Got Weeds? Think Salad
Maybe the best way to beat
them is to eat them
By Christine Gable
Nearly one-half of all households apply pesticides to their lawns and gardens. That’s 136 million pounds of chemicals, according to a report from the epa Home and Garden Use Pesticide Survey. But perhaps we should reconsider this serious application of poisons just to wipe out those so-called weeds fouling America’s carpet of green.
“What is a weed?” Ralph Waldo Emerson asked and then answered: “A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.”
Could that hearty chickweed or dandelion just be a misunderstood urchin with positive attributes that outweigh the pleasures of looking across a toxic, weed-free lawn?
Absolutely, according to “Wildman” Steve Brill, naturalist, educator and author, who has been leading wild edible-plant tours throughout the Northeast since 1982. “Wild plants are packed with known and undiscovered nutrients and natural medicine. They greatly increase your chances of living a long, healthy life,” he said.
Just like the strength Popeye gained gulping his spinach, greens can do wonders for you too.
“Historically, greens were valued for their abilities to restore energy, increase vitality, and improve the quality of the blood,” said Dr. Michael Murray, co-author of the The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods, (Atria Books, 2005) who agreed with Brill about wild greens’ benefits. “Greens are phenomenal sources of carotenes. Preliminary and experimental studies suggest that a higher dietary intake of carotenes offers protection against developing certain cancers ... and other health conditions linked to oxidative or free radical damage.”
And if you eat those wild greens raw, there’s even better news, according to Dr. Carolyn Dean, medical advisor for yeastconnection.com and contributor to The Yeast Connection and Women’s Health (Professional Books, 2005).
“When greens are raw, they are alive,” said Dean. “They are so alive that they rot and break down easily if you leave them sitting out on your counter. This capacity helps the food be more easily digested. Foods that have a lot of preservatives and chemicals in them do not break down so easily and demand our body to produce more enzymes and digestive acids to eliminate those chemicals and try to get some nutrition from the food.”
Foraging for wild greens provides other side benefits.
“Foraging creates a commitment to conservation,” Brill said.
Indeed, Lisa Solomon, of New York, who went on one of Brill’s foraging expeditions, said that after growing “aware of wild food … whenever I drive past an undeveloped area, I yearn to get out of the car and explore the area. Learning about wild foods can really expand your intellectual horizons. I never thought of myself as particularly interested in science or nature, but now I enjoy reading field guides. Plus, getting out in the woods to forage is good exercise.”
It’s all part of getting in sync with nature’s cycle. But in today’s world where food is commercialized, these simple truths can easily be lost on both children and adults.
“Since our nutrients, air and water come from the environment, the better we maintain our ecosystems, the more healthy we’ll be,” said Brill.
Going Wild Safely
So are you ready to stop spraying and go gathering yet? Here’s some tips to get you started, and then a brief rundown of four fabulous wild greens found across the country.
As in gathering any food for human consumption, knowing your area and positive identification is vitally important. The vast variety of wild edibles can be overwhelming at first.
“Start by learning a few easy-to-identify plants well,” said Brill. There are just too many to try to learn in one afternoon, even one year.
Observe your plant’s growth and changes throughout a whole year. Other suggestions include: use an excellent field guide, learn the common poisonous plants in your region and make sure to obtain permission if you forage on private property. Also, find out if the land has been sprayed, stay away from plants growing near toxic vehicle exhaust, and wash your plants well in water before using.
Slowly but surely, those unknown masses of weeds flourishing unbidden at the edge of your lawn will gain a name and a personality. And once you identify and name that anonymous weed patch, you may not only have found your dinner for tonight, but a wild, true green medicine for tomorrow as well.
Dandelion
With a rich and respectable history dating back to the Romans, the dandelion has cured people’s ills and helped keep their health vibrant in a myriad of ways, containing greater nutritional value than many other vegetables. For instance, it has a higher vitamin A content: 14,000 I.U. of vitamin A per 100 grams, compared to carrots, which have 11,000 I.U., according to Murray, who points out in his book that dandelions are “particularly high in vitamins and minerals, protein, choline, inulin, and pectin … (and) an excellent source of vitamin C, riboflavin, B6, and thiamin, as well as calcium, copper, manganese, and iron.”
All that for only 25 calories per cup. Now that is some lean, mean health food.
If gathering wild dandelions isn’t feasible, look for cultivated varieties in farmers markets and health food stores. In autumn, young tender roots are delicious when washed, boiled and seasoned with salt and butter. Older roots can be roasted and ground to make coffee; tea can be made from the dried leaves, roots or flowers.
Chickweed
This delicate bright-green plant with small white star-like flowers flourishes in cool temperatures. That little weed that your lawn mower is unceremoniously eating up is a boon to the glandular and lymphatic systems and will cool and calm fevers, infections, inflammations and digestive disorders. Readily available from mountain valleys to cities and along the coasts, this quiet yet powerful little plant is high in calcium, magnesium, potassium, vitamin C and more. Freshly picked chickweed is delicious in a salad of mixed greens, with dressing, bacon bits and croutons.
Nettles
With usage dating to the Bronze Age, the stinging nettle has gained a reputation for being a lady with a strong bite or burn.
Autumn is the perfect time to gather seeds or roots in preparation for cultivating your own patch in the spring, for potherbs or an herb garden. “New nettles come up in the fall, and you can pick them before they’re killed by frost,” said Brill. Stalks and leaves are high in calcium, magnesium and trace minerals. A strong defender of the lymph, endocrine and urinary systems, nettles are a delicious spinach substitute.
Gather leaves and stalks with heavy gloves and scissors; nettles lose their stinging properties when lightly steamed or cooked, although that sting is said to bring welcome relief from arthritis and other chronic pain.
Violets
Fabulous nourishment and bountiful healing effects are the calling card of this small beauty with heart-shaped leaves. Whether using the leaves, flowers or roots, violets are soothing to the spirit and skin via salad, vinegar or syrup.
Violet vinegar’s beautiful color is second only to its gentle flavor. Aptly called “Nature’s vitamin pill” by wild edible plant expert Euell Gibbons, the violet’s benefits are only rivaled by its beauty.
Christine Gable is a Pennsylvania-based freelance writer who enjoys foraging and eating wild greens with her husband and two children.
Get More Information:
• Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants in Wild (and Not So Wild) Places, by Steve Brill (a video, Wild Edible Basics, 2004); wildmanstevebrill.com
• Healing Wise, by Susun S. Weed, susunweed.com
• The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods, by Michael Murray, N.D. and Joseph Pizzorno, N.D.
• Tom Brown’s Field Guide: Wild Edible and Medicinal Plants, by Tom Brown, Jr.; trackerschool.com
