Edible weeds, unlike the food plants in the supermarket, are wild, complex, and full of real nutrition -- minerals, vitamins, and healing compounds that our bodies can recognise and understand. And weeds are free!
This post lists some common edible weeds, some ways of eating them, and a recipe for "weed vinegar," which is a cheap, simple, and reliable way to increase your mineral intake without a bottle of pills anywhere in sight. All of the weeds I list can be used in the vinegar recipe.
Broad leafed plantain (Plantago major)
Narrow leafed (Plantago lanceoloata), and some and young broad leaved plantain
Plantain (Plantago major and Plantago lanceoloata)
Plantains are common in lawns, driveways, parks, and playgrounds. There are many species, but the most commonly used are the broad leafed plantain (Plantago major) and narrow leafed (Plantago lanceoloata).
Plantain leaves provide sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, copper, zinc, manganese, and phosphorus, along with vitamin C, carotenes, and fatty acids.
You can put plantain leaves in salads, your steamer, and in dips, soups, quiche, or pesto. The immature flower stalks are edible, either raw or steamed, and so are the small seeds.
Chickweed (Stellaria media)
Chickweed (Stellaria media)
Chickweed has been used as an edible and medicinal plant since at least the Middle Ages. Find it in lawns and cool, shady, fertile areas.
You can eat the leaves, stems, and flowers of chickweed, but not the roots. It makes lovely salads -- just harvest, chop, and add salad dressing.
Chickweed is high in chlorophyll, calcium, magnesium, manganese, zinc, iron, phosphorus, potassium, vitamins C and A, folic acid, riboflavin, niacin, and thiamine. It stimulates digestion and metabolism and has a strengthening, anti-inflammatory, diuretic, and detoxifying effect.
Cobbler's pegs (Bindens pilosa)
Cobbler's pegs (Bindens pilosa)
are listed as an environmental weed in NSW and QLD. You can help, by eating them before they go to seed.
Add the young leaves freely to cooked dishes, or dry them and make tea. They're a good source of chlorophyll, vitamin C, calcium, iron, potassium, and magnesium, as well as tannins and antioxidants.
Amaranth
Amaranths (Amaranthus or Amaranthum)
Amaranths (the first part of the scientific name will say Amaranthus or Amaranthum; the second part will vary) are common in gardens, along roadsides, and in gateways, and there are also decorative ones with showy flowers. Search the internet for images of amaranth and you'll start to see the similarities they all have. All are edible, but watch out for the spiky ones!
Throughout the spring and summer I add chopped amaranth leaves and stem tips, including the flowers/immature seed heads, to any cooked dish calling for leafy greens. Please cook your amaranth to lower its oxalic acid and phytate levels.
Amaranth leaves are rich in essential amino acids, dietary fibre, and minerals including magnesium, calcium, potassium, copper, phosphorus, zinc, iron, and manganese.
Herbal vinegar recipe
Vinegar can dissolve minerals from plant materials and hold them in solution, ready for you to digest. And, the addition of a herbal vinegar to your salad dressings or cooked veggies also aides in the digestion of your entire meal.
If you’re making a herbal vinegar for flavour and aroma, all you need is a couple of sprigs of a herb that will still look good after an extended vinegar bath, an attractive jar or bottle with a non-metal lid, and about 2 weeks of steeping time.
But to make a nutritive vinegar to extract the minerals in wild edible plants, you need LOTS of whatever plant you’re using, and the vinegar needs to steep, ideally, for at least 6 weeks before you use it.
Here’s the recipe:
Your jar: Choose one with a non-metallic lid, or protect the lid from rusting with grease proof paper or cling wrap.
Harvesting: Choose a location that has not been sprayed, and avoid dewy mornings or rainy days, to harvest your fresh plant material.
To wash, or not to wash: I harvest from our large spray-free garden and farm, so I don't wash my harvest. I shake, inspect, pick out foreign objects, then snip straight into my jar. If you do choose to wash your plant material, be aware that added water lowers the effective acidity of the finished vinegar, and its the acidity that both preserves and also extracts minerals.
To fill your jar: Pack your jar snugly with chopped fresh plant material (chop it fine, to create more surface area for the vinegar to work on). Fill the jar a second time, with vinegar, all the way to the top. Be sure your plant material is fully submerged.
Raw or pasteurised vinegar? Some herbalists don’t specify; others warn of funky things happening with raw vinegar that might make your final product unappealing. I use raw apple cider vinegar for its additional probiotic benefits and so far, I haven’t had anything weird happen in my vinegar jars.
Steeping: Label your jar and place it out of direct sunlight for 6 weeks before you start using it.
Cautions and blessings
At the risk of stating the obvious, please take responsibility for being certain about the identity of any plant you forage for eating.
And, before you begin your harvest, pause for a moment and silently or out loud give thanks to the wild plants and to the land, air, and water that nourishes them so that they in turn can nourish you.
I wish you well in partnering with the wild edible plants around you, to nourish yourself and reduce your reliance, even slightly, on the supermarket and pharmacy.
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