permaculture

["Forest Garden" <forestgarden@gvtc.com>]

Hi Kathy,

I have been exploring wild edibles for a while - no where near expert yet.
We have a large amount of lambsquarters growing around here and I've read
you can dry the whole plant and then grind it into a flour for use later.  I
was wondering if you had any experience using it that way.  And if so, how
did you do the grinding?  I am looking for a non-electric way to do the
grionding.  Yes, mortar and pestal, but large ones are surprisingly hard to
come by.

Any suggestions?

Sincerely,

Marjory




----- Original Message -----
From: "Kathy Evans" <evansdk@earthlink.net>
To: "permaculture" <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Sunday, June 25, 2006 3:26 PM
Subject: [permaculture] wild edibles and wholeness


> I'm new to this list and haven't seen this discussed...I reckon it's
> because you all know plenty about wild edibles since I think that is part
> of what permaculture is all about....but just on the off chance that
> someone out there hasn't delved too deeply into wild edibles...in the
> middle zones, wild edibles are rampant now, and it's a good time of year
to
> pick and freeze your "weeds" for winter. In general I think most of what
> comes out of a freezer is dead (in terms of prana/chi/ki), unless it's
from
> your own land...and now is a great time to pick stuff like violet leaves,
> dock, lambsquarters, the clovery looking stuff with little yellow
blossoms,
> dandelion, plantain, purslane, etc. --all very nutritious. violet leaves
> are one of the most nutritious (and ubiquitous, around here) wild greens
> there is--if I remember my Euell Gibbons, highest in Vitamin A, maybe.
I've
> taught classes on wild edibles to homeschoolers a few times, and just
> taking a walk around our suburban home and the woods we're next too, very
> small area, we found 42 different wild edibles, in late spring. And they
> are so full of the earth's energy. I throw random green stuff into soups,
> rice dishes, quiche and it's suddenly exotic--"oh, that's a violet leaf
> quiche, I'm glad you like it."
> In herbal culture, they say that if you take an herb for a certain
> condition that was grown on the other side of the world, it will help you;
> but if it was grown in your own region, it will be ten times more
effective
> for you, and if it was grown on your own property it will be a thousand
> times more effective for you. These are metaphorical rather than
> statistical numbers, but it makes sense. That's why I make an exception
> with eating frozen foods if I grew or found them, plus the
> oil-to-transport-food issue.
> In general, permaculture seems to contribute in a huge way to wholeness on
> all levels, physical, emotional, spiritual, environmental. I'm sure I'm
> stating the obvious here, but I was just out "weeding," in places where
the
> "weeds" were really too much, and thinking how thankful I was for all
those
> weeds...don't know how to describe it, but the feeling is what I would
call
> a minor "samadhi", the wordless sense of oneness.         Kathy in
> Missouri, USA
>
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