at highly nutritious weeds & other no fuss edibles

Foraging for weeds - precautionsKnow what you are eating Some plants are poisonous

ID weed before eating

Know about toxic look-a-likes

Unsprayed plants only

Check with council if unsure

Away from high traffic areas

Get an ‘Edible weeds' book With quality photos/images

Ideally Australian

Oxalic acid Causes tummy upset in some people

Max ¼ - ½ cup max / meal

Avoid if pregnant or breastfeeding

Info: eatthatweed.com/oxalic-acid/

Weeds highest in Oxalic acid Oxalis/Wood Sorrel, Purslane, Amaranth

Warrigal Greens, Fat hen

Also in almonds, silverbeet, spinach, tea

Reduce oxalic acid - Boil 3 mins & rinse

2

Common edible weeds

Dandelion Oxalis

Bitter taste (like endive). Eat young leaves & petals in salads, pesto or wilt in pan (like spinach).Boiling reduces bitterness.

Mild non-sour lemon flavour.Add leaves & flowers to salads. Heart shaped leaves, AKA: Wood Sorrel.Avoid high amounts.

Clover

3

Leaves taste of spinach with a spicy finish.Stalks like mild asparagus.Eat fresh or cooked. Also good for the garden.

Common edible weeds

Purslane Chickweed

Crunchy, slightly tart, lemony, semi succulent.Use cooked or in saladsAKA: pigweed.Avoid high amounts.

Baby spinach like flavour.Use leaves, stems & flowers in salads or steamed.Very prolific.

Look-a-like Petty Spurge

Mallow

4

Best cooked and eaten like spinach but can also be eaten as a salad green.

Common edible weeds

Onion Weed Wild Lettuce

Crunchy, slightly tart, lemony, semi succulentUse cooked or in saladsAKA: pigweedAvoid high amounts

Baby spinach like flavourUse leaves, stems & flowers in salads or steamedVery prolific

Wild Amaranth

5

Cook like spinach. Young leaves eaten fresh. Roast seeds and ground.

Common edible weeds

Nasturtium

Peppery leaves similar to wild rocket. Eat leaves & flowers in salads. Pickle seeds & eat like capers.Attracts beneficial insects.

Wild Mustard

Cabbage like flavour.Eat leaves fresh, juiced, in stir fries or steamed.Includes Wild Brassica.Flowers attract beneficials.

6

Fat Hen

Cook like spinach.High in oxalic acid, boil in water for 3 mins and rinse well.

Common edible natives

Pigface

Native variety that grows on sand dunes very tasty.Fruit: tastes like tangy, salty kiwifruit x strawberry.Leaves: eat raw or cooked

Cook like spinachHigh in oxalic acid, boil in water for 3 mins and rinse well.

7

Warrigal Greens

Eat the small edible flowers fresh in salads or make candied violets for desserts, Leaves are edible but tasteless

Violets

No fuss bulbs and rhizomes

Garlic

Ginger

8

GarlicHow: Plant individual cloves, 5cm deep, in their papery skin.

When: Plant late March to early May.

Harvest: Around November when half the foliage has died back.

Store: Garlic stores well for about 6 months in a cool dark place.

Ginger How: Plant about 5cm deep.

When: Plant late September to November.

Harvest: Dig up late Autumn/early Winter when foliage dies back.

Tips: Leave some in ground for next years ginger.

Store: Place cleaned & dry ginger in the freezer and grate as required.

No fuss herbs

Chives (all) Thyme Oregano

9

Rosemary

Mint Rocket Spring onions Parsley

These herbs will grow happily with no attention – year after year. They will self propagate via seeds, runners or bulbs for an ongoing supply.

Easiest fruit to grow

Ground cherries Raspberries Blackberries

10

These fruit will grow happily with minimal attention – year after year Ground Cherries – Self seeds, Try ‘Aunt Molley’s’, can trellis, hardy

Cane berries – requires tying to a trellis and cutting back once a year Raspberries (Autumn Bliss – has small thorns)

Cut back to ground level in winter

Blackberries (Waldo: Thornless. Fruits on 2nd year canes)Cut back finished fruiting canes only - after fruiting (late January). Let new canes grow

Youngberries (has thorns)Cut back finished fruiting canes only - after fruiting (late December). Let new canes grow.

Easiest vegetables to grow

Silverbeet Perpetual spinach Asparagus

11

These vegetables will grow happily with minimal attention Silverbeet: Grows all year, self seeds, drought hardy

Perpetual Spinach: Short growing period but self seeds easily

Asparagus: Perennial (15-25 years) – don’t harvest first 3 years Enrich soil with manure &/or compost prior to planting crowns in winter, cut to ground in winter

Cherry tomatoes, Cucumber and zucchini – Varieties below are heavy croppers and disease tolerant Tomato: Try Broad Ripple Yellow Current (Fruit fly resistant, grows to 2 mtrs – trellis or stake, vigorous)

Cucumber: Try MarketMore (let it climb on a trellis, resistant to powdery mildew)

Zucchini: Try Black Beauty (Vigorous, disease tolerant, heavy cropper)

Cherry Toms

ResourcesMy blog: garden.geekgirl.net.au… Edible flowers, growing guides, pest & disease, tips & tricks & more

Edible flowers: garden.geekgirl.net.au/plant-care/edible-flowers

Downloaded this PPT: garden.geekgirl.net.au/resources/edible-weeds

Growing garlic: garden.geekgirl.net.au/plant-care/plant-bios/growing-garlic

More resources Visual weed ID plus tips on how to use them

garden.geekgirl.net.au/plant-care/no-care-edibles

Free edible weeds postergrowingabundance.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/weed-chart.jpg

Dandelion pesto: growforagecookferment.com/dandelion-pesto

12