Edible weeds & no-fuss food plants€¦ · No fuss bulbs and rhizomes Garlic Ginger 8 Garlic...

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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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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.

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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