Posted on 09/24/2022 5:21:00 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Instead of bok choy, one woman opts for a weedy plant called amaranth. In fact, she has an entire list of edible weeds.
Gaye Chan is into what’s known as urban foraging. The University of Hawaii at Manoa professor picks plants we see as unsightly weeds and adds them to her daily diet.
“I started doing research on it and realized the things I had been yanking out for years, cursing them, are actually edible and delicious,” she said.
Instead of bok choy, Chan opts for the weedy plant called amaranth. In fact, she has an entire list of edible weeds that anyone can find for free and consume.
“They are already there likely in your yard, some of them, at least,” she said.
Chan and fellow UH professor Bundit Kanisthakhon are with a group called Eating in Public that teaches people how to choose wild plants and how to cook with them.
Kanisthakhon gets surprised reactions at his cooking demonstrations.
“They say, ‘We didn’t know that it can be eaten.’ That’s something that we can try to educate them more and more by tasting it,” he said.
Weed eating comes with a warning.
Chan said you have to know which plants are safe to eat. She urges people to forage only in areas free of weed and pest poisons, to thoroughly rinse what they gather, and to take only what they need.
“It’s really about looking at resources more holistically and responsibly,” she said.
Eating in Public believes some wild plants have an added bonus.
“A lot of these plants also have tremendous medicinal value, something that I’m just starting to do research on,” Chan said.
“I think it’s good for the system. At least it has a lot of fiber,” Kanisthakhon said.
You can’t beat the convenience.
“When we need some vegetables for dinner, I don’t have to go to the store. I just go outside and cut down some weeds and we’re all set.” Chan said.
To find out more about the dos and don’ts of weed eating, go to the Eating in Public website.
I would be afraid of neighborhood dogs seasoning all the weeds in any urban environment.
And then plants are extra fertilized from the mounds of feces in liberal cities.
Eat whatever you want. Go with God. Just don’t mandate that I have to eat it...
I’ll have the bok choi.
Not really different than survival camping in the Boy Scouts.
My youngest son and daughter went to Wilderness Survival Day Camp earlier this year. They ate a variety of local growths.
Dandelion leaves have often been eaten .
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I hire amigos to take care of my weed problems.
Years ago there were books out on the good tasting plants of the Rocky Mountains.
“Tastes like wild hickory nuts!”
I’ve never been an expert, but I knew of, and sometimes ate, quite a few edible wild plants when I lived in Oregon. Here in Arizona the pickings are less abundant.
The thing about wild plants, though, is that they’re pretty much always less tasty and more work to prepare than their cultivated equivalents. Fine when you want to, not so good if you have to.
Dandelion flowers make great wine. I’ve done it. Unfortunately, gathering a bushel of dandelion flowers is arduous, and waiting a few years for the wine to mature is difficult too. But 5 year old dandelion wine is (almost) worth it.
“Ever eat a pine tree?”
They act like this is some new and exciting discovery. I and plenty of others have been foraging and using common weeds for many years. It used to be common practice back in the old days.
I’m told kudzu is tasty and makes a nice salad
Won’t be verifying that
The Italian ladies in my neighborhood used to gather dandelions…….I never knew you could make wine with them .
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Some part of each generation is convinced that they are the first to see or discover something.
And never mind what else is mixed in with the weeds like used syringes, empty bottles of booze and human waste.
Other people can eat the weeds, insects and soy, I think I’ll pass.
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