Updated 12/2021
COMMON MALLOW
GOOSE FOOT or LAMB'S QUARTER
A powdery wild spinach, first given to us by a neighbor in Mississippi. Grows abundantly. For more info: Wild Spinach and Chenopodium Album and Foraging Goosefoot
Update: Lambsquarter has become a favorite; it grows so easily and so abundantly! And we think it tastes better than regular spinach.
DANDELION
What to do with those "annoying dandelions"? Aside from what is a pretty flower, in my opinion, the dandelion leaves can be used in cooking and salads. Or sauté in ghee with a pinch of hing and a little salt and sprinkle of lemon juice, then serve as a healthy side dish. Tips:
1.Only pick from unsprayed lawns and areas away from traffic.
2.Avoid stems as they are particularly bitter.
Check out health benefits here.
Here's a recipe for "Dandelion Chai".
CHICKWEED
PURSLANE
Cooked or raw, has a faint lemony taste and is good for the liver, eyesight...is used as a spinach in India. Found a large bunch growing in my neighbors garden. She thought it was just another weed, but now knows better. It does have a slightly similar look-alike plant called scourge that is toxic, so do some research to make sure you have the real thing. I think they are easy to tell apart however. If you break a stem of scourge milky white fluid emerges. Not so with purslane. Also scourge leaves appear more thin and flat while purslane are more succulent. Fortunately, I had a knowledgeable person point out purslane to me initially, so that I easily recognized a patch of scourge later on. Here are some photos of the purslane that was harvested and added to a subji. The seeds I am saving to plant in my own yard.
(tiny black purslane seeds. I'm taking these home with me for my own garden. Later note: So happy to discover that it grows like crazy where we now live.
(And here is part of the harvest from the purslane seeds pictured above.)
WILD ASPARAGUS
Was given a sample back sometime around June of this 2020. Planning to locate the same next time and learn more. Delicious taste!
STINGING NETTLE
FIrst meeting was painful but helped immediately with the identification. A highly nutritious plant used as a vegetable or tea. Good for hair, too.
TO BE CONTINUED...