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[Tvoivozhd <tvoivozd AT infionline.net>]

Gene GeRue wrote:

> ::::::::::::::
> THE OVERSTORY #145--Wild Foods and Food Security
> By Ian Scoones, Mary Melnyk and Jules N. Pretty
>
>
> Contents:
> : INTRODUCTION
> : CONTRIBUTION TO FOOD SECURITY
> : --> Seasonal Use
> : --> 'Famine' Foods
> : --> Monitoring and Early Warning Systems
> : --> Resource Access and Vulnerability
> : THE NUTRITIONAL VALUE OF WILD FOODS
> : --> Dietary Diversity and the Role of Wild Products
> : --> The Impact of Social Change
> : --> Comparisons with Domesticated Food Sources
> : --> Malnutrition
> : CONCLUSION
> : LITERATURE
> : ORIGINAL SOURCE
> : ABOUT THE AUTHORS' ORGANIZATION
> : WEB LINKS


tvoivozhd---wild foods are not as prevalent as they were when more 
undisturbed areas of forest and meadow existed, but they are still out 
there, some no further than weeds in your garden, good source of boiled 
greens being spring dandelions, and starting in early spring, extending 
to late fall, , purslane and lambs-quarters coming to mind. 
http://www.yougrowgirl.com/use/recipe_weeds.php

Most weeds in the garden are edible - Viki Mather (05/26/04)
Despite the miserable, cold and rainy weather over the Victoria Day 
holiday long weekend, it didn't stop me from getting out there and 
tucking seeds in to the warming soil, and dreaming of a summer full of 
beans, broccoli and squash.

MATHER

I think I'll wait another week or two to plant the tomatoes though.

Gardening has always been a little difficult for me, and not just 
because the dirt around my little log cabin is thin over the bedrock.

I have trouble gardening because I love the weeds. Daisy, dandelion, 
chickweed and lamb's quarters abound in my little garden. And they are 
all delicious. How can I evict them just to plant some lettuces?

As I prepare the beds for planting the boring things like carrots and 
potatoes, I'll be carefully gathering in the first salads of the year. 
Along with a few leaves from the hardy self-seeding lettuces, we will 
have fresh wild leeks, young dandelion leaves and tender sprouts of 
chickweed in the salad tonight.

We still have a few tender winter cress leaves and flower buds that can 
be tossed in with fresh, young clover leaves. Couple this with a few of 
the skinny asparagus that are just emerging, a few small plantain leaves 
and wood sorrel, and we're going to have a great salad.

This is the advantage of knowing something about the weeds that grow in 
the garden. You get to enjoy fresh veggies long before the pampered 
cultivated stuff is ready - or even planted!

Nearly every weed in the garden is edible - but a few are not. You have 
to know what you have before tossing it into the salad.

Dandelions are the easiest. Everybody knows what a dandelion looks like. 
You don't even have to have a garden to have a good crop of this 
wonderful plant.

Just make sure there haven't been any pesticides applied to the area 
where you are picking!

The young leaves from plants that haven't made flowers yet are best. 
They are much like endive, and can make up to half of the greens in any 
garden salad.

If you happen to be a coffee drinker, and want to cut back on your 
caffeine intake, you can make good use of dandelion roots you pull from 
the lawn.

Roast them in a slow oven until they are deep brown, then grind them (a 
blender works well). Use this ground roasted root to make a 
caffeine-free drink, or blend it with your regular coffee to reduce the 
total caffeine content.

Even with my high tolerance for weeds in the garden, I find there are 
just too many to keep them all. I pick what I can, then toss the rest of 
the plant into the compost.

http://www.virtualitalia.com/recipes/edible_weeds.shtml  (Italian view 
of edible weeds)

http://216.239.39.104/search?q=cache:F_mWsqfFszUJ:www.living-foods.com/bookstore/wildedibles.html+edible+weeds+,+garden&hl=en
(fine assortment of books on edible weeds)

http://landscaping.about.com/od/ediblelandscaping1/  (about.com on 
edible-landscaping, including as Native Americans practiced it.  Don't 
forget the blueberries)

http://www.thegardenlink.com/html/articles/article_weeds1.htm  (stinging 
nettles are delicious and weeds make essential habitat for beneficial 
garden bugs)

http://users.netconnect.com.au/~ewood/edible_weeds.html  (there are 
50,000 edible plants, improve your diet and reduce your food cost by 
eating weeds)

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/victorygarden/recipes/wildsalad.html  (yin and 
yang fresh wild salads)

http://www.scs.leeds.ac.uk/pfaf/edibpond.html  (edible pond and bog 
garden---use duckweed to clean up run-off from the automatic washer 
outlet pipe that feeds a small yard pond, I planted cattails near the 
outlet of our private lake to stop erosion and cattail roots are very 
nutritious, pollen makes good bread---and once established it is a 
perennial, requiring no maintenance whatsoever.  What's wrong with a 
garden on automatic pilot?


http://www.primalseeds.org/weeds.htm   (and if you are ambitious enough 
to do anything about it, you don't have to call in an Extension 
Department specialist to make soil tests, your weeds will tell you what 
is wrong with your garden soil, and what you should do to correct it.