Wild Vegetables
Make Free Food by Using Nutritious Wild Greens
Spinach and other greens are valued for their nutritional value - and when cooked well, they can also be delicious. The nature also provides us with many tasty wild greens which can be collected free of cost and used for soups, stews, salads, sauces and pies, even pesto. They are often even more nutritious than spinach.
Only use plants you can identify for certain, and do not gather them near any major roads. Wash the leaves well, especially in plants that grow near the ground (like plantain).
Stinging Nettle
Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) can be used like spinach, only it is even richer in iron, calcium, vitamin C and many other nutrients. It cannot be used raw, but even quick cooking (or drying) destroys the hairs which make the leaves sting, making it safe to eat. Nettle can also be made into tea.
Only collect young nettles and do not pick them near any compost areas or outhouses. Wear gloves and be careful not to get stung. Because nettles contain plenty of nitrates and some oxalic acid, they should not be eaten by young children or those with gout.
Dandelion
Dandelion leaves are sometimes eaten as salad greens, but unless they grow in the shade, the leaves can be quite bitter when eaten raw. Cutting off the stems of the leaves reduces the bitterness, but it also tends to subside with cooking.
Like stinging nettles, dandelions are plentiful in many areas and no one will mind if you collect them to your heart's content, but remember that many lawns where they grow may be fertilized with chemicals.
Ground-elder
Ground-elder (Aegopodium podagraria, also known as goutweed and bishop's weed) is a common invasive weed in many areas. Young leaves can be used in e.g. soups, stews and baking.
The only problem with ground-elder is that it can be confused with several toxic plants, even bearing some resemblance to poison ivy. However, a careful observer can set it apart from those dangerous mimics by the appearance of the leaves and the triangular profile of the stem.
Fireweed
Fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium) is known for its beautiful magenta-colored flowers, but before the flowers emerge the young tips also makes a tasty vegetable, also known as "poor man's asparagus". Only use the topmost 15 cm/6 inch of a young plant. Cut off the lowermost leaves and boil or steam the stems for a few minutes. Serve as you would serve asparagus.
Fireweed can also be used in salads and it makes for tasty herbal tea.
Alchemilla
Named after the alchemists who believed its dew could turn things into cold, young leaves or alchemilla (also known as Lady's mantle) can be used for cooking and in salads. Unlike many wild greens alchemilla is usually never bitter, but can be a little tougher than lettuce.
Plantain
A common plant growing on lawns, plantain (Plantago major) has been used both raw in salads and in cooking. It is rich in some B complex vitamins and has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties.
See Also
Ground-elder or goutweed
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Stinging nettle
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