Eat Your Weeds!

You might remember waaaaay, long ago (you know, when dinosaurs ruled the Earth) I mentioned I would start talking to you a bit about herbalism....and then managed to forget?

Well, I decided to do it--and you can blame it all on a mulberry tree. See, I live in the middle of the city, but traces of wild plant life still seep their way into this concrete jungle. Which I love...persistent plants still stick to the world of concrete! Rock on!

*ahem*...I mean, fascinating. So across the street from me there is a massive tree in a small gated up park. It sits high above the rogue dandelion and chicory and knee high grass. And every May and June, it grows out huge black berries that go ignored by everyone who lives here. Eventually they fall off and rot and get consumed by flies and washed away by rain.

At first I, too, was among the ignorant. I thought, "hey, they must be poisonous. Noone is touching them." Except, the more I moved toward green living and farm living, the more I realized that there might be something more to it....maybe people had lost the conscience to look at this tree as something vital. That's what city living does to you sometimes, it makes you forget the natural world, and your place in it...which is a derned shame.

ANYHOO...

This year, I finally went up to the tree and pulled off a few leaves and berries for identification (see leaf in picture, below) and pulled out one of my trusty plant books. I had long suspected that these were mulberries--because my mother told me childhood stories of "blackberries that grew on trees" where she lived. Hmmm...but didn't blackberries grow on bushes? After looking online and in the books, sure enough, I found that they WERE mulberries.

Mulberries--yum!

So off I went to pick these berries the next day. Boy, you could not convince people living in the 'hood that you were a lunatic faster. Ahh well, their loss. I was getting free food--and will make jam out of it! Hey, free food in these times is good, right?

Actually, this is part of a movement (and not some crazy-haired girl's version of a good time! Really it's not!) that is as old as man's realizaton that many plants around him are viable as food and medicine. The act of gathering herbs/plants from the wild Food grows all around you, and you might not even know it! For example:

Did you know that dandelions greens, when young, can be sauteed like any other green? That its blooms are used in salads, and to make tea and wine?

Did you know cherries, mulberries, blackberries and apples can grow wild?

Did you know garlic grows wild? Heck, I've seen it in parks around the city!

Ive also seen Sweet Woodruff/Sweet Annie growing out of cracks in the sidewalks here--they are very fragrant and can be stuffed into sachets or used as potpourri. There is so much out there that can be used.

If you are looking to wildcraft, there are a few guidelines to follow:

1. Make sure you study up on edible plants--look at pictures, read descriptions, etc.

2. MAKE SURE you can correctly, identify the plants that you will be eating. Several plants have dangerous look-alikes..including mushrooms and other plants. If you have even a teeeeensy inkling that a plant isn't what you think it is, DO NOT eat it!!

3. Make sure the plants that you are using have not been exposed to any sort of chemicals--so the dandelions on Uncle Lou's front lawn are great, unless you've found he's used some sort of chemicals in the last year or two on the lawn. These chemicals can and DO leech into plants, even if they have been in the ground for a year or two.
The only reason I picked the mulberry is because the tree was locked on an abandoned site for 9 years. How do I know it's been 9 years? I've lived here for that long? I also know the current caretaker of the property and he only goes in there to mow the grass--no chemicals!

4.If you are actually picking wild stuffs from the wild, then make sure you are 200 ft from the roadway, so you avoid any residual fuels and "human" toxins that get onto the side of the roads.

If you are picking wild stuffs from cities--make sure you have PERMISSION to do so! Obviously, going to a city park and just randomly picking things will get you in trouble! I know it's common sense, but city parks BELONG to the city! Even "abandoned" lots belong to someone, probably...so just double check.

If you are interested to explore more, here are some books you might want to read:
A Forager's Harvest: A guide to identifying, harvesting, and preparing edible wild plants ~ Samuel Thayer
Basic Essentials Edible Wild Plants and Useful Herbs (3rd Edition) ~Jim Meuninck

Yes, call it a weird and perhaps satisfying way to combat those high grocery bills, or just an interesting hobby, but if you are into plants and nature, wildcrafting is the way to go! Now go out and eat your weeds!!